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Words Callum Doig.
Thirty eight years after their debut into the world of the underground scene and with numerous lineup changes, Misfits still remain one of the most influential and recognisable names to punk and metal music. They’ve been frequent visitors as of late, with their last two tours taking place in 2011 and 2014, and it seems that they wanted more from the Australian fanbase before the year ended. Joining them this time for the Melbourne show were local acts Coffin Carousel and Wolfpack.
Opening up the stage were punk trio Wolfpack, the 100% non-profited group. Even though they were given a forty-five minute set, the trio weren’t picky and kept it towards the thirty minute mark. Wolfpack later announced that they’ve managed to raise $18,300 for animal welfare and that they were performing the next night at the same venue with The Exploited. They pulled in a good crowd, being the first act of the evening, and received some great responses from the audience as they thrashed out a number of fast-paced tracks throughout their spotlight onstage.
Despite the appropriate image that they sport for their own personas, Coffin Carousel weren’t exactly the biggest highlight of the show. They didn’t draw much of a big crowd in the pit, as there were more in the back of the venue getting on the beer. The four-piece performed a mix of songs from their two EP’s, Fiend and Doom Pop, and stuck to the forty-fives minutes allotted. While the sound quality was decent, it wasn’t exactly making up for their onstage persona and presence.
Misfits on the other hand had a lot to offer, and I swear it wasn’t just by how many songs they were playing that night. The band got the whole crowd rioting crazily, which even lead to a lot of attendees getting into trouble with security by getting kicked out of the venue for starting fights for god knows what reason. Jerry Only and the boys brought a massive set consisting of 40 songs, with every track from Static Age and a handful of others from Earth A.D., Famous Monsters and Walk Among Us. Literally, their setlist was two A3 pages big on the stage and included many classics such as ‘Astro Zombies’, ‘Last Caress’, ‘Hollywood Babylon’, ‘Angelfuck’, and ‘Who Killed Marilyn’. Before each song, Jerry would shout “One, two, three, go!”, and then the mosh kicked in with fans letting themselves loose with complete lunacy. Although he didn’t speak much to the crowd during the set, at the end Jerry made it up to them by coming to the front of the stage for photos and to sign merchandise for the fans.
In the end, Misfits put on a spectacular show. Even though it wasn’t all that close to a maxed out capacity, they and the fans didn’t seem to complain, as the band showcased a great variety of horror punk classics. I don’t think Misfits are anywhere near close to finishing, as they still have plenty more amazing shows to put on. With or without Glenn Danzig, Misfits are still in their prime as one of the most important and active punk bands in history.