"Be careful what you wish for!" Rat Scabies returns to The Damned, as the punk legends announce UK tour with their early '80s line-up

The Damned, in 1980 — (Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

The Damned's co-founding drummer Rat Scabies has returned to the fold, reuniting the line-up of the band which recorded The Black Album (1980) and Strawberries (1982). Speaking of his return to the band, Scabies says simply, "Be careful what you wish for."

The Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Paul Gray, Rat Scabies version of the band last played together in 1989, but will return next year to play UK dates. The tour will open in Newcastle on December 4, and carry on through to December 18, closing out at the Roundhouse in London.

Tickets go on general sale here at 10am on Friday, November 24, and there is also an AEG Presale available on November 23, which interested parties can sign up for here.

The quartet will revisit songs from their third, fourth and fifth albums, Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries, as well as Damned classics such as as Neat Neat Neat, New Rose, etc,.

The Damned will play:

Dec 04: Newcastle NX
Dec 05: Glasgow Barrowlands
Dec 06: Manchester Academy
Dec 08: Leeds O2 Academy
Dec 09: Nottingham Rock City
Dec 10: Wolverhampton Civic at The Halls
Dec 12: Bristol Beacon
Dec 13: Southampton O2 Guildhall
Dec 14: Eastbourne Winter Garden
Dec 16: Cambridge Corn Exchange
Dec 18: London Roundhouse

The Damned released their twelfth studio album Darkadelic earlier this year.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.