Famous Monsters

For our 4th anniverary last month, Nikki presented me with tickets to a Misfits show at the Corner Hotel Bar in Melbourne. She'd been searching the papers the last four and a half years, checking all the concert venues in the city, waiting patiently for the Misfits to arrive.

Last night was the show. Third time I've seen them, and it was by far the best.

The line-up was missing Doyle, but included Robo and Dez, both formerly of Black Flag, but Robo an "Earth A.D." era Misfit. The show opened with John Carpenter's Halloween theme (brilliant) and segued into the Misfits own "Halloween". Barely a second lapsed - long enough for a "one-two-three-four" countdown - between songs, and since Misfits songs are usually no longer than two minutes (three minutes is an epic on scale with "Inna Gadda Da Vida" for these guys), the show lasted only over an hour. Mostly classic Misfits, but they did play "Kong at the Gates/Forbidden Zone" (gotta love a song about Planet of the Apes) and "Helena" from the newer albums. I was particularly happy to hear "Walk Among Us", which is not only a reference to a classic Misfits album, but a musical retelling of Night of the Creeps.

When the show ended, Jerry announced that he'd be hanging around to sign "whatever you got". I was wearing my Crimson Ghost shirt. (And I'm happy, now, to be the guy who wears the shirt of the band he's seeing, thank you very much.) Realizing I'd probably never have this chance again - and if I did it wouldn't be for a loooong time - I said to Nikki, "I have to go." Then I was diving into the crowd, many of whom were leaving, pushing my way through to the front like a salmon.

So I'm up there, waiting for Jerry to get around to our side of the stage, and I saw a kid holding tickets. "What the fuck?" I said. "They kept our tickets." "No," he goes, "They're on the table right up at the box office, you can collect 'em afterwards."

Hmm... So after Jerry signs my shirt (now retired), I dash back to the box office, grab two tickets, chuck my shirt to Nikki, and fight my way back through to the front of the stage. Jerry signs these two tickets and I told him I saw him at the Chamelon (a club in Lancaster, PA), which impressed him a bit.

That is a gift that cannot be beat. The sad bit is, we didn't take a camera because we reckoned they wouldn't allow them in the place. Kicking myself, now, because every third person had a digital camera or a cell phone. But what are you gonna do?