After 33 years of bitter acrimony and arguments over Ugg boots and bucket hats, horror-punk legends the Misfits reunited in full for the first time this year, performing RiotFest shows in Denver and Chicago. But despite bassist Jerry Only’s fervent hopes—expressed in a recent Rolling Stone interview, taped after the band’s show in Denver—it sounds like Glenn Danzig feels that those two reunion shows are enough to keep the band’s legacy going for another 30 years.
That’s per a recent New York Times piece, in which Danzig definitively called the band’s Chicago set its “final” reunion show. (That’s counter to Only’s stated hopes that the two performances would serve as a “warm-up” for concerts in New York, L.A., and possibly even Europe.) Danzig sounded positive about the shows—describing the elaborate stage productions and the “ritual” of audience participation—but also said that fans shouldn’t hold their breath for any more Misfits music any time soon. “If there’s going to be another Misfits record, I’d probably have to write the stuff,” he said. “And I’ve got a full plate, so I don’t know.” (He also dismissed the Only-fronted version of the band that’s been touring for the last 20 years, saying simply, “The Misfits broke up.”)
During the Rolling Stone interview back in early September, Only told reporters “I want it to continue. I know [guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein] wants it to continue. I know Glenn wants it to continue.” It’s not clear if the situation between the band members has changed in the subsequent weeks, or if the Misfits are just preparing to embark on yet another of their signature bouts of angry miscommunication with themselves.