_Misfits, Electrik Dynamite, Bellusira, Hatchet Dawn @ The Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne (03/12/2012)
_
Up there with names like Iggy Pop and The Ramones, The Misfits have cemented themselves in history as
international heroes of the mainstream punk league.
Touring in support of their newest album, The Devil’s rain, It had been five
long years since the thirty-five year running punk legends had last graced our
shores.
Standing in line to see them play in a mere couple of hours, it was apparent the fans had been kept waiting long enough. The array of antsy characters outside the Hi Fi were covered from top to bottom in spiked leather and doused in corpse paint, eagerly anticipating the door’s opening.
Upon entering the venue, to which we arrived fairly early, it was comforting to see people pressed against the railing in front of the stage securing their spot for the headliners well in advance.
Hatchet Dawn kicked the show off with a low key Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson-esque vibe. Their grimy hooks and guitar riffs managed to engage a decent portion of the audience as people began to flock to the floor in waves. If their ghoulish outfits and raw sound wasn’t enough to grab the audience’s attention, I can guarantee you the absolute bombshell of a bass player was.
Hatchet Dawn just wrapped up their national tour supporting their debut album ‘Rebirth’.
Next up were Bellusira, who managed to pull a slightly bigger crowd than their predecessors. The vocalist, Crystal Ignite, emerged from behind the curtains with intense amounts of energy in an almost Mike Patton like fashion which she sustained for the entire set.
All the while the crowd were kept edgy by the enormous Misfits banner hanging against the wall in the background. A few heckles and taunts could be heard here and there by eager fiends growing impatient.
Then out came the wolves, Electrik Dynamite, blowing the former support acts out of the water with their unique blend of face-melting party metal to the point where The Misfits themselves took a seat at the side of the stage to enjoy their energetic performance. Riding the success of their acclaimed album ‘HAIR. DENIM. SEX. METAL.’ they put on an unforgettable show. The bass player’s vicious licks and pelvic thrusts combined with the guitarist’s and vocalist’s ear piercing wails, not to mention a killer rhythm section had the audience captivated and screaming for an encore.
After a quick pack up by the local heavyweights the lights started to dim. The faint sounds of rain in the distance became louder and louder to a point where the floor was actually shaking. A few notes of distorted bass, sounding an awful lot like thunder over the rain, quickly amplified the crowd into fifth gear as the Misfits surged onto the stage and promptly into the first song off their newest album, The Devil’s Rain.
Without stopping, the band stormed through somewhere between ten and fifteen songs in a row. There were very few witty remarks and even less banter with the audience as they tore through the forty odd song set list consisting of their new album in its entirety and an array of tracks spanning their entire career.
I couldn’t help but dawn a smile on my face every time I heard Jerry Only scream his signature “1, 2, 3, GO!” and I’m sure every other person at the Hi Fi did the exact same thing. The intensity of their playing and vibe has clearly not diminished at all over the years. It was almost surreal.
The five song encore commenced with Descending Angel after Only payed his respects, dedicating the song to “the fiends who had fallen over the years”.
The mood, although not for a moment down, was lifted by Hybrid Moments, Saturday Night, Attitude and last but not least Die, Die my Darling to close the show before Only climbed into the crowd and handed out high fives to anyone who wanted one, which naturally was almost everybody. The energy they left the crowd with wasn’t easily forgotten as hordes of fans poured out of the venue chanting the lyrics to songs like Where Eagles Dare or We Bite! almost as if they were hymns or anthems.
I’ve been to a countless amount of gigs, shows and concerts in my lifetime and I can safely say with no regrets that The Misfits stood head and shoulders above the rest. If you ever have the chance to see them live, do it. It’s a decision you won’t regret and a performance that will last with you for your entire life.
Rohan McDaniels
Standing in line to see them play in a mere couple of hours, it was apparent the fans had been kept waiting long enough. The array of antsy characters outside the Hi Fi were covered from top to bottom in spiked leather and doused in corpse paint, eagerly anticipating the door’s opening.
Upon entering the venue, to which we arrived fairly early, it was comforting to see people pressed against the railing in front of the stage securing their spot for the headliners well in advance.
Hatchet Dawn kicked the show off with a low key Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson-esque vibe. Their grimy hooks and guitar riffs managed to engage a decent portion of the audience as people began to flock to the floor in waves. If their ghoulish outfits and raw sound wasn’t enough to grab the audience’s attention, I can guarantee you the absolute bombshell of a bass player was.
Hatchet Dawn just wrapped up their national tour supporting their debut album ‘Rebirth’.
Next up were Bellusira, who managed to pull a slightly bigger crowd than their predecessors. The vocalist, Crystal Ignite, emerged from behind the curtains with intense amounts of energy in an almost Mike Patton like fashion which she sustained for the entire set.
All the while the crowd were kept edgy by the enormous Misfits banner hanging against the wall in the background. A few heckles and taunts could be heard here and there by eager fiends growing impatient.
Then out came the wolves, Electrik Dynamite, blowing the former support acts out of the water with their unique blend of face-melting party metal to the point where The Misfits themselves took a seat at the side of the stage to enjoy their energetic performance. Riding the success of their acclaimed album ‘HAIR. DENIM. SEX. METAL.’ they put on an unforgettable show. The bass player’s vicious licks and pelvic thrusts combined with the guitarist’s and vocalist’s ear piercing wails, not to mention a killer rhythm section had the audience captivated and screaming for an encore.
After a quick pack up by the local heavyweights the lights started to dim. The faint sounds of rain in the distance became louder and louder to a point where the floor was actually shaking. A few notes of distorted bass, sounding an awful lot like thunder over the rain, quickly amplified the crowd into fifth gear as the Misfits surged onto the stage and promptly into the first song off their newest album, The Devil’s Rain.
Without stopping, the band stormed through somewhere between ten and fifteen songs in a row. There were very few witty remarks and even less banter with the audience as they tore through the forty odd song set list consisting of their new album in its entirety and an array of tracks spanning their entire career.
I couldn’t help but dawn a smile on my face every time I heard Jerry Only scream his signature “1, 2, 3, GO!” and I’m sure every other person at the Hi Fi did the exact same thing. The intensity of their playing and vibe has clearly not diminished at all over the years. It was almost surreal.
The five song encore commenced with Descending Angel after Only payed his respects, dedicating the song to “the fiends who had fallen over the years”.
The mood, although not for a moment down, was lifted by Hybrid Moments, Saturday Night, Attitude and last but not least Die, Die my Darling to close the show before Only climbed into the crowd and handed out high fives to anyone who wanted one, which naturally was almost everybody. The energy they left the crowd with wasn’t easily forgotten as hordes of fans poured out of the venue chanting the lyrics to songs like Where Eagles Dare or We Bite! almost as if they were hymns or anthems.
I’ve been to a countless amount of gigs, shows and concerts in my lifetime and I can safely say with no regrets that The Misfits stood head and shoulders above the rest. If you ever have the chance to see them live, do it. It’s a decision you won’t regret and a performance that will last with you for your entire life.
Rohan McDaniels