Insomnia/The Misfits

I can't stay asleep anymore and half the time, I don't even want to sleep. I didn't sleep before the show we played last night, and I just woke up at 6:20 after falling asleep at like 2. That's the most sleep I've gotten in a while though so I guess that's good. The show last night/ 7 hours ago was fun. It was really good to play our songs again. We played Children In Heat for the first time ever and it was a blast. I was having panic attacks the whole time before we played though and I was feeling weak and dizzy. Luckily Julia calmed me down and I was able to play. There was a handful of kids there and they seemed to really like the songs from Punch The Clock and since it was our first time playing with Mike in a LONG time, we played mostly material from that album: Keep The Change, Lost And Found, Streetlights, Cyanide, Bushwhacked. The Invasions Of The Mind songs that we played were: Invasions, Hunter Red, Heaven, 400, Hail The Size Of Grapes. So actually that's 5 from each album which makes it an even split. We ended the set by playing Buddy Holly by Weezer for Joe. I didn't know a lot of the words, but I don't think anyone cared, it was fun anyway.

Before the show, Julia bought me this at the store that's connected to Anchors Up (the venue we played last night in Haverhill):


It is one of 2 Misfits action figures that were made by 21st Century Toys in 1999. The one I got last night is the Jerry Only one. I still need Doyle's though. I actually used to have them both but my mom smashed and destroyed them for the most part, and my friends finished the job. Me and my mom used to get in these crazy arguments that would always end up in her smashing all my shit. One of the best parts about finding this toy though, is the fact that they haven't been made in years and I got this one for $14.99 when you can clearly see HERE that they can go for upwards of 200 dollars nowadays. I remember seeing the action figure there when Energy played before, but I assumed someone would have been smart enough to buy it since then, I assumed wrong. Jerry is still in the packaging, the box has been opened but the plastic straps holding the action figure in place are still there meaning that it hasn't been taken out/played with. Upon further inspection, I see that there are other ebay users selling them for way less than that, but either way you look at it, they are being sold somewhere for 200 dollars, and I got it for 15, not bad. I might try and see if Julia will let me bid on the Doyle figurine, doubtful though seeing as she never has ANY money, and is in a ton of debt. It would just be something that would make me feel really good, knowing that I didn't lose those forever. I used to have so much Misfits merchandise when I was younger, it was awesome. I had this lunchbox

which I think I still have, it just might be in storage with all of my other belongings. If I do still have it, it's in perfect condition.

I also have this Misfits clock that I have right in front of me that I need to hang on my wall.

I think I'll do that at some point this weekend.

I was/still am beyond obsessed with The Misfits. There has never been a band that moved me the way that they do. There never will be either. Hmm, while I'm going on about The Misfits I'll try and think of more Misfits stuff I own. I own 12" for: Static Age, Beware, and Collection 2, 7" for: Cough Cool/She and 3 Hits From Hell. I had Misfits shoelaces at one point, I might still have them somewhere. I have my Misfits wallet, Misfits shirts I have are: Earth AD, Halloween, Evilive(white,all over print that turned blue in the wash, and is now unwearable), Classic skull, Classic skull with white stitch, Large print Collection 1 insert pic, and a sleeveless designer/discharge print Bullet shirt. Shirts I used to own included: Legacy Of Brutality, Die Die My Darling, new school Die Die My Darling (20 Years of Terror on the back, acquired this at the show in 1999 at Lupos in Rhode Island with Reach The Sky and Ignite) skeleton bones longsleeve, and I may have had another one of the many modernized variations of the classic skull shirt. I own a Misfits shot glass, and a Misfits ashtray, even though both are useless to me as anything besides collectibles. I own a VHS tape for their video for Scream that you could only get at a show, or when you ordered both action figures. I own all of their albums on cd (Static Age, Walk Among Us, Earth AD, Legacy Of Brutality, Collection 1, Evilive, Collection 2, American Psycho, Famous Monsters, Cuts From The Crypt) except Project 1950 (but that doesn't count). I even own Evilive 2 which was exclusive to Fiend Club members in 1998 less than 4 thousand were pressed, 3 thousand on the color I have(black and white) and 1 thousand on blue. I owned at least one of their leather chain wallets way back before I was a vegetarian(I have since switched to a way cooler looking velcro Misfits wallet made of animal friendly material.) I have had mutliple Misfits belt buckles. Misfits pins I have right now are: Horror Business, Classic skull, Earth AD, Die Die My Darling, and of course, the Fiend Club pin that comes with The Misfits Box Set. I must have owned more in the past, I just can't remember. I own bootlegs of a few live shows on cassette tape, and a bootleg VHS that contains videos of them playing on a local cable access show in Detroit, a show in Boston, the Braineaters music video, and another show. The only show on the tape that is worth watching is the Detroit one, the rest are so badly filmed that it's unwatchable. I have owned the Misfits Box Set twice which includes a 28 page color booklet with pictures, lyrics to every song, and linear notes by Eerie Von.

I know there's more stuff, I'm probably just not thinking of it all right now because of how little I've slept. As far as Samhain and Danzig stuff goes, I own 2 copies of the Samhain Box Set which is long since out of print and includes all 4 releases (Initium, Unholy Passion, November-Coming Fire, Final Descent) plus a double live album (Live '85-'86), a VHS tape of live footage spanning from the beginning of their carreer to the end, the Samhain comic book, and a 28 page color booklet with pictures, lyrics to Initium/NCF, and linear notes from Steve Zing and London May. I had recently bought the Samhain DVD: Live 1984 at The Stardust Ballroom, but it was lost with all my other DVDs. I used to own an Initium shirt, but gave it to Josh, I own a sleeveless November-Coming Fire that fits terribly, I used to own a few Samhain pins, I have an original Plan 9 pressing of November-Coming Fire on CD which had been out of print for years even when I first got it in 2000, the only one of their repressed CDs that I bought individually was Unholy Passion, which I still have. I don't own any Samhain vinyl, I should look into getting some. As for Danzig, I have the classic skull shirt(one with sleeves, one without), Danzig 1,2,3,4p,Thrall,5,6:66, Double Live CD, 777, Circle Of Snakes, Lost Tracks, Black Aria 1 and 2 all on CD, no Danzig vinyl either though. I own both original VHS tapes for the Danzig 1 and Danzig 2: Lucifuge home videos. I used to own both Danzig DVDs with all the music videos, but along with the Samhain DVD, they too got lost amongst all of my other DVDs this past Christmas, shortly after I returned from Europe. I can still buy those in stores though.

The first time I saw The Misfits was in 1999 at Lupos in Rhode Island and I believe I was 14. My dad took me and my brother to see the show. We went out to eat down the street from the venue before the show and as we were eating, Doyle walked in with someone and took a seat right next to us. I was freaking out. My dad said "Hey are you Doyle from The Misfits," and Doyle said "yes I am" my dad then went on to explain to him how much his 2 sons love his band, from what I can remember, Doyle was polite, and talked for a bit. I barely said anything because I was so star struck, it was mostly my dad talking. After he left, I stole his straw out of the glass he was drinking out of (hey, I was 14, and extremely fanatical haha). I put it in the box with his action figure that I owned. The straw has long since been lost along with the figurine. That would be the only time that I would see The Misfits as Michael Graves, Doyle, Jerry Only, Dr. Chud.

Then came 2005.

The following is an entry in my LiveJournal that I wrote on February 20th, 2005:

"the whole day will be spent in preparation for what will be the greatest night of my life on this earth. i will do everything in my power to assure nothing will go wrong, I won't drive(or at least i'll try not to) i will take my plugs out, i will shower right before it, Everything and anything will be done to assure i am in the most comfort, and all around happy for this night....

Since i was little, I have wanted nothing more than to see Glenn, and Doyle(Jerry too, but he won't even join his own brother on stage with Glenn, you know it's HIS fault the "misfits" are still playing out, he just wanted to re-live his glory days as the bassist of the best band ever, and Glenn wouldn't cooperate so he made a mockery of the name, by keeping this embarassment going still to this day...its not the Misfits, GLENN DANZIG IS THE MISFITS)....but yeah....their 55 songs are the most important things to me in the world. from static age to earth ad and everything in between, those are the songs that got me into punk, those are the songs that taught me how to Sing, those are the songs i grew up on.

Ever since i learned how to play the guitar, ever since i learned to hit notes with my voice, glenn danzig and doyle have been the 2 people that i looked up to the most, I am finally going to see them together onstage performing the songs that made me who i am today. it sounds funny but it's true...

If you aren't into the Misfits that's ok, some people just aren't. but if you've never heard them,or aren't into them because you haven't really given them a listen...please IM me ( JasonTankerley) i will take the time out of my week sometime to hang out and listen to the misfits with you because they aren't just punk songs, or some band from the 80's those songs are beautiful amazing songs...I can't stress that enough.

" check out me and mike's acoustic misfits covers http://www.myspace.com/jasontankerley"

I'm done...i have my ticket for Danzig Feb 28th at the Roxy in Boston with Doyle on Guitar doing a Misfits set, nothing can bring me down.

• Mood:indescribable
• Music:The Only Band That Matters..."

The following is what I wrote in my LiveJournal the day after the show: on March 1st, 2005:

"Last night was incredible:

the first 4 songs on Circle Of Snakes were played(Intro, Skin Carver, 1000 Devil's Reign, Circle Of Snakes,

777 and Her Black Wings From Lucifuge

Satans Child from Satans Child

It's Comin' Down from Thrall-Demonsweatlive

How The Gods Kill from How The Gods Kill

Black Mass From Danzig 7

Then Glenn Says "this next part of the set goes out to the crowd..............*long pause*............DOYLE!"

Doyle comes flying out from backstage, wailing on his guitar, everyone starts screaming, glenn then says "ya, NOW im not fuckin gay...this ones 20 Eyes...." and from there they played the following Misfits Songs:

20 Eyes
Skulls
Earth AD
Hatebreeders
Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?
Die, Die My Darling
We are 138

they finished with Twist Of Cain And Mother was the last song of course

Seeing Doyle onstage with Glenn Danzig is something i will never forget.

This was the best time of my life."




It's hard to believe that that was 4 years ago, wow. I remember buying tickets for some people that went, I think maybe Mike Assatly and Jere. I bought them tickets becaue I knew that they didn't know what they were going to be missing. It ended up being Me, Al, Josh, Jere, and Mike that went. I tried to get my brother to go but I forget why he didn't want to. All night we were sitting through metal bands that none of us liked, when Danzig came on it was surreal. I just couldn't believe I was seeing him in real life. Everyone else I was with was never too big into Danzig so they just stayed in the back while I sang along, but as soon as Doyle came out, something came over the 5 of us that I've never before witnessed, and haven't since. We lost our minds. I remember climbing all over everybody and losing my shit screaming "Mommy...Can I Go Out And.....KILL TONIGHT!" and during Die Die My Darling, I remember being on top of everyone and I got within feet of Glenn screaming in his face. That was the most surreal moment of my life. I can't ever remember being that happy, I felt like I could die and I wouldn't care. Even right now when I'm typing this out, I'm grinning uncontrollably. No matter what mood I'm in, thinking of that night brings a smile to my face.

I saw Danzig and Doyle once more at the New England Metal and Hardcore festival, they played the same Misfits songs, minus one (I forget which one), and the same Danzig songs plus Bringer Of Death off of Danzig 4p. It was incredible, but didn't even touch the first time. I don't think anything ever will, maybe if it was Glenn, Doyle, AND Jerry, but I'm perfectly content with what I've seen, and I feel like I saw a Misfits reunion that night.

A year or so ago, maybe more, I have a terrible memory, Danzig was coming through MA again with Gorgeous Frankenstein (Doyle's new band) and Steve Zing from Samhain was playing bass for Danzig. This meant the possibility of seeing Danzig sing Misfits, Samhain(which I later found out he did), and of course, Danzig songs. I bought my ticket and everything, but the night before, or 2 nights before, in Baltimore, Maryland, he fell offstage and injured his collarbone, and they had to cancel.

Here's the video of him falling, it's about 4 minutes in:


I remember Al was the one that told me it was cancelled, and of course knowing Al, I thought it was a joke, but it turns out he was serious. So me, Josh, and I think even Eric was going this time, had to return our tickets and get refunds. I was so mad that I didn't even get mad. People must have been wondering when it was going to hit me, and when I would snap. Hopefully I will get to see Danzig at least one more time before he stops doing music all together.

Wow, it's 9 am. That means I have been sitting here taking my time typing all this out for like 2 and a half hours now. My mom just woke up and I showed her the Misfits action figure I got and she remembered it and seemed excited that I somehow found another one for so cheap. It's trips down memory lane like this that send me on really big kicks of listening to bands, I'm sure this is no exception. During this entry I have already listened to Static Age, Walk Among Us, and Earth AD in their entirety, and I will follow it by listening to the rest of the songs I haven't listened to that are randomly scattered throughout the rest of their releases. I don't think I have any specific plans for today so I'll probably just spend the day hanging out at home with Julia, we'll probably go out and get food at Stop And Shop at some point, and just watch movies all day. I like doing that. I don't relax enough.

Well I guess this is the end of this marathon entry, I'll just end it with this:

The Misfits are the greatest band of all time.