Prior to the MISFITS‘ April 12 performance at this year’s Coachella festival in Indio, California, Nicole Alvarez of the KROQ radio station asked MISFITS bassist Jerry Only if the band’s legacy surprises him. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Can I be honest with you? It does surprise me. Well, because we didn’t plan on it. When we got together, we were doing it because we loved it, and I still love it.
“I think our legacy is something that’s gonna stand the test of time,” he continued. “I mean, if you look at things that are iconic today, like, for example, if you looked at THE ROLLING STONES logo. And they had said they were playing 50-something years and they said, ‘Well, we’ve been playing 50-something years, but we’ve only actually played two years. The rest is standing around waiting.'”
Reflecting on MISFITS‘ earliest days, Jerry said: ”Well, we used to practice in our garage. And a lot of the bands from the West Coast, like SOCIAL DISTORTION, who was, like, 14 years old, would come and stay at our place. And we pretty much got together through a mutual friend, who was a drummer, and he came up to me and he said, ‘Hey, we’re starting a band.’ It [was] brand new. I was playing bass for about a month. And what happened was that I met Glenn [Danzig, MISFITS singer], and we started rehearsing, and the next thing you know, we put out a record and bingo — next thing we were on the road.”
The initial comeback performance by MISFITS members Danzig, Only and longtime guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein took place at the 2016 Riot Fest. The estranged bandmates played together for the first time since 1983 and were backed by former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Acey Slade.
Since then, the original lineup of the MISFITS has reunited for scattered dates.
Prior to the 2016 Riot Fest concert, Glenn, Jerry and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein last performed together on October 29, 1983.
Five years ago, Danzig told Rolling Stone magazine that he was happy with the way the MISFITS shows have been going. “Shit, we sold out Madison Square Garden,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we oversold it. Back in the day, all the bigwig promoters and record label people were, like, ‘A punk band will never headline Madison Square Garden.’ And, of course, we’re the first punk band to headline there. And not only did we sell it out, we oversold it. So a big fuck you to all those assholes, who are probably selling hotdogs on Sixth Avenue.”
The original MISFITS band broke up in 1983, and Only brought forth a new version of the MISFITS in 1995. Various members have come and gone, but Only, along with BLACK FLAG‘s Dez Cadena, has kept some form of the MISFITS in the recording studio and on the road for most of the last three decades.
In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Only said about working with Danzig again: “Glenn is Glenn. We dealt with Glenn in the beginning and it’s the same dealing with Glenn now. It doesn’t change. It’s just a different perspective. If we let Glenn be Glenn and do what we’re supposed to do, it’s gonna work. You don’t argue with each other. I think we’re over that. I think we’re old enough now.”
Asked what it was like keeping the MISFITS going for 20 years without Glenn, Only said: “There was always that hole. When Glenn split, there was always that feeling we were missing a component of what makes us what we are. And I’m sure the same goes on for him. In the other bands he was in, he’s changed people left and right. When we play together, it’s just us.”
Source: blabbermouth.net
