WCHC pick of the week: the Misfits
Deirdre A. Milionis
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: Features
I do not know if you remember the day you discovered that Santa Claus was nothing more than an obnoxious Norman Rockwell illustration, and that consequently, the Easter Bunny was also just a part-time, teenage Sears employee in a pink rabbit suit. While I cannot say that I recall those exact moments in time (I have trouble remembering what I have to do for homework...and sometimes my name), I can say that I relived those feelings of sadness, crushed dreams, and disappointment last Thursday night when I saw the legendary punk-horror band, the Misfits (or what is left of them) perform live at Hartford's Webster Theater pre-Halloween show.
I was certainly looking forward to hearing the band that has defined my youth live, and in concert, but my dreams were crushed shortly after the skeleton of a band shuffled on stage. What used to be Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, Joey Image, and Bobby Steele now consists of punk rock veterans Dez Cadena and Robo from Black Flag, and of course, Jerry Only. While I was aware of the band's long time dismemberment, I tried to convince myself that seeing this reincarnation of the Misfits was kind of like a Payless sale, but with punk rock stars: buy one, get two free.
Even with this "steal,"the concert just made me plain sad, and I had the worst case of buyer's remorse ever. Seeing Jerry Only onstage with his usual tight black pants that seemed to be unflattering and extra tight, white ghoul make-up, and devillock hairstyle that I have, on more than one occassion, tried to imitate, I began to wonder when rockstars should just quit.
The set they played was every Misfits song that I could ever ask for, but even that they managed to mess up. The acoustics of the theater and the unneccessary feedback from the mics turned my favorite songs into what sounded like the equivalent of banshee wails, and I do not think that is the sound that even the Misfits were going for. Jerry Only's vocals are not what they used to be, which was never good to begin with anyway, and most of the songs were off. I could not even figure out what the song was until half way through. I thought that "T.V. Casualty" was "Hybrid Moments" and "Helena" sounded like "American Nightmare."
I was certainly looking forward to hearing the band that has defined my youth live, and in concert, but my dreams were crushed shortly after the skeleton of a band shuffled on stage. What used to be Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, Joey Image, and Bobby Steele now consists of punk rock veterans Dez Cadena and Robo from Black Flag, and of course, Jerry Only. While I was aware of the band's long time dismemberment, I tried to convince myself that seeing this reincarnation of the Misfits was kind of like a Payless sale, but with punk rock stars: buy one, get two free.
Even with this "steal,"the concert just made me plain sad, and I had the worst case of buyer's remorse ever. Seeing Jerry Only onstage with his usual tight black pants that seemed to be unflattering and extra tight, white ghoul make-up, and devillock hairstyle that I have, on more than one occassion, tried to imitate, I began to wonder when rockstars should just quit.
The set they played was every Misfits song that I could ever ask for, but even that they managed to mess up. The acoustics of the theater and the unneccessary feedback from the mics turned my favorite songs into what sounded like the equivalent of banshee wails, and I do not think that is the sound that even the Misfits were going for. Jerry Only's vocals are not what they used to be, which was never good to begin with anyway, and most of the songs were off. I could not even figure out what the song was until half way through. I thought that "T.V. Casualty" was "Hybrid Moments" and "Helena" sounded like "American Nightmare."
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