Mushromhead & Doyle
April 8, 2015
Whisky A Go-Go- Los Angeles, CA
Masked industrial metal veterans Mushroomhead and ex-Misfits axeman Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein teamed up for a string of US tour shows to bring two different music families together for a wild night of punk and metal.
Doyle needs little introduction from his fame as the legendary former guitarist for horror punk legends, The Misfits. Since releasing his first solo album Abominator in 2013, Doyle has been touring regularly to support it. With his band in place, the crowd at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go was ready to take on one of two headliners for the night. Doyle came on stage with his traditional white face paint and signature devilock hairstyle. As soon as they opened with Abominator, the crowd went into a frenzy as they shoved and a mosh pit broke out even with a floor as small as the Whisky’s. Halfway through the show, singer Alex “Wolfman” thanked their current drummer Brandon Pertzborn for making out at the last minute when just the day before, regular drummer Anthony “Tiny” Biuso dropped from the tour for personal reasons. Their setlist consisted of a mix of Doyle’s own material as well as a few Misfits classics thrown in for the Misfits 
fans. Doyle was very energetic on stage as he stomped around while strumming his guitar and doing his signature guitar playing of lifting his arm and smacking his guitar. All that while chewing and blowing bubblegum. Wolfman threw in his own stage presence by being covered in small amounts of blood. Whether they were Doyle fans or Misfits fans, the crowd didn’t seem to mind what they played although The Misfits covers were clearly favored. As they played The Misfits cover of Where Eagles Dare, it was amazing hearing the crowd sing and scream to the chorus, “I ain’t no goddamn son of a bitch!” Or even when they played Last Caress, the crowd waited for the song to get to the quiet part, then all in unison sang “Ooone Laaast Caaaress!” The band finished up the show by playing Hope Hell Is Warm, thanked the crowd for coming, and took their leave. The energy was already in the air and there was still the headlining act left.
Mushroomhead has been around for just over 20 years and have since then built a massive following of loyal fans. In 2014, they released their seventh studio album, The Righteous and the Butterfly. The new album featured the return of original and longtime singer Jason “J Mann” Popson after previously leaving the band in 2004. With his return, the band now featured all three current singers alongside Jeffery “Nothing” Hatrix and Waylon Reavis. Mushroomhead is known for their costumes and masks that often have a grim appearance, but at the same time adds to their show. A packed Whisky a Go Go was filled with loyal and die-hard Mushroomhead fans as you could feel the electricity and anticipation as they waited for their favorite or one of their favorite bands. As soon as the lights turned off, the crowd roared with excitement as one by one, the members of Mushroomhead descended down the stairs and fans could be heard shouting their names as they made their way to the stage. Mushroomhead opened their set with the first single from the new album, Qwerty. One of the most fun things at a Mushroomhead show are the water drums. Members of the band rotate in using them so when they opened with Qwerty, Roberto Diablo and Rick “Stitch” Thomas were the first to use them. The water drums would be hit like traditional drums and water would spray up and anyone near the stage would surely get soaked almost like being at a water park and to add to the 
performance, they would twirl and throw their drumsticks in the air.
While they played their third song Our Apologies, Roberto Diablo helped himself to the crowd by jumping into them and crowd surfing for a bit before being sent back to the stage. The Mushroomhead crowd is truly a dedicated fanbase. The majority of them were trying to shove their way to the stage and/or were singing to all the songs except for one girl that was either a terrible singer or was drunkenly trying to sing along. During the performance of Becoming Cold (216), Roberto Diablo once again came out to the crowd, but this time to stand on the crowd as they balanced him using their hands as if he was walking on people. Mushroomhead followed their setlist with fan favorites like: Bwomp, Sun Doesn’t Rise, 43, and Solitare/Unraveling. As the show was coming to an end, Mushroomhead played their cover of Pink Floyd’s Empty Spaces which then followed up to the finale, Born of Desire. The band all gathered to say goodbye as well as toss drumsticks and guitar picks into the crowd. They are a band that truly love their fans and always give it their all.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
Doyle
Mushroomhead
