The history of The Misfits is so vast, from their inception in 1977 until their current line-up today, that it is hard to really sometimes wade through what is fact and what is fiction.  Only one book out there really attempts to put it to ink, This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of the Misfitsand it leaves much to be desired because without the true players telling the story, it’s pretty tough to get down to the middle ground that may be the truth.  What can be said for sure is this: Jerry Only is one hell of a nice dude despite his onstage scary persona (to outsiders only).  The Misfits crew has quite the number of friends in each city and is known to host one heck of a gathering in each.  Jerry and Dez are punk royalty after all, Jerry with Glenn Danzig having started The Misfits and Dez Cadena, currently a Misfit, and formerly in legendary Black Flag.  These guys have been in the biz forever, yet still manage to maintain what punk ethics that they can while retaining their sanity.

Pittsburgh loves their Misfits, and each year we usually get treated to them in some fashion.  After we talked to Doyle (Jerry’s brother and ex-Misfit guitarist) when he played with Danzig recently at Stage AE, we can only hope that maybe one day Pittsburgh will play host to Glenn, Jerry, and Doyle at least on the same stage if Glenn decides one day it’s time (and no one is getting any younger, except maybe Doyle!).  Anyways, the current lineup of our beloved Misfits is no reason to scoff regardless, having Eric “Chupacabra” Arce on drums to round out a trio that makes it seem like punk is still where it always was, in our hearts.

With a ridiculously packed set and a completely packed house, The Misfits gave everyone a great time and had us all shouting 1,2, 3,4 before each song, remembering what it was or at least getting a glimpse of what was missed.  The age range was somewhere between 14 and 50, which was really very cool.  These were not chaperones at an Asking Alexandra show, but young and young-minded mingled and moshed together for an evening of what makes us all one in the first place, our love for music and The Misfits.

The setlist was vast but highlights included: “Monkey’s Paw”, “TV Casualty”, “I Turned Into A Martian”, “Attitude”, “Ghouls Nite Out”, “Horror Business” and of course, “Die Die My Darling”.

All photos  ©2013 AWelding and Pittsburgh Music Magazine

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