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| THE BRIEFS DRONGOS FOR EUROPE Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK Friday 21st September 2007 £16.00 30 years since the summer of hate and the 30th year of stage paint, skull duggery and the greasy fringes of New Yorks Misfits. The band are on a worldwide tour to set their 3rd decade reign in blood. I think its the first time they've ever played Wolverhampton to my reckoning? And could very well be the last, as time certainly aint on their side. A positively apathetic turnout (my ticket read 450 when i bought it 6 hours earlier in the day) for tonights show, and there wasnt a significant last minute rush either. It was comfortably full with a more metallic vibe than you'd expect at a regular punk show. Maybe Wolverhampton is a bit late in the game to catch onto Misfits hysteria which has seen some of their Mexican shows selling out on this tour. Or was it as per usual the positively shitty publicity this venue gives to their punk bookings. I seen a solitary Misfits poster splattered on the bus station about 6 weeks ago and I was gonna photograph it for posterity, but it was flyered over the next day! Well enough moans from an punk trainspotter. I was more concerned in what I was gonna get for the £16 quid entrance fee tonight. I was also aware things could be running early with the Wulfrun Halls pubescent ights out policy, and learnt my lesson fast after being caught out at the previous gig in this barn of a venue. The Drongos however had been and gone well before my arrival but Tommy Drongo seemed pleased at their reception when I spotted him later on by the merchandsise stall. I got here around 8 just in time to see the Briefs strolling up on a blacked out stage and plugging in their guitars...great! Its been 2 years since I last caught these punky blighters and was I about to witness another giant killing!? They had a big shiny looking red 'n' black banner behind them this time, and were a definite contrast in their ill fiitting mod suits and flurescent shades compared to the majority of tonights Misfits t-shirt throng. As I jostle for position amidst annoyed looks from the Misfits devotees and attempts to target my zoom lens facility. I'm warned by the stage left security cunt "that pictures aint allowed in this venue". I said "what about those two in front of the barrier snapping away like papparazzi on heat?". And he mumbled "they have press passes". Hmmmm. I was gonna retort "im here to review this gig too y'know and I paid in!" or "better still why dont you go fuck off!" But I could see he was a regimented pre-programmed minion who would've radioed for help and promptly kicked me out the building for subordination at the earliest chance. And besides I dont write for Kerrang! So I headed further into the front row masses to see if I could salvage a better full on shot, and somewhere this barrier sentry could not follow for fear of deserting his post. Luckily for me there were only a couple of Briefs fans jumping around to knock my shots off target as the band lurched into set opener 'Poor And Weird'. As the set progressed I notice a sort of bemused look on Steve E. Nix face as he must've thought this aint quite goin to plan, but what the hell. The sound was great but wasnt somehow registering with the majority of the audience. Which was certainly beneficial for taking shots, but bad for the band. The Briefs are a professionally primed piece of punk artwork visually and sonically speaking. They make it so you don't wanna get a pint for fear of missing something. They were dishing out the goods thick 'n' very fast from their towering repertoire and resorted to the faster numbers tonight probably due to time constraints. I must admit even I thought the crowd should all be jumping around by now, but this aint London and they are still a relatively unknown quantity in this urban ghetto. I'd say 95% of the audience were here for the Misfits, and these energetic young upstarts were a quirky warm up to most. They did convert some im sure but it was a hard slog especially if your staple diet is B-Movie horror flicks. I noticed Daniel J. Travanti was missing from tonights lineup, not quite sure why? But they bought in local Seattle punk Lonny Bristle from the Bristles to take his spot, which he seemed to be doin with relish. Kicks on bass was doing his level best in red and seems to have finally replaced Lance Romance's ghost, while the baby faced Chris Brief sporting a black haircut keeps the solid back beat goin with precisioned rhythm. Highlight of the set was definitely 'Dead In The Suburbs' and I almost felt like it was a private performance with no-one else from the crowd joining in on the chorus apart from me (snigger). A band like the Briefs no matter where you watch em give us 100 percent commitment and deliver everything at such a rate of knotts it could almost become a blur. But these Seattleites display that rare art amongst punkdom, of sustaining the tunes amidst the chaos. And its always a pleasure to see Steve E Nix's very own Wilko Jonson routine performed at such a blistering pace. They bid us farewell with 'Stuck On You' which isnt one of their best tracks from 'Steal Your Heart' album but were gone before you could say 'Dolly Parton'. We didn't get no 'Rotten Love' tonight and I hear this is their last European tour for quite a while as Steve E Nix and Kicks concentrate on their side project the Cute Lepars, who in case you were wondering sound just like the Briefs ha! The Misfits come out to a roar from the testosteroned Fiends present for tonights manifestation. I wasn't quite expecting a 3 piece and it wasn't until the dry ice evaporated that I could tell there wasn't any more Misfits or Ramones for that matter hiding behind the ramparts. These days its left to original bassplayer and longest serving Misfit the slightly overwieght (must've stopped using those streroids) Jerry Only. Who is definitely an icon in his own right complete with panda eyes, that brylcreem fringe and of course armed with a black customized skull horned Rickenbacker bass he reverberates his throb from. He was bedecked in his favourite Misfits t-shirt featuring himself as only acclaimed cartoonist Butch Lukic could see him. He's accompanied by the long haired ex-Blag Flag axeman Dez Cadena on guitar and another ex-Black Flag vet Robo installed on drums. So the NY/CA ratio has been tilted towards California these days,...'Hollywood Babylon' indeed. Between them they produce a metallic theatrical punk noise and kick off proceedings with 'Where Eagles Dare'. It has to be said this is one Misfits song even I recognised, and was good to hear once more all be it very vaguely. However the music and overall appeal of the band apart from a few standouts such as 'London Dungeon', 'Skulls' and the hilariously titled 'Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight' was for the most part pretty basic thrash compared to what they once upon a time threatened to do to us. Songs from the delayed 'Static Age' when the poison dwarve himself Glen Danzig was crooning for em (and rumoured to have been recorded the day after Sid Vicious died), all seem lost in the their modern Orkish rush. Everythings been speeded up to such an extent, its heading for that grotesque new metal hunting ground where old punks seem to go to die. Its a subsonic roar that don't really bare the test of time. They could take a leaf outta the Briefs book on how speed can be harnessed, but try telling a studded old dog like Jerry Only that. He'd probably bench press you against the tour bus for such slander. The Misfis were always a band who looked a lot better than the music they produced. They still look a forboding bunch on stage, but only in a cheesy Panto kinda way. They will however be historically remembered for not producing classic punk but their most iconic piece of art the 'Fiend Skull', which has fronted more t-shirts the world over than probably any other punk band. The newer designed ghoulish backdrop looked a lot more Dungeons N Dragons than a sinister Misfits emblem for this "anniverscary". But these are the Misfits by name and certainly by nature for Mr Only at least. He is totally dedicated to 'Walk Amongst Us' even though his preferred soundtrack fails to ignite the average passerby. Even Jerry's more melodic than expected vocal delivery and that Lemmyesque bass dischord he bashes out, can't bring em outta the primal sludge that dogs their set. A band with this much history makes you wonder why a Misfits record never seems to appear in any classic punk listings? And after tonghts pedestrian performance I soon found out why, they just aint got that killer anthem. Jerry Only left us with a guitar full of busted strings and barely an hours worth of set and a somewhat anti-climatic farewell, but the fans loved it! He did later come out to the barrier to sign tickets, shake hands and mumble sweet nothings for the scrambling fiends, but by then I had a more pressing engagement with a pint of lager elsewhere. PETER DONT CARE |
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