photo: Wes Orshoski

As one of the original punk bands, The Damned are still a pretty vital band, and while a recent injury forced the band to cancel a handful of shows, they returned to the stage in Asbury Park Saturday night at the Stone Pony. And leader Captain Sensible took the piss out of Dave Grohl and Axl Rose by reurning to the stage in his own throne – a toilet seat! Sensible had broken a rib last week in Toronto after falling offstage. The band’s Montreal, Boston and New York shows had to be postponed, but the band’s 40th anniversary tour rolled on.

Photo: Wes Orshoski

Sensible reacted to his injury, channeling The Simpsons while he was at it:

“As movement is a bit awkward currently, I played last night seated, but it all went swimmingly and this epic 40th Anniversary tour is now firmly back on the road. We’ve played some great venues on the trip… and Asbury Park’s Stone Pony is up there with the best of ’em. But I have to say I wish I’d waited till here before backflipping off the stage, as this one was only 3 feet high. D’oh!”

In other Damned news, the band have a new label deal, Raw Power Management (Bring me the Horizon, At the Drive In, Bullet For My Valentine) have signed them to their label, Search and Destroy, and they’ll be recording their first new album since 2008 this Summer for release on the label, which is distributed through Spinefarm. Last year saw the release of The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead the authorized documentary about the Damned directed by Wes Orshoski (“Lemmy”). The film, featuring testimonials from Chrissie Hynde, Dave Gahan and Lemmy, among many others, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Here are the remaining dates on their 40th anniversary tour: