Misfits (photo: Greg Wheeler)
The Birmingham Ballroom…. Hmmmm… I remember when it was The Hummingbird, and I remember frequenting this venue many many times in the late 80s and 90s to see so many legendary bands, it’s a great venue.
So Juicehead main man Rob excitedly introduces himself to me (at the merch stand) and seems to be very happy to be on this Misfits tour. Why aren’t all musicians like this? Once onstage (to a very reasonable sized audience that the two previous bands didn’t have) Juicehead crank out some bustin O.S. punk rock; taking me back to my skater youth. They play hard and fast with some hints of ska, and entice a rather nice pit mid-set. They do look happy powering through songs ‘Rotting From The Inside’ ‘The American Dream’ ‘ Deadly Nightshade’ ‘Open Sore’ ‘Internal Bleeding’ ‘Disenchanted Youth’ and several more from their debut CD ‘How To Sail A Sinking Ship’ before dragging out a buddy to sing along to ‘Covered In Blood’ and finally closing their set with ‘Death Of Democracy’ (how’s that for punk rock) leaving behind a pleased crowd and me wanting to check out more about them. The only downside is the sound could have been better for Juicehead…
Misfits (photo: Greg Wheeler)
Now the Misfits (should) need no introduction… the crowd swells largely here as the house lights dim, and all the stage attire is finely stripped of the black shrouds that have kept all the props ‘a secrecy’. Dramatically opening with title track from the new Cd ‘Devil’s Rain’ the Misfits are clearly here to prove to, and blow away any doubters. Following straight into ‘Vivid Red’ and continuing with several tracks from the new Cd (inc. ‘Jack The Ripper’ ‘Father’ ‘Curse Of The Mummy’s Hand’ to name just a few) they don’t even stop for in-between song banter. Jerry Only powers impressively through a well presented live stage set (props and lights included) concluding the first part of the set, quite rightly, being dedicated to for-said new Cd. Finally stopping for a few short words and then it’s old school time baby… ‘Static Age’ ‘Where Eagles Dare’ ‘ Death Comes Ripping’ ‘She’ (as Jerry pauses to tell us all that he wrote it 35 years ago, at the tender age of 17!!!) ‘Nike –A-Go-Go’ and plenty more classics played at a far better speed than the last tour they did, and finishing the set with favorite ‘We Are 138’ before leaving the stage for a few minutes to return with new song ‘Monkey’s Paw’. An extensive encore of old classics and some new thrown in follows on. Set closer ‘Die Die My Darling’ is played at rocket speed finishing what proved to be a great Misfits gig. Jerry Only’s voice carried all the songs superbly keeping a classic Misfit vibe, and even the two songs that Dez sang fit in to secure the legacy that the Misfits are back and mean business (all be it a different line up, but a damn good one at that). The older songs will always be the crowd pleasers, but just give ‘Devil’s Rain’ some time! Mark Freebase
Misfits (photo: Greg Wheeler)
