The Misfits – JuiceHead – Rodents Of Unusual Size – Joe’s Garage – MBD at The Galaxy Theater – Santa Ana, CA

The high school crowd was in force on Sunday at the Galaxy. A sign of how important all age venues really are. The first band to hit the stage was Mental Break Down. The straightforward no-frills approach to their sound kept the set going really nicely. As an opener they did a hell of a job. The crowd got really into their sound.There were some covers thrown in like the Dead Kennedys’, “Nazi Punks Fuck off”. The band really seemed to get into the groove with this one. There was a whole lot of conviction in the delivery of this song.

Joe’s Garage took the show. Joey Morales has an energy that is hard to duplicate and is rarely seen twice. It was hard enough to get a camera shot of him. Not only did he spaz his way across the whole stage he repeatedly jumped off into the barrier where the crowd was more than happy to sign along. The band was tight, and the sound was on. There is just enough old school mixed in with the new to keep this from being a rehash of everything that has come before them. Their stuff sounds oddly familiar, but that’s just the sign of good songwriting. It made it that much earlier to get into the set.

The mohawked trio Rodents Of Unusual Size followed Joe’s Garage. There was a lot of banter going back and forth from the stage and the crowd, which the other bands had refrained from doing. Despite the heckling from some members of the crowd they still played strong. It didn’t really seem to faze them. Their attitude to it all seemed to be that they are on the stage for a reason and that was play their set. The best way to describe it is a more polished version of street punk.

Hailing all the way from Chicago was Juicehead. Despite being out of state there was a Juicehead tee in the crowd. Juicehead is doing the entire tour with the Misfits. They had a power punk sound, merging on a pop aspect. Guitarist Rob Vannice had a surprisingly big sound coming out of his strat. But major props has to be given to bassist Tommy Kloss. His tone was really tight and percussive and really made the songs pop.

Dez Cadena, Jerry Only, and Eric "Goat" Arce head the Misfits in their current incarnation. The lights are cut and the theme from Halloween is played, there is definitely a sense of ceremony to it all. Robed and masked assistants pull down a curtain to reveal the stage. Gargoyles and skulls adorn the stage. Jerry’s deep and distorted bass creates a wall of sound. Jerry’s delivery is more akin to the Michael Graves era.

When the Misfits play they play loud, even by Punk standards. Be prepared to leave with ringing ears. On Sunday it appeared that they played every single hit. Even some Black Flag songs are thrown in their such as “Six Pack”. Dez does a great job on vocals, his delivery of the songs is deep and throaty. Jerry had two guest singers come out a pint sized little mohawked fiend who did a hell of a job. Zoli Téglás from Pennywise and Ignite also came out and did a couple songs. At the end of each show Jerry stays on stage as swarms of fans crawl over one another to get his autograph, steal his gum, nab is sweaty arm band. It seems like there is going to be 30 more years of the Misfits at this pace.

-Daniel M.-
Big Wheel Contributor

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

Send your comments to the editor HERE