 Not only was this one of the best shows
I've ever seen, it's also one of the cheapest shows! I went to
the Machine Shop for the first time with The Three Mikes, we all knew it would
be good but didn't know it would be this good. Playing on borrowed equipment due
to the theft of all their gear earlier in the tour.. Michale Graves, J-Sin Trioxin, J.V. Bastard and Matt Johnson put on a flawless show. Everyone was
incredibly tight, Michale was still jumping and stomping and sounding simply
awesome. J-Sin Trioxin
looked like a cross between Doyle and Mike Ness, J.V was simply intense,
attacking the songs, hunched over like some sort of monster, Matt pretty much
beat the drums and looked pissed.They ended up playing songs from various eras of Graves' career. "American Psycho" started up the set with a huge sing-along as various people in the front row began to shake the guard.. chain as if they were an army of Ultimate Warriors. "The Punk Rock Is Dead" songs sounded great, the whole album was pretty much done, other than Queen Taste and Godzilla... I could have gone for Queen Taste, oh well. Michale sang "Punk Rock Is Dead" in his usual Misfits style voice, whereas on the album he kinda slurs stuff a little, it sounded way better live, especially when everyone screamed the "FUCK YOU" part of the song. There was a lot of improv stuff near the end of "1119", in my review of the album i mentioned the possible Jim Morrison influence, sure enough Michale sang a little bit of "Break on through". The "Web Of Dharma" songs were awesome as well. I heard one of my, and apparently everyone else in the crowd's favorite songs "One Million Light Years From Her" and "Casket". The real ball-breaker of the night was in between songs when they'd tease us by playing a bit of "Attack of the Butterflies" or saying a couple of the lyrics and then never playing it. Jerks. I could have gone for more W.O.D. songs but then again, we would have been there all night if they played every song i wanted to hear. The first half of "Fiend Club" was pretty much just Michale and J-sin with no distortion on his guitar, then eventually everyone kicked in, it made the song a lot more powerful than it used to be, and it was his way of saying that other people are just in it for the money, without pointing fingers. "Helena" was great, everyone loves that song with good reason, it kicks ass. And this rendition was no exception. "Crawling Eye" caused another of the "Ultimate Warrior Crowd Effects" i mentioned earlier. They ended this set with another of my favorite songs "Saturday Night", a great ballad about murder, and as usual this song was done perfectly. Michale does a good amount of banter with the crowd, just enough to make it enjoyable. I remember watching Misfits bootlegs and seeing how pissed off Jerry Only looked whenever he started to talk to the crowd. None of that here, it was really great. Another thing I like and find amusing is when a singer will kinda act out his lyrics or the feel of the song. Sometimes it looks ridiculous but even then it's entertaining. I'd also have to add that the entire band just looked like they were having fun. It was as if they really were having a great time on stage. I ended up meeting everyone but Matt, now I kinda feel like a jerk since I gave the other guys a brutalfattery.com shirt. Everyone I met was down to earth and just all around cool. Everyone seemed to really appreciate the fans. This added to the entire experience, meeting one of your favorite performers is always great, but some people come across as full of themselves, Not these guys though. They were all around cool people before and after the show. If you ever have a chance to catch Michale Graves or any of the members' projects make sure you go for it. 
5/5 skullsOfficial Site www.michalegraves.net- Sean www.brutalfattery.com |