The Misfits, like the Clash, the ‘Pistols, the Dead Kennedy’s and the very best of the (original) punk bands always had strong messages and beliefs.  If you stripped the messages right down their core themes spoke about sticking two fingers up to every person who believed they had the right to tell you how to live your life.

Particularly in a live setting, it was the intensity and energy with which they played that hammered home this theme, and provided a soundtrack which empowered all listeners to believe that they could (and should) have a voice and an opinion, regardless of their age, class status or lifestyle choices.  Punk is often trivialised in the mainstream press as pointless and disposable.  It’s not.  It’s the exact opposite.

The best part of forty years on from those torch bearers and very little has changed; the old guard still own most of the land, the properties, the capital and the sense of entitlement to be able to tell others how to live their lifes.

The reality of this means that punk is no longer the champion of youth, it’s the soundtrack to people in their middle ages; those who still struggle to find a place in a political system that doesn’t work and with bosses who claim to care but don’t really care what state you end up in as long as the work gets done.

Whilst Biafra and Lydon now use spoken word shows to promote the core values of punk, it’s maybe only Doyle who’s core role remains that of what it was when he first broke through; still playing violent buzzsaw guitar and still pushing physical playing to it’s zenith.  Literally punching his guitar, Doyle displays the anger within some of us that fuels the sound and intent of punk.  It’s fascinating to watch.

The whole show is intense and angry, but it’s the two classic Misfits tracks ‘Where Eagles dare’ and ‘Last caress’ which really light the spark and set the audience off.

Doyle, and the whole band, they meant it man.