The Damned have announced a 50th anniversary concert at London’s OVO Arena Wembley, admitting they ‘never thought [they’d] make it this far’.
Taking place on April 11, 2026, the show will see the band supported by Peter Hook And The Light, The Loveless featuring Marc Almond, and The Courettes.
Announcing the gig, The Damned had some rather frank thoughts on their mortality.
‘Half a century on and who’d have thought The Damned would still be upright and breathing?’, they said honestly.
‘We have shared some tragic losses along the way, but like a finely-tuned engine, The Damned still has the power and finesse to excite, entertain and accelerate into our 50th year…
‘To mark this milestone event, we’ve booked OVO Arena Wembley for the 11th of April 2026 and, after a lot of careful deliberation, have put a bill together for a night for you to remember and will be joined by The Courettes, Peter Hook, and Marc Almond.’
As for what fans can expect from the gig, the details are still being planned.
‘We haven’t made up the set list as yet, but with 50 years of catalogue to choose from, only the best songs from our chequered history will be performed – and with the passion and commitment all good music lovers deserve,’ they assured.
Continuing their grand promises, they concluded: ‘You know we won’t disappoint; we never thought we’d make it this far, and neither did you.’
Presale begins on Wednesday, June 25, at 10am, while general sale starts on Friday at 10am.
Reacting to the band’s announcement, fans could barely contain their excitement.
‘Omg fantastic line up as well ❤️❤️❤️’, commented Instagram user @lou_lou_di_di.
‘Hopefully you’re in control of the event and the mic doesn’t get cut half way through the song as per last night in MK. What was going on? Bonkers’, commented @winston.krone after an unfortunate incident over the weekend.
While the current members are certainly showing no signs of slowing down as they continue gigging, their latest show was thrown into chaos when faults meant they had to leave the stage.
Taking to social media after a slot at Forever Now Festival in Milton Keynes, Burns shared his frustrations.
‘Wow.. that doesn’t happen often – only 35 mins into our #forevernow set and had the plugs pulled on us mid Neat Neat Neat. Happened to the Happy Mondays too. Backstage concensus was the stage power was inadequate.. whatever, @thedamned are v sorry to any disappointed fans’, he shared.
The group are currently made up of original members Dave Vanian, real name David Lett, Captain Sensible, real name Raymond Burns, and Rat Scabies, real name Christopher Millar, along with Paul Gray, and Monty Oxymoron, real name Laurence Burrow.
Formed in 1976, The Damned’s first single New Rose, released in the same year, is widely thought of as the first British punk single.
Their debut album, Damned Damned Damned, is still seen as the first punk album released by a UK group.
The band are best known for songs such as Neat Neat Neat, Smash It Up and Eloise, a cover of the 1968 Barry Ryan song. They have had one UK top 10 single and two UK top 10 albums.
News of their celebratory show comes after Brian James, the band’s original guitarist, died aged 70 in March.
The punk trailblazer’s death was announced via his official Facebook page, with a statement hailing him as ‘one of the true pioneers of music’.
His Damned bandmate Burns shared in tribute on X: ‘We’re shocked to hear that creator of the Damned, our great chum Brian James, has sadly gone. A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk.’
James penned the group’s debut release and was the lead songwriter on their first record.
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