The Damage Done

It happens too infrequently to me these days. Those times where you show up to the show early enough to catch one of the opening bands you've never heard of and they totally blow you away. Or you go to a house show to see a touring band and a local band you haven't seen before just ignites the crowd and has kids bouncing off the walls singing along. The rarer those moments are, the more magical they are. Especially when you're an old and jaded punk rocker that's seen thousands of bands over the years.

I had one of those moments the first time I caught The Damage Done. Within the first song, I was wondering why these guys weren't huge yet. And I think a lot of it has to do with the band's attitude. They don't really seem to give a shit about kissing up to the clubs and promoters to make things happen, they're moving at their own pace and genuinely seem to favor house shows over the punk bars and clubs I tend to frequent a lot of the time.

From The Damage Done website:
The house show, #1. An art perfected by hardcore heroes of the past. When combined with enough beer, the loudest PA possible, and a basement or living room packed with far too many sweaty, singing, dancing friends, the house show is guaranteed to provide the touring band with a great time and enough gas money to make it to the next town. In a time when the community is oversaturated with egotistical bands, all-ages venues that last six months at the most, and nation-wide conglomerate booking agencies specializing in pay-to-play shows, the house show is one of the last free and humble bastions of awesome ear-splitting rock.

I love that. I love bringing it back to where it all started -- DIY punk values and having fun.

Musically The Damage Done can have the intensity of hardcore one song and then a melodic group sing-a-long the next, the constant in the mix is an energy, positive and pumped up, that gives the band a little something extra that a lot of bands lack these days. They have one EP out, a few comp cuts, and have recorded an album that is yet to be released. You can hear a few songs over here, but this is really the kind of band you want to catch live. Upcoming Seattle shows include:

July 19th at The Bit Saloon w/ In The Red, Bastards of Young, & Poverty Bay Saints
Jul 24th at the Barnhouse w/ the Pillowfights & Chris Crusher solo
Aug 7 2009 at The Bit Saloon w/ Heroes Amongst Thieves & Random Orbits
Aug 16 2009 at Studio 7 w/ Cobra Skulls & the Copyrights