The Misfits/Ignite-Live-Old Bridge, NJ 8/12/00
Aug 15 '00
The worst thing happened a few months ago. I was going to see my all time favorite band The Misfits live in New York at Roseland. The Misfits in New York City, it just does not get better then that. I can’t tell you how excited I was to be going to this show. I had been listening to the band’s latest record, ”Famous Monsters” virtually non-stop to ready myself for one wickedly cool night. But, then it happened. The day of the show came, and a couple of short hours before I left for the show, I found out there was going to be no show. Yes, there would be no joy in Jediville on this particular night, as the band had canceled the show, sighting internal band differences for the cancellation.
Instantly, my little Jedi brain began to fall into a tailspin. ”Oh no, this might not only be a cancellation of the show...what if the Misfits were no more. Oh geez!!!”. Four short months after that complete disappointment, I learned my fears were not necessary, as the band announced they were going to be touring in the summer. Yes, this Jedi was once again extremely excited to see his favorite band in concert one more time.
Enter this past Saturday Night. It was a disgusting rainy night on the east coast. But on this night, nothing would hold back us Misfits fiends from seeing the band which we love. The venue was The Birch Hill Night Club in Old Bridge, New Jersey. So, into the Tattooedjedimobile I went, all in the pursuit of seeing the coolest band to ever come out of Lodi, NJ, The Misfits.
I ended up getting to the club around 8:00PM. The line to enter the club was several hundred people long. So I opted to remain in my car until the line died down slightly. At around 8:30, I got on line and within a few minutes I was inside the packed club, chock full of animalistic Misfits fans. The atmosphere was completely intense and brimming with excitement. Everywhere you looked you could see both guys and girls alike with their faces painted like those of Jerry, Doyle, Mikey and Chud, as if it was All Hallow’s Eve.
If you never have been to a Misfits live performance, you are certainly missing out. Their live shows are usually the most action packed, intense shows that you will ever see. This night was no exception. Unfortunately, I believe I missed the very opening act of the show. However, just as I was entering the club, the Boston Hardcore band Reach the Sky had just taken the stage. Their sound was very typical of the Boston Hardcore scene as it currently is, packing intensely loud hardcore riffs into very common sounding songs. Their music was definitely good, and the crowd was definitely into them, but you could still look around and without a doubt know exactly what the people wanted to see on the stage.
After Reach the Sky left the stage, I decided I needed some air and some refreshments, so I made my way to the club’s outside porch. Much to my surprise, the club was serving real food. So I quickly pushed a hamburger down my throat, and then made my way into the pit to bear witness to California’s Ignite.
Ignite took the stage at around 9:30pm. From their very first note, there was no doubt that their music oozed California hardcore through and through. The old school, finger-snapping vibe was perfectly set out on the table, and images of bands like Goldfinger, Bad Religion and Operation Ivy were brought into my head. Their sound was extremely heavy, and incredibly catchy. As they blasted through their set, they made sure to give props to all the New York and New Jersey hardcore bands, as well as to inspire some good fun circle pits. Their forty minute or so set was packed with poppy punkish hardcore fervor, and ended up going over extremely well with a crowd whose main intentions were just to see the Misfits play and nothing else. Their set really came across as a candid and terrific one, and really set the stage perfectly for what was to come. Ah yes, in a few short moments The Misfits were going to take the stage.
As Ignite meandered off the stage, I decided to take a trip to the little Jedi’s room. After returning, and squishing my way into the center of the pit, the club went dark, ”The Abominable Dr. Philbes” started blaring through the club’s speakers, and one by one The Misfits made their way out onto the stage. Jerry Only on guitar, Doyle on bass, Dr. Chud on drums, and Mikey Graves on vocals all took the stage amidst fire and brimstone, and set a stage presence like only one could expect from such a terrific band. The name Glenn Danzig did not even come across my mind as the band proceeded to lace into a set that covered not only many songs from their last Roadrunner Records release ”Famous monsters”, but songs that spanned the entire length of the band’s twenty five year career.
While a tad bit sloppy musically, the band pounded and thumped bombastically as the rabid crowd ate up every single note. The band opened up with the song ”Forbidden Zone” which is a terrific pop-punk tale done worth the typical, classic horror movie themed style that fans of the band are quite accustomed to. As Mikey Graves perfectly sang his way through the tune about the “Planet of the Apes”, the band set an incredibly dancey pace that got the crowd moving and singing in tune.
From there, the band made †here way through newer songs like ”Pumpkinhead”, “Scarecrow Man”, “Helena” and “Crawling Eye” with an evil tinged punk splendor, that kept the crowd incredibly into the show, and made this little Misfits fan shake his bootie. The band also covered several songs from their return record ”American Psycho”, which included ”Hate the Living, Love the Dead” among several others.
The band also did not neglect any of the classic horrocore songs that the Misfits have made so famous over the past two decades. Mikey made us all forget Danzig and Metallica, for that matter, as he vocalized his way through an excellent rendition of ”Last Caress”. I must say, in all of my twenty-six odd years on this planet, I never really expected to hear a crowd of a thousand people chanting in mass ”I’ve got something to say, I killed your baby today...”. But, at a Misfits show, you tend to expect the unexpected, and that’s exactly what took place.
Jerry took the microphone at one point during the night and announced that it was his daughter’s 18 year birthday on this particular night. He called her on stage, and had the band sing “Happy Birthday” to her. Jerry looked to be legitimately touched, and was quite proud to be sharing this great moment with masses of his fans. He then called his son on stage to join the band in playing two of their classics, which included one of my all time favorite tunes from the band, ”Skulls”.
Other classics that the band performed virtually flawlessly were: ”I Turned Into A Martian”, ”TV Casualty” and “Static Age”.
Another high moment was one the band invited the lead singer from Ignite on stage to join Mikey in singing the 1950’s drive-in sounding tune, ”Saturday Night”. The song came off sounding extremely nice, and completely conveyed the feeling of eerie horror of the song with no problem whatsoever.
After wowing the crowd for over an hour, the band took one final bow, and left the stage with a thump and loudness all their own. As the show came to a close, there was no doubt left in my mind as to who my favorite band of all time was. Put very simply, The Misfits put on a show unlike any other. Their music is as impactful and intense as it is twinged with an eerie horrific quality quite unlike any other. While the band might have been playing just a little too fast and a tad sloppier then I was used to, they definitely were a welcome sight to witness, and ended up putting on one pretty phenomenal show. Their music is hard and powerful and just oh so catchy. I don’t know quite what it is, but each and every one of their tunes gets me toe-tapping, and leg kicking. It was a completely terrific, refreshing hardcore show that left me feeling spent and tired.
Overall, here’s the scorecard:
Reach the Sky -- C
Ignite -- B+
Misfits -- A+
If you ever get the chance to see this legendary punk/hardcore outfit live, make sure you do so. They will not be around forever, and they really do need to be witnessed live. Just remember to not forget to bring your mouthpiece and to check your inhibitions at the door. Get those legs-a-kicking, those feet a-swinging, and get yourself to see them live. It truly is one evil experience.
Danzig who?
As always, thanks for reading....
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