The Original Misfits

The "original" Misfits add Oakland CA show; "we're not gonna do many more"

The “original” Misfits, which reunites Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, and Doyle, joined by Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, have been playing some shows over the past few years, starting with Riot Fest Denver and Chicago in 2016, and they currently have four more coming up: Los Angeles, CA on 6/28, Denver, CO on 9/7, Seattle, WA on 9/14, and a newly announced date at Oakland, CA’s Oracle Arena on September 11. That one is with Rancid, The Damned and Cro-Mags, and tickets go on general sale Friday 6/21 at 10 AM Pacific, with various presales beginning Tuesday 6/18 at 10 AM Pacific.

According to Danzig, though, these Misfits shows won’t keep happening indefinitely. As Loudwire reports, he gave an interview on Full Metal Jackie‘s weekend radio show, about his directorial debut with Verotika, which premiered at Chicago’s Cinepocalypse on Thursday (6/13); his upcoming album of Elvis covers; and his Misfits shows:

Well, I don’t tour anymore anyway. Maybe I’ll put together like a week or two shows here on the West Coast, or maybe on the East Coast and that’s it. With the Misfits thing, we just kinda got back together and just decided we’d do it here or there, and just not make it a grind kinda tour. We just want to make each event special. We’re not gonna do many more. I know we just announced Seattle and Denver, but I’m pretty sure there’s not gonna be many more of them.

So people should see it while they can because, I know, next year I go out with Danzig again for Europe and may do some dates here in the States. I gotta do a Danzig Sings Elvis thing – select shows maybe around the country. Those will be more special. There’s no seating. It’s all tables. It’s gonna be a very cool kind of old school vibe. This year I’ve got some time off in between working on the movie, so we decided to do a couple extra shows. Then, that’ll be it I think for a while.

The interview comes after legal documents were unearthed about a settlement stipulating, in part, that the band perform a certain number of reunion shows. MetalSucks reports on the contents of the settlement, which came after a lawsuit between Danzig and Jerry Only, and the events leading up to it:

The lawsuit Glenn Danzig v. Gerald Caiafa and Cyclopian Music, Inc. was finally dismissed on May 12, 2016, the same day a settlement was filed with the court. Many of the court documents are sealed and redacted. The last publicly available draft of a Memorandum of Understanding on Material Settlement Terms was filed February 17, 2015, shortly before the lawsuit took a final turn against Danzig. That unsigned draft of the settlement included the following legal provisions, which, to be clear, may have changed in the subsequent year of legal back-and-forth. According to that draft…

– The parties would co-own the classic Misfits graphics (1977 through 1983), including the Crimson Ghost Fiend skull and the Misfits horror-font logo. Jerry Only would receive 100% of the income from “Fiend Skull derivatives” relating to his time leading the band without Danzig after the 1995 settlement, with Danzig retaining 100% ownership of his Misfits designs during that period as well.

– Official Misfits shirts would be available via a high-powered cabal: Live Nation would produce Fiend Skull T-shirts and sell them to Hot Topic.

– Jerry Only and his company would continue to have the exclusive rights to perform and record as The Misfits. For the reunion shows, according to this draft, Danzig and Only would partner 50/50 as The Original Misfits, pay the rest of the band as hired guns, and split the profits.

– This is the important part: according to the draft of the settlement, “The parties agree to perform no fewer than ten (10) Misfits reunion shows to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the band.”

See all of the upcoming “original” Misfits dates below.

Meanwhile, Rancid announced a big tour today with Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, The English Beat, and more.

Cro-Mags also play a Brooklyn show this Friday (6/21).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weyPMIvGFN4

The “Original” Misfits: 2019 Tour
6/29 Banc of California Los Angeles, CA*
9/7 Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater Denver, CO^
9/11 Oracle Arena Oakland, CA%
9/14 White River Amphitheater Seattle, WA^

* – w/ Rise Against, The Distillers, Cro-Mags
^ – w/ The Distillers, The Damned, Cro-Mags
% – w/ Rancid, The Damned, Cro-Mags