Edited and Compiled by Natalie Blacklock
As UK punk pioneers The Damned prepare to return to Australia one last time for their 50th anniversary tour which brings their sold out 22 song Wembley set to Australia, frontman Dave Vanian and drummer Rat Scabies have shared vivid recollections of their time touring the country, including vast remote regions. Memories that have become part of the band’s mythology.
“It was always a really good time. We have always had great audiences in Australia” says Vanian, whose affection for Australia runs deeper than the usual capital city circuit. What stayed with him most was the outback: its scale, its silence, and the strange sense of being watched by unseen eyes.
The outback would shape the band’s history when a sudden change of plans landed The Damned in Broken Hill, NSW, to shoot the video for Alone Again Or. Originally intended for California, the clip was instead filmed on the blistering red earth of the Mundi Mundi Plains, the same apocalyptic landscape immortalised in Mad Max 2.
The band suddenly found themselves on a pre-dawn flight to Broken Hill to catch golden hour for the video shoot. Both Vanian and legendary drummer Rat Scabies recall flying across inland Australia in a tiny Cessna aircraft, the isolation leaving a lasting impression not to mention the pilot passing out mid-flight.
“It was back in the 80’s (’87 I think) when we found ourselves in the outback,” Scabies said, recalling the band’s ‘Phantasmagoria’ era, when their hit single Eloise had pushed them into a new level of visibility.
“We played a city show, slept for an hour and then found ourselves in a small plane heading to Broken Hill at 3am” recalls Scabies. “I guess I’d been dozing for an hour or so when I was shaken awake by Roman. He asked me if the pilot should be asleep. I replied he must be on automatic pilot and not to worry. But Roman was not buying it”.
Vanian remembers panic setting in amongst the band when the vessel began to move erratically. “We were throwing things at the pilot to wake him up. He was out cold. Finally he woke up with a start, said ‘she’ll be right mate’ and asked for coffee. That was almost the end of The Damned”.
The band survived the flight and were rewarded with one of the wildest shows of their career. “We ended up doing a show in the middle of nowhere, shot all day in the heat and walked on stage from the desert to play for a bush audience. I found red dust in my clothes for years after that!”
“Blimey! The show that night was wild,” Scabies says. Rat Scabies’ memories of that time in Australia are equally chaotic and cherished. Particularly of making friends with Melbourne cowboy-punk outfit The Johnnys, who introduced them to late-night drinking spots and cowboy-shirt haunts.
From desert video shoots to near-disastrous flights over the inland and now to the Sydney Opera House, The Damned’s history in Australia stretches far beyond the major cities. Their memories: some dusty, dangerous, and occasionally absurd have become part of the band’s lore.
As they return for the last time ever on their 50th anniversary tour, those stories underline a simple truth: Australia didn’t just host The Damned it shaped them.
“You Aussies certainly know how to enjoy yourselves and treated us to some of the best gigs we ever played. We look forward to having a massive farewell party and performing the shows of our lives for you. Thank you. It’s good to be back one last time”.
AU / NZ TOUR
SEPTEMBER 2026Tickets on sale now via https://thephoenix.au/the-
With thanks to The Phoenix
Discover more from Good Call Live
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
