The Damned Ends as It Began: Naked and Ablaze

The Damned may not have been the best or most innovative of the English punk groups, but in 1977 this messy goon squad was the first British punk outfit to issue a single and an album, and, most influentially, it was the first to play Los Angeles, serving as the catalyst for a revolutionary style of music and fashion whose ramifications still roar through L.A.’s rock scene.

It’s fitting that the group ended the L.A. show of what’s billed as its farewell tour on Thursday at the Hollywood Palladium in the same rowdy manner as its debut at the Starwood: with drummer Rat Scabies igniting and demolishing his drums while bassist/guitarist Captain Sensible (definitely not a contender for any health spa endorsements) ran around nude.

Like the title of one of its most ferocious rave-ups, the Damned are still pretty “Neat Neat Neat.” Running through a career retrospective, the quartet concentrated on the dark fury of its first and best album before adding a fifth player for later “hits,” while a sold-out throng of kids took songs like “Smash It Up” to heart (and body) in the slam pit.

This show also confirmed that underneath the obnoxious behavior and often sloppy, haphazard playing is a band of faithful believers in the liberating spirit of outrageous rock ‘n’ roll.

Paying tribute to that spirit with crash-and-burn versions of Beatles, Stones, Iggy Pop and MC5 classics mixed in with its own tunes, the Damned proved it deserves a place alongside the musical company it kept. The group plays Anaheim’s Celebrity Theatre on Wednesday.