THE MISFITS/ EGAN'S RATS
Coronado Theatre, Rockford, Illinois 12/8/07
by Dr. Abner Mality
For
those who are not familiar with it, the Coronado Theatre is truly the
crown jewel of Rockford and one of the few things in this town we can
justifiably be proud of. It is a fully restored "movie palace" that can
stand head and shoulders with any similar structure in the world. This
is the way theatres were before the soulless multiplexes took over. The
Coronado is a grand fairytale palace full of ornate designs, red
carpets, giant mirrors and fabulous baroque architecture. The ceiling
actually has twinkling "stars" that give the impression you are out in
the open. It looks like the kind of place the Phantom of the Opera would
love to lurk around. When I was a kid, Mom took us to see just about
every Disney movie you could think of at the Coronado and I often
imagined I saw masked figures peeking around the empty boxes and
crannies on the upper balcony. The Coronado was a magical place to see
and do anything.
So it was actually a rather fitting place for The Misfits, the ghoulish
punk rockers with 30 bloody years of history behind them, to play. I'll
bet Jerry Only dreamed he would someday belt out "Skulls" in a place
that looked like it belonged in a Universal horror movie. Tonight he got
his wish. But on the other hand, it seemed crazy to have a high-energy
punk band bashing around in a carefully restored historical monument
that more often plays host to the likes of Arlo Guthrie and the latest
version of "Annie". And indeed, there were some definite problems caused
by having a rowdy crowd of punk fans jostling and moshing in the
beautiful old theater. More on that in a bit...
Kicking off the show were Egan's Rats. These guys were fixtures of the
local punk scene for quite a while before breaking up a couple of years
ago. I'm not sure if this was a one-time gig or if they are back to
stay, but based on their performance here and the terrific response they
got from the crowd, I'd say they should make this a full-time
reformation. These guys were terrific and delivered a super high-energy
set of punk that was both raw and tuneful. I'm sure they never dreamed
they'd be playing on the Coronado stage, which offers about 10 times the
room that Mary's Place or CJ's Lounge does. They made the most of it.
What I liked about these guys is that they really mixed things up...some
of the tunes were high speed thrashers, others had a more catchy rock
n' roll feel (without being sugary pop-punk) and one even had a kind of
reggae beat to it. It all flowed real well and frontman Keelan was
really charismatic and personable. The crowd loved these guys and I
certainly hope they stick together and get signed to a label that is
able to push them.
It has been 30 long years since The Misfits rose from the crypts of New
York to terrorize the world with their brand of horror punk. The 2007
version is now down to a 3-piece led by the relentless Jerry Only. Many
die-hards say that the Danzig-led version were the only true Misfits,
but I do not agree. I do admit that the hulking figure of Doyle Wolfgang
von Frankenstein is missed on stage. I did not have terribly high hopes
for this show going in, but wonder of wonders, The Misfits delivered a
pretty blistering set that had Coronado security working double-time to
control the stage divers and moshers and which probably had the
numerous ghosts said to haunt the structure fleeing back to the
catacombs.
The calendar said tonight was December 8 but the stage screamed
"Halloween" with skeletons chained to the amps, jack o'lanterns grinning
on the drum kit and the bony visage of The Crimson Ghost looming above
all. The Misfits are really a band for the kid in all of us that wants
to live in a perpetual Halloween. They are no more threatening or scary
than a trick-or-treater in a sheet and can't possibly be compared to the
more extreme horrors of black metal or death metal. But this is the
band's strength and claim to fame. They have carved out this territory
for themselves and rule it with an iron claw.
Jerry Only does the work of six men as the lead singer/bassist of the
band. He really has to, because The Misfits do lack the presence of a
lead vocalist like Danzig or Michale Graves. Jerry lacks some of the
smoothness of those guys on vocals but brings more of a snarly punk
atmosphere. The guy is all action and stalks the stage like a panther,
connecting with the crowd and hitting all the right poses. The band now
has ex-Black Flag Dez Cadena on guitars and sometime lead vocals.
Musically, Dez cannot be faulted, but he just does not have the same
presence as a Doyle and that's something that can't be denied. Drummer
Robo was a real powerhouse,though, and held a thunderous beat throughout
the whole set. He lent his talents to the classic "Earth A.D." disc and
now seems back in action to stay. I found it curious, though, that he
didn't have the traditional ghoul make-up either on "Earth A.D." or
tonight.
Almost all of the early set was fast, ripping stuff from the band's
earlier classics. Stuff like "Teenagers From Mars", "Skulls", "I Turned
Into A Martian" thrashed out in a frenzied blur, leaving hardly any room
to breathe. It's simple and simplistic stuff but it strikes a hell of a
chord. The mass of fans up front became a churning whirlpool and stage
divers started to make an appearance, causing chaos amidst the yellow
shirted security. I can see it both ways on this issue. The Coronado is a
historic and valuable venue that is not really suitable for kids
jumping all over the place and jumping off the stage into the midst of
expensive chairs that are likely over a half-century old. So I can see
it as justified that security would try to stop that sort of activity.
Nonetheless, it was pretty comical watching them frantically trying to
nab kids in the act with fresh incidents popping up all over the place.
One security dude who had to be as wide as he was tall was huffing and
puffing in the pit trying to catch one daredevil who did a pretty
impressive cartwheel/stage dive. "Let the fat man go!" came a yell as he
was surrounded by a swarm of kids. That led Jerry to briefly stop the
show and tell the kids to let the guy go and knock it off. It seemed to
work for a while, but this crowd was rowdy and ready to rock. One
teenybopper even jumped up on stage to give Jerry a hug and kiss, which
he seemed rather nonplussed about. I suspect the powers that be will
think twice before booking a hard rock act into the Coronado again.
The second part of the show focused on some more recent Misfits classics
from the Michale Graves era like "Psycho", the super-catchy "From Hell
They Came" and anthemic "Dig Up Her Bones" which had most of the crowd
singing along. It's good to see the kids were not prejudiced against
these later tunes as some hardcore Misfits fans have been.
Tonight's gig was a benefit for the N-Factor organization, which is
devoted to curbing Rockford's rampant truancy problem. Jerry gave a nice
speech talking about how he worked hard to play this show for Rockford
and how you can achieve anything if you work hard enough and ignore the
nay-sayers. He also gave a shout-out to the ever-present Rick Nielsen of
Cheap Trick who gets himself mentioned at every rock show in town as
well as his own son, who was in the audience.
Misfits put the exclamation point on the night by playing the expected
classics like "Last Carress/Green Hell" and "Die, Die, My Darling" which
brought the stage divers out again as security watched helplessly.
"Die, Die, My Darling" is just one of the catchiest and most addictive
punk tunes ever and Jerry barely needed to sing it. After the final
cut, Only came out and spent a good 10 minutes shaking hands and
greeting the fans, joined by a rather exhausted but smiling Robo. I love
to see that kind of bonding between bands and fans.
This turned out way, way better than I thought. The Misfits threw down
as much as they can these days and a hot crowd responded in good
fashion. I would have paid $10.00 just to sit in the Coronado like I did
in my childhood. Tonight, the theater was haunted by the specter of
rock and roll and I hope the old girl weathered the storm alright.
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