A wet and windy Sunday in Blackpool is not normally my idea of fun. But the prospect of one of my favourite bands of the moment, The Damn Truth at my favourite venue, the Waterloo Bar had me driving over the wind swept Pennine Hills. Hell, the Damn Truth have once again come over from Canada to entertain us, so a few miles driving to see them was the least I could do.
With the intro of ‘White Rabbit’ playing, The Damn Truth hit the stage Lee Baum singing and twirling as the music was playing, she and the rest of the band were clearly having the time of their lives on this tour and loving what they do. As the music fades they are straight into ‘This is Who We Are Now’ from ‘Now or Nowhere’. The Damn Truth need no warm up, they hit you like a juggernaut. This band are just immense. ‘Full On You Again’ from ‘Now or Nowhere’ follows and they keep the pace up. PY then sets the grove before Dave T joins in, and man that groove The Damn Truth have, have the whole room grooving with them, this band have the vibe. ‘Too Late’ is the song and what a song it is.
Lee announces that there are so many beautiful people in the room tonight and that it is their first time in Blackpool. She is clearly appreciative of the packed crowd tonight. Next, Tom lays down a tasty guitar intro to ‘Lonely’ before another awesome groove and Lee screams “Can You Hear Me?” This girl has the voice of an angel with the scream of the devil, what a voice! Later in the song she gets the crowd to sing back, as she sings the call and response “Can you hear me Brother, Can you hear me sister.” I feel like we are here in the church of rock n’ roll and Lee is calling us to worship, a real epiphany moment. This band are on a roll and there is no stopping them.
‘Only Love’ is a stomper and Tom really let’s rip on guitar on this one, with Lee finishing it up with one of her legendary screams. A short drum solo from Dave T leads into ‘Look Innocent’ and possibly my favourite song of the night. I absolutely love this song, the delicate feel at the beginning sends shivers down my spine. The distorted riff from Tom and the screams of Lee in ‘The Fire’ shows the heavy side of the Damn Truth. ‘Devilish Folk’ starts off slow and builds into an epic! The Damn Truth are on fire, Tom’s guitar playing is off the scale.
After the emotional ‘Devilish Folk’ we have a rocker with ‘Get with You’. Tom starts this one with some tasty guitar work before they kick in with ‘Tomorrow’, and the Waterloo is bouncing. There is no way the Blackpool crowd are going to let The Damn Truth finish there. They duly return to the stage to perform a brilliant version of U2’s ‘Love is Blindness’ before the final song of the night with the ‘Heart is Cold’.
Very rarely do you see a band of this calibre, they are jaw droppingly good. Lee Baum has everything, the look, the personality and the voice. What a voice, shimmering one moment, screaming the next. One of the all time great rock voices, I could listen to her and The Damn Truth all night.
If there is such a thing as rock n’ roll heaven, then for me it is the Waterloo Bar with The Damn Truth playing every night. Make sure you catch them when they return to the UK with Glenn Hughes in October as I sure will be doing.
GALLERY
