Live Review: Misfits, Graveyard Rockstars, Horrorwood Mannequins, Grimskunk

Looking as though they'd been haphazardly plonked onto the stage, Canada's GrimSkunk were a slight curveball in this predominately horror-themed line-up. Moving between accessible, generic metal, hardcore punk and ska, the band themselves were just as eccentric as their setlist, but they played the oddball part incredibly well, loving every second of it.

Leather-clad and ghoulishly made-up (face paint, fake blood and all), Horrorwood Mannequins set the course for what would then ensue from that point on. However, unlike their horror-punk contemporaries who'd follow soon after, Horrorwood Mannequins weren't all just smoke and mirrors; their stage presence was as big as their appearance would suggest.

Graveyard Rockstars appeared onstage looking more dead than alive – that is, until they began playing their instruments. Without the backing of their raucous goth-tinged horror-punk, the outfit were completely devoid of any charisma whatsoever. Seldom did the frontman speak between songs, and when he did, it was surprisingly soft. Performing, however, he became swept away with the grandiosity of each track and matched the vigour of what was being played.

Prior to the show's commencement, an angered fan had insisted that his ticket be refunded, complaining that the show he was about to see “[wasn't] actually the Misfits”. Irrational, maybe, but by the end of their set there appeared a glimmer of truth in his slurred complaint. Albeit slightly weathered and aged, the aesthetics of the outfit were on point, but for all his spikes and studs, frontman Jerry Only didn't quite have the attitude to back it up. To the remainder of the audience, their non-committal performance was of no concern –­ they were there to sing along to the songs they love so dearly.