I've been a Misfit's/Samhain/Danzig fan since the mid-80s. Not long after the demise of the original Misfits and the formation of Samhain.
Due to varying circumstances, I've never gotten to see Danzig live. So to be able to see him with Doyle was a must-see for me. Danzig is legendarily temperamental and his history of walking of stage and his recent near meltdown at Fun Fun Fun Fest had me a little concerned. My fears were only partially founded, but founded nonetheless.
There weren't any opening acts listed on the tickets, but there ended up being three. Local band Hammerlord from nearby Lawrence was first, and my favorite of the three openers. You could tell they were genuinely appreciative of the audience and the opportunity and I enjoyed their music. The other two acts, MonstrO and Kyng were both technically proficient, but didn't blow me away. There was some heckling of Kyng as the crowd got to be impatient for Danzig (doors were at 7:30 and Danzig didn't hit the stage until after 11 p.m.). From out in the crowd, it made it sound more like they were heckling the audience. There was some frustration that they couldn't work up the crowd - perhaps as if it were the fault of a backwards midwestern crowd. They are probably unaware that Kansas City has one of the larger hard rock and heavy metal audiences left in the U.S.
When Danzig finally did hit the stage, the crowd erupted with excitement and Glenn Danzig himself came out of the gate strong with Skin Carver. I thought his voice was in good form the first portion of the set, though there were near continuous feedback problems with the vocal monitors.
Once Doyle hit the stage, the portion of the show I really wanted to see commence and we got a rapid-fire 20-25 minute set of Misfits tunes performed with a little bit of fire and in an extremely uptempo fashion. Glenn left the stage several times on and off in this sequence, once again I believe due to monitor issues. Doyle, who I've seen several times with the "new" Misfits put in a solid performance as usual. His huge stage presence and brutal picking style always make him fun to watch.
After the brief but worthwhile Misfits set, Glenn returned to the stage and gave lots of high fives and tossed out water bottles to the audience. I was thinking to myself, "hey, this guy is trying to actually connect with the crowd." Of course the security guards constantly flashing their flashlights at folks with camera phones was a little bit less crowd friendly and my understanding is that this is a Glenn dictated policy. In today's day and age, I think to expect no one to take photos is folly. Cameras are ubiquitous and if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear. Glenn Danzig is nearly 60. Many of his fans aren't much younger. Nobody expects him to be 22 anymore.
During the encore of Bringer of Death and crowd pleaser (and unfortunate frat-boy favorite) Mother, Glenn's voice was becoming noticeably strained and the monitor issues continued, but the sing-along of the biggest mainstream hit of Glenn's career managed to keep things going. As the final notes of the song faded, the band left the stage and the lights stayed down. The crowd cheered for an encore for 8-10 minutes...then suddenly house lights. I guess we got to see (or at least fall victim to) a little bit of Glenn's famous temperament after all.
Judging by the set lists I've seen from other shows, we only missed out on two songs - typically She Rides and Skulls. The former unfortunately being one of the best songs from the Danzig catalog and the latter another Misfits classic. So, it's not like we missed out on a lot of material, but it would have been nice to have heard these nonetheless - especially considering that they have been playing MUCH longer sets at the shows also containing a full Samhain set (this was billed as Danzig and Doyle playing Danzig and the Misfits, so I don't begrudge not getting that material).
It was slightly irritating to be left waiting cheering in the dark for another expected encore that never came. There seemed to be some confusion onstage and some of the band members walked on and off a couple of times, so I can only assume that this was a case where there was some conversation going on backstage about whether this was going to happen or not and in the end it was a no-go. Whether Danzig just felt his voice was done for the night, or the continued problems with the monitors pissed him off is anybody's guess.
I waited 28 years to get to go to a Danzig show. And 4 hours after getting to a Danzig show to get to see Danzig, but overall I had a good time. The Misfits fanboy in me really wants to rate the show 4 stars, but I have a hard time recommending to other fans when you really have absolutely no idea what you're going to get. Danzig loves his Latin, so I'll say "Caveat Emptor."
Uptown Theater @
- Kansas City @
, MO @
- Thu, May 31, 2012 @
Favorite moment: Getting to see my all time favorite Misfits song, Astro Zombies, sung by Glenn with Doyle on Guitar. @
Setlist: Danzig: SkinCarver, Hammer of the Gods, Rebel Spirits, Twist of Cain, Her Black Wings, How the Gods Kill, Dirty Black Summer, It's Coming Down. Misfits set with Doyle: Death Comes Ripping, Vampira, Bullet, I turned Into a Martian, Halloween, Astro Zombies, Last Caress. Encore: Bringer of Death, Mother. @
Opening act(s): Hammerlord (Lawrence, KS), MonstrO (Atlanta, GA), Kyng (Los Angeles, CA) @