The Original Misfits at Sonic Temple May 17 2024

  Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus Ohio. First time at this one. And from what I experienced, it was a very well ran event. I had some hesitation about going to this one. Not because of any of the bands or the event itself. Just that my daughter was only a few weeks away from having my first grandchild. And Columbus is about 3 and a half hours away from home. With me on this trip was my Son in Law Kaden and his hetero life partner Cyin! A little backstory here. My Daughter and Son in Law had gone to see the Original Misfits at Riot Fest in Chicago back in 2022 (WITHOUT ME). They enjoyed themselves during the day long festival, but it was a hot one that day. And my fair skinned daughter got very sun burnt and with a touch of sun poisoning. She started to get sick right before the Misfits took the stage, and they had to leave. He  never even heard one note! So when I heard that the Misfits were going to play another Midwest show, I wanted to make it up to him. So off we went. Only there for Friday.

 The show mostly consisted of punk bands with some metal thrown in. I only really knew 3 of the bands playing, but Kaden and Cyin knew a lot of them. So I followed them around for the most part. I was not going to make them stick with me and force them to watch the bands I wanted to see if there were bands they wanted to see on at the same time. 

 We hit the gates at about 12 noon right when Gel was starting. Not a band I know, but it was one Kaden was wanting to see. They were good. Pretty heavy! I can't find a set list for them.

 After that, we got a bite to eat. That might not have been the best thing to do. More about that later. We decided that most of the early bands they wanted to see were all on the Cathedral Stage. So up next, Scowl. Another band Kaden was wanting to see. And again, pretty heavy. Both these bands fall under the "hardcore" genre. That, I'm not so sure about. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they aren't, and they were heavy, I guess I just have a different image in my head of what "hardcore" is. 

 The set list is as follows

1.Opening Night 2.Shot Down 3.Pretty Selfish Cretin 4.Psychic Dance Routine 5.Wired  6.Dead To Me 7.Roots 8.Seeds to Sow 9.Retail Hell 10.Trophy Hunter 11.Sold Out 12. My Turn 2 Play 13.Fuck Around 14.Four Walls 15. Bloodhound

 At this point, we walked around a bit and took some pics before we made it back to the Cathedral Stage. 

 Up next, Terror. Again, not a band that I had heard of before, but they fit the image in my head of what a "Hardcore" band should be! A lot of energy and great sound!

 1. One With The Underdogs 2.Spit My Rage 3.Stick Tight 4.Boundless Contempt 5.Return to Strength 6.Pain Into Power 7.Overcome 8.Can't Help But Hate 9.Keep Your Mouth Shut 10. Keepers Of The Faith

 After this, we split up for a while. The boys wanted to see Kublai Khan TX and I was making my way in to the Temple to see Anthrax! The only problem was that there was some time to kill before they went on. But I had a plan. As soon as the band before them finished and everyone was headed out to the bathroom or to see other bands, I would make my way forward. And it worked! I wasn't on the rail, but I wasn't that far from it! I was close! And after having to sit through Dirty Honey (previous band) I deserved to be close! Dirty Honey was kind of the odd ball at this festival. At one point in my life, I might have enjoyed them, but those days are long gone. 

Now this is the third time I've seen Anthrax, but if you have read any of my previous posts, you know I have never seen ALL of Anthrax. My first show, Scott and Charlie were missing. The next time, Charlie was still missing. And this time, it was Frankie Bello that was MIA. One of these days I WILL see the complete lineup! I will say though, if they had to get a replacement for Frankie, they couldn't have done any better. Original Bass Player from the first album "Fistful Of Metal", The man that named the band! and Co-Founder (I think), one of the most METAL humans on the face of the planet!! Dan Lilker!!! This means we also had 3 quarters of S.O.D. on stage. This was also my first time seeing lead guitarist Jonathan Donais. The only constant has been Joey Belladonna. And as always, This band did not disappoint! The only thing I did not like about their set was that it was to short! Here's the set list.

1.Among The Living 2.Caught In A Mosh 3.Madhouse 4.Metal Thrashing Mad 5.Antisocial 6.A.I.R. 7.Got The Time 8.Indians

 I got some great pics being so close, but I had to dodge crowd surfers the whole time. The only downside of being close.

After Anthrax, I have no idea where the boys are. And my dogs were barkin! So I found a nice shady spot to sit and relax since the next band I wanted to see, was not going on for a while. I then started exploring a little. Got a bite to eat and found some more shade to sit in. The sun was really pounding at this time. I then met up with Kaden and Cyin. And Cyin was starting to look a little worse for wear. I don't think the heat, the crowd surfing, and his previous lunch was agreeing with him. He spent much of the rest of the day on the toilet unfortunately. 

 Soulfly was playing as I was waiting for the next band. I've never really heard to much of them over the years despite being a Sepultura fan. Max Cavalera is a beast and I should really look into more of his stuff! I was hoping to hear a Sepultura cover, but they didn't play one. And that's fine. I get it. 

 Up next, Mr. Bungle! Now I've always loved Faith No More and Mike Patton. And I did have the Mr. Bungle album from 1991, but I don't think I got it at the time. Mike Patton and his music is just "different" . I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I think it just took me a while to understand that. All that being said, they were playing most of the stuff from their first Demo that they rerecorded, which is much thrashier! And a lot of "Different cover songs".  Add the fact that he recruited Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo to the band makes them instantly a must see. Here's the set list.

1.Satan Never Sleeps 2.Anarchy Up Your Anus 3.Bungle Grind 4.I'm Not In Love 5.Eracist 

For the next song, Dan Lilker joined them on stage 6.Hypocrites/ Habla Espanol O Muere  (witch translates to Speak Spanish Or Die)  A little S.O.D. humor. 

7.Hell Awaits 8.True (a Spandau Ballet cover! Probably the last song I expected to ever hear at a metal/punk festival!)

9.You Lose 10.Raping Your Mind 11.My Ass Is On Fire 12. Hopelessly Devoted To You (see True side note) And to close out the set with Max Cavalera and that Sepultura cover I was looking for! 13.Territory

After  Mr. Bungle, I think I just headed straight into the stadium to get my place for the Misfits! I texted Kaden telling him where I was and they could join when they wanted. Kaden was watching Rise Against. Cyin was in the port-o-potty! They both decided to head over to the main stage early so as to not get stuck in the back for the Misfits. Cyin had to give in. He headed to the car to lay down and puke some more. I thought I had a good spot right up next to the sound tent, but when the band started to play, everyone in front of us whipped their phones out to start recording video. Now I take the occasional picture, but just having your phone up through the whole set to record some crappy video that you will probably only watch one time in your life is lame! I try to limit the amount of pics I take and just enjoy the show! Which I did! We moved closer and had a better line of sight. Nothing new here, just the same classic songs we all love. What more is there to say!

They played every song Kaden wanted to hear and my job was complete! I made up for his disaster from the first time he was supposed to see them. And I got to see them again too. I just wish Tim would have been able to be there and I feel horrible for Cyin. His ride home the next day did not get any easier either. Maybe if they play close by one more time, I'll be able to make it up to them.

UPDATE!!! 

My Grandson Killian was born one week later! Mom and baby are doing great! Dad is super proud! And you have one set of grandparents on cloud 9!