Coming Out To Play Tonight

As someone who prefers the symphony of destruction from Dave Mustaine's guitar to James Hetfield preaching about St Anger, it took me quite some time before convincing myself to go for Fade To Blackhole on Thursday evening and had to find a way in justifying the $6 that I will be paying for entry.

So like any normal person would do, I decided to scan through the line up that was billed for the event and it did not take me quite long before having my sights set on watching The Misfit Ramones simply because of the name. As superficial as it might sound, I figured that since it takes half of its name from the renowned devilocked fiends, there should be a couple of The Misfits hits that will be played even though it is a Metallica tribute gig. True enough, the trio comprising of Syam41 (guitar/vocals), Justin Ramone (bass/vocals) and Mizar "The Miz" Ramone (drums) played One Last Caress and Die Die My Darling during their setlist which also included songs from The Ramones that were covered by Metallica with the crowd lapping up the frenzy onstage and off it. One might be skeptical that they look nothing like The Ramones or The Misfits in terms of appearance but they are not to be judged from the facade as their quality strums volumes to their showmanship and prominent basslines as opposed to having it relegated to the background instead with the drumworks of The Miz holding the rhythm section altogether.

With that being said, The Misfit Ramones are not just a cover band that can be found playing in pubs islandwide with balding men trying to bring back the glorious days of the past. What I have discovered at the end of their set was a youthful trio who wear their influences like a metaphoric badge on a leather jacket and with their 2nd year anniversary fast approaching with a free gig on June 19 at Chapter 6 studio (along with Frostymug). A band worth looking out for, the spirit of punk and horror still lives in this decade right here in Singapore and with the likes of The Misfit Ramones making their mark, hopefully there are more like minded bands who can churn out songs inspired by groups such as Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 and The Cramps, just to name a few



(Hey Ho, Lets Go!: Syam41, Mizar & Justin of The Misfit Ramones)


(One Last Caress: Justin Ramone giving the crowd a taste of his basslines)