The Gaslight Anthem, New Brunswick’s own, talk swooping in to open for the legendary Misfits.
In December of 2008, The Gaslight Anthem, enjoying the ride of The ’59 Sound, opened for their longtime New Jersey punk rock heroes, The Bouncing Souls. It was the Souls’ annual Home for the Holidays series of shows in Asbury Park.
That following June, they were joined on stage by one Mr. Bruce Springsteen, potentially the greatest musical storyteller of our time, at the Glastonbury Festival in England. The next night, they opened for The Boss at the Hyde Park Calling Festival in London.
“We had this conversation about how we’d opened for the Bouncing Souls; we opened for Springsteen. What other iconic New Jersey bands could we possibly play with?” says 42-year-old Benny Horowitz, drummer of the Gaslight Anthem.
On July 8, the Gaslight Anthem will open for the legendary Misfits, all natives of Lodi, at the Prudential Center in Newark. “It feels like a right of passage. Now the puzzle is complete,” says Horowitz with a grin. They will also be sharing the bill with LA punk stalwarts Fear and Mourning Noise.
While most mainstream culture knows the Misfits via the ubiquitous fiend skull logo that has found its way beyond t-shirts to diaper bags, cans of lager, and imitation Ugg boots, the rock world knows them as the horror punk band founded by Glen Danzig in 1977. Their first two albums, Walk Among Us (1982) and Earth AD/Wolfs Blood (1983) became punk classics, influencing music as well as a subcultural esthetic that still endures. Danzig, whose songwriting, beautifully morbid stories, and powerful crooning had defined them, disbanded the outfit in 1983.
The next several decades of Jersey’s Misfit history might be described as a legacy of legality. Danzig struck out on his own to drive the gothic metal genre in his own dark, mythical image. Original guitarist and bassist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and Jerry Only (brothers) began releasing records and touring as the Misfits with different vocalists in the mid-nineties. Then there was the product licensing that spread like herpes. During all of this, the material released in the early eighties cemented their legacy in underground music around the world as some of the biggest metal acts would pay them homage (and royalties) through well-received cover songs. Doyle and Danzig did play Misfits songs together on tours in the mid-2000s, but animosity between Only and Danzig were as well recited as the lyrics to “Hybrid Moments.”
For whatever reason the old crew decided to get back together, it was welcomed by fans, almost all of whom were too young or not yet born during the Misfits’ monumental output years. Danzig and Only patched things up enough to headline Riot Fest in September 2016 and returned to their home state in 2017 for a sold-out performance at the Prudential Center. Whatever has gone on internally, the band has remained amiable enough to continue playing several arena shows a year – many in the Garden State.
Horowitz is married with two children and lives in Mercer County. When he got into underground music, the Misfits were already somewhat fabled entity.
“They were introduced to me with these fundamental bands like Social Distortion and The Clash. You kind of had the old guard punks feeding it to you, but I was an idealist hardcore kid at 13 and I rejected that. To me, they weren’t a core band. I didn’t want to listen to that. I wanted to go see Strength 691,” he laughs.
However, he came to appreciate the Misfits in a roundabout way, specifically hearing the All Hallows EP by AFI, a band that would later carry the goth punk torch to their own acclaim. Horowitz was in his late teens when he heard AFI’s energized cover of “Halloween” a song originally released as a Misfits 7-inch in 1981 and later on the 1985 Misfits comp, Legacy of Brutality.
He explained, “That song did it. I started digging into the Misfits catalog and history and realized they, too, were from New Jersey. And when The Gaslight Anthem is touring, people always ask us about the Sopranos, Springsteen… and the Misfits.”
TGA bassist Alex Levine admits that he had never heard the Misfits when he bought a tee shirt at Hot Topic around 11 years old. “I was definitely a cul-de-sac punk,” he laughs. “I bought Operation Ivy and Misfits tees because I had seen the logos around. I probably got into Danzig’s stuff first, which is kind of backwards, but then I realized they were a legit band and I loved them.”
Last week, Levine opened Idle Hands Barbershop in Bradley Beach, where he cuts hair and also sells vintage-inspired apparel.
“I would say that opening for the Misfits is a dream come true, but it’s something you would never even dream up. And the way they do these concerts, as a showcase of other bands like AFI and Megadeth. For the Gaslight Anthem to be looked at on that level right where the Devils play is unreal,” he explained.
The Gaslight Anthem – vocalist/ rhythm guitarist Brian Fallon, guitarist Alex Rosmilla, Levine and Horowitz – had a significant rise from 2007-2015 on five studio albums that took them from the New Brunswick basements to global alternative rock recognition. Last year they returned to touring and recently put out the blistering new single “Positive Charge,” with a studio record awaiting release. Opening for the Misfits is just another chapter in their storied Garden State tale.
So, yes, the Misfits broke up 40 years ago and are playing an 18,000-capacity venue this week. Recent setlists suggest they will deliver those foundational bangers like “Hollywood Babylon,” “Last Caress,” “Skulls,” and “Teenager from Mars,” and the rest of the pre-’84 material to a wild age range of ‘fiend club’ folk.
At the Original Misfits reunion shows over the past few years, cell phones and other recording devices have been prohibited. There is no word from the Prudential Center on policy this time around, but it is sure to be a good time (even more so if this is your home state, too).
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ORIGINAL MISFITS TOUR, WITH THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM SUPPORTING, THIS SATURDAY, JULY 8, AT PRUDENTIAL CENTER, CLICK HERE!
