I arrive at the old academy for the first time and it feels just like the old days, the Ballroom is basically the same venue we all knew and loved. As I’m walking down the stairs I hear the old school rock and roll tones of Swiss rockers; Those Furious Flames, who have this quite sparse crowd interested (the reason its sparse is due to it being upgraded to the main room at the last minute to fit the Misfits stage set up). The band play out some great riffs and solos with gruff vocalist Yari Copt who is trying his best to get the crowd motivated! They sound good, but I think it's the wrong crowd, if it was a Slash or Theory of a Dead Man gig and the like, they'd go down a storm, but it's not punk and so it just fly’s over people’s heads.
The set comes to an end and the usual change over happens, during this time the main support JuiceheaD come out and start setting up ready for their set, the lights stay up and as soon as there finished setting up they just start plying which is a big surprise to both me and the crowd as I run down to the front to grab some snaps. They play fast and loud, with screechy grinding guitar with a nice plodding bass and great fast drumming, you can tell the night has settled in as the crowd get into they're punky tones. It's been a while since I've seen an old school punk band, and Juice Box, despite being formed in 2003 are rocking out like they’re one of them! They’re signed to The Misfits own label and you can tell they’re taking notes from them. They blast through a set of about 12 songs all a few minutes long with hardly any talking in between, this band are here to get you hot and sweaty and rocking out and they certainly do that with every song being as full paced as the last, it's brutal its unrelenting it's Juice Head!
The lighting darkens as the Misfits stage is being set up, their mic stands have huge black bags covering them and the back of the stage is covered in a huge sheet. With all this mystery and having never seen them before I’m eager to find out what's underneath and what's going to unfold!
The lights go off and the roadies unveil the items under a cloud of darkness. There’s a sound of thunder and the lights flash in the centre of the stage like lighting revealing a huge castle set up for the drums with skeletons hanging from the mic stands! The drummer comes out and drums in the rest of the band who burst into over an hours’ worth of none stop songs! I wish I knew more Misfits than I do because I have no idea of the set list, there only seemed to be one on stage and that was hidden at the back and was three pages long! They sound great and play there unique undead punk music that gets the crowd going mental! Jumping around, moshing, shouting, screaming, blood sweat and tears! You think metal gigs are brutal come and see the misfits and you get it all! Its 30 years down the line and they sound just as raw and uncut as they ever did. This is punk from the roots up, simple riffs with the occasional solo, in your face attitude and a haunting and powerful vocal style! I'd read reports before tonight that the misfits had lost it, due to line up changes and the age of the band, but I can say for sure that they've still got it and will continue to have it until they change line up. They're truly outstanding and a massive influence to any upcoming band, whether it be punk, pop, rock or metal as they put on a great show which is made up off; an impacting stage presence, an awesome lighting set up, they’re really passionate and most importantly they sound great!
Overall no-one is disappointed and this once sparse room have now all come together to support this legend of a band! I don't really have a bad thing to say other than, I would have liked a bit more talking between songs, but when you have as many songs in a set as they do, you can really forgive them for just wanting to get out there and play some punk!
Those Furious Flames 2.5/5
JuiceheaD 4/5
Misfits 5/5
