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FINAL DAMNATION 50 TOUR
April 27th, 2026 by Bruce R. Kilgour
Legendary punk icons The Damned will return to Southern California in November as part of the recently announced Final Damnation 50 tour, adding a pair of theater shows to their previously announced appearance at the 2026 Darker Waves Festival in Huntington Beach.
The band declared, “We’re calling it Final Damnation because, bearing in mind the advanced years of the participants it’s fairly unlikely we’ll undertake anything quite like this again.” Loyal Damned fans will be very happy with the current lineup, featuring original members Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensible on guitar, drummer Rat Scabies, and long-time bassist Paul Gray, who originally joined in 1980.
The Damned will spend the summer playing (mostly) festivals across Europe and the United Kingdom. The Final Damnation 50 tour will commence in September with the band playing four dates in New Zealand and Australia, then resume on October 16th in Boston for 20 US shows, wrapping up at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on November 17th. San Francisco garage rock legends Flamin’ Groovies will provide support, and (on a few shows) The Courettes will also perform.
The bands founding member and original guitarist Brian James passed away in March of last year, and the January 2026 LP “Not Like Everybody Else” paid tribute to James by consisting solely of cool covers of ‘60s and ‘70s songs that had inspired them as young musicians. James posthumously appears on a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” with him playing lead guitar on his final live performances with the band in 2022.
Hopefully, several of these covers will find their way onto the 2026 set lists. In their recent announcement, the band promised “an eclectic setlist chosen from right across the Damned’s career.”
Upon forming in 1976, The Damned released the UK’s first ever punk single, “New Rose,” and in the five decades since have released 13 studio albums and have toured the world every year (with the exception of 2020-2021).
Tickets for the November 13th House of Blues San Diego and November 17th Wiltern Theater shows are on sale now, as well as passes for the Darker Waves Festival on November 14th. Don’t miss the chance to see one of the true originators of British punk!
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