Now Spinning: Misfits, Live at Al's Bar, 1982
I liked doing these with Cassettes that I got, why can't I do it with Records too? Anyway, I was at the Mall yesterday, which had a Pop-up record store, which is neat. Place is overpriced but it's got some rarities which I find interesting. One of which, was this. This is not an official Misfits product. As you might be able to tell form how the record simply has a large 'B' on it to indicate this is Side 2, this is a Bootleg. What's most interesting about that though, is that this is a bootleg from 2004. From Finland, no less. How some dude in Finland in 2004 had a recording of some random Misfits show from a bar in LA from over 20 years ago is a mystery to me, but, that's what makes it compelling. It has 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'London Dungeon' on the setlist, and was only 30 bucks, so, I picked it up. It is obvious, upon listening, that this performance at Al's Bar, one day in March in 1982, was not meant for recording. That is obvious both in the sound quality on this record, and, in the music itself. The music is Loud. The tempo is Fast. The vocals are practically screamed, and you can practically feel the echo of the legendarily crusty dive bar it's performed in. This was not a performance made so that you could listen to it in your living room 40 years later, the goal that they had when they got on stage that night was to make the lovely people at Al's bar that night Fucking go as hard as they fucking can in two-three minute intervals. After a song, Danzig tells the owner to 'get him a fucking beer', they end 'London Dungeon' by declaring that 'England sucks', you can hear the crowd yell and it makes you wanna reach out and punch somebody. A captivating look into a scene that might not be as gone as one thinks. I need to go out more.
