So, after leaving work, I got to the Blackest of the Black Tour at the Clevelad House of Blues last night at about 7:30pm, ran into Donny of Leprosy... and got in just in time to catch Behemoth.
Ah, Behemoth. They were tight, but all I could hear was drums and garbled "scary metal" vocals. And, boy, did they look silly. Broken English about fuck this and fuck that and fuck these guys in between every song... along with them stopping completely & walking off stage after almost every song. I enjoyed the riffs that I could hear... but the synchronised hair-twirling head bangs (even the drummer did it!) got old pretty fast. I found myself hoping sound wasn't gonna be like that for the entire show.
Then, decently quickly, Chimaira took the stage. These guys were tight, sounded great (althought I'm still wondering what the keyboard player was doing 'cause I never heard his), and seemed to really be able to work the crowd. I take it they're 'hometown heroes' of sorts. I liked the mix, it was great... clear drums, loud guitars, and Pantera-ish vocals n' riffs... Almost A7X-ey too. I would defnitely like to hear more from this band or see them again.
Danzig was just awesome. At first I thought it was funny... they came out and the entire band was in this sleveless-shirt long black hair & sporting a goatee thing... yet Danzig was sans-facial hair (of course) and he had on a shiny black shirt. It was like the band is the evil version of the Pips or something. My first thought was that Danzig didn't seem to age as well as Jerry, Doyle, & Bobby have. Then, after he worked through the new material... he seemed to be worked into this insane frenzy... and I got to see the awesome power that is Glenn Danzig at the Mic. Also... I didn't know Johnny Kelly from Type O Negative was on drums... but he was... and that's pretty cool.
Doyle took the stage in the middle of the set like some kind of recently released caged animal... sporting Gorgeous Frankenstein logos where the Crimson Ghost used to be. Holy shit, the crowd went insane. There is nothing in my life that I have ever seen like Danzig & Doyle standing there ripping through Misfits classics. I can't describe the excitement in the room. The whole House of Blues Sang along to every song.
Danzig has a funny sense of humor too, he was all like... "So, the Misfits played Cleveland once back in the day, at some little shit-hole, and we destroyed the place." Then there was a pause, a smile, and... "I Don't mean we played well, I mean we literally broke all kinds of shit." That was Doyle's cue to stomp on to the stage like Godzilla. Again in the middle of the Misfits set, Danzig goes "So, how many girls we got here tonight?" All the girls, of course, screamed and went nuts. Again, a big smile and... "Well this song's about little girls, ...and cutting their heads off." ...while he ran his fingers across his neck, then they busted into 'Skulls". It's all a blur now, but I enjoyed "Astro Zombies", "Skulls", "Last Caress", "We Are 138", & the 2nd Encore "Die, Die My Darling" most... or at least that's what's standing out now.
I enjoyed a lot of Danzig's set too, al least some of the older stuff. "How The Gods Kill", "Her Black Wings", "Twist of Cain", "Bringer of Death", "She Rides", and more I can't think of. All in all, it was one hell of a show!!!
Misfits-related links you should check out:
- Misfits Central - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Misfits, Samhain, Danzig, & the related bands!
- OneThirtyEight.com - More Misfits-related insanity!
- Cool Misfits Bio. - Apparently plagarized from American Hardcore
- The Adventures of Jerry & Doyle - Comic stip hilarity starring the Misfits' action figures.
- Danzig-Verotik.com - Danzig's official website for his music & comics.
- The 7th House - Official Danzig Fansite
- Misfits.com - Website for the current Misfits lineup.
- Gorgeous Frankenstein - Site for Doyle's new band, still in the works.
- Doyle Fan Site - Just what it says.
- The Undead - Bobby Steele was the guitarist before Doyle in the Misfits, this is (& has been) his current band.
