McALLEN — The Misfits delivered everything a punk rock fan could ask for on Monday night — dozens of catchy anthems played at warp speed and blaring from speakers turned up way past eleven.
The influential punk band couldn't take the stage fast enough as the crowd of close to 400 at McAllen's Cine El Rey chanted for current members Jerry Only, Dez Cadena and drummer Robo for almost half an hour.
Members of the mostly young crowd immediately started singing, dancing and crowd surfing once the curtain dropped and a ghoulish-looking Only grabbed the mic.
Sporting his trademark uniform — black boots, tight jeans, a cartoonish studded black leather vest and a flipped-down mohawk — front man Only pounded through dozens of Misfits standards on a pointy bass guitar. Only and guitarist Cadena sang from twin mics dressed with plastic skulls and bones.
Drummer Robo could be heard but not seen beating out the rhythm behind an elaborate drum kit flanked by smoke-spouting gargoyles and neon-colored coffins.
The sound of classic punk rock no doubt rang through downtown McAllen and onto parts of North 10th Street. The Misfits burned through well-tested pogo-starters like “Astro Zombies” and “Hybrid Moments,” and their fans seemed to know every verse.
It was a banner night for Chapa’s Bar the Pit Productions and the El Rey, the key concert coordinators known for supporting local music and for luring popular punk acts to the Rio Grande Valley.
Opening acts Threat of Tomorrow and The Livends, both from Brownsville, set the stage with metallic punk and swaggering psychobilly, respectively. Local punk legends Superzero was worth the ticket price alone. The punk en espanol band ran through a short but energetic set of its best-known material.
The local acts earned their keep, but the night belonged to The Misfits. Drenched in sweat an hour into their performance, the band that’s pushing thirty years (though its members are pushing fifty) continued to rock the night away.
It was almost like they believed it was 1977, the year punk was born, instead of 2007, the year punk is downloaded.
