From Hell they came, Vancouver they rocked: The Misfits play Venue

By Melissa Frustaci

As a long-time Misfits fan, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see such a legendary American horror-punk band play a live concert in my own backyard. The Misfits played a sold-out show at Venue, formerly the Plaza Club, on Nov. 10, to promote their new album, Land of the Dead.

I had been under the impression that guitarist, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, who never says a word to interviewers (how cool is that?) would be performing with the band. A few days before the show, however, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Dez Cadena, former Black Flag member, had stepped up to fill his place.

The Misfits opened with “Halloween,” and Jerry Only, sporting his trade-mark ‘devil lock,’ on bass and vocals. They moved into song after song, keeping the pace at lightning speed and forcing the audience to keep up. I have never heard “Attitude” sped up so much in my life. The audience was treated to the sounds of a few Black Flag songs, such as “Jealous Again” and the classic “Rise Above.”
The band caused the sea of people to go wild with songs like “Dig up Her Bones,” “American Nightmare,” and “Helena.” I tell you, it’s a blast singing along to a heartfelt song such as “Saturday Night,” with a packed room of ‘fiends’ enjoying themselves.

Although there were tons of classics I would have killed to have heard, I was impressed with the selection they chose. My favourite part of the night would have to be when the band played their final song of their encore, “We Are 138.” Everyone, went nuts.

Jerry Only hung around to to taunt and tease the audience, while the rest of the band quit the stage. He graciously signed autographs and shook hands. I joined the rest of the crowd, and for my patience, received a full-on handshake! Success!

Sadly, my extremely far-fetched, hope of original vocalist, Glenn Danzig, showing up on stage did not come to fruition. But that’s ok, because all in all, it was a damn good show.