By Andrew Bansal
April 8th 2015, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Even though the name Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein does not need much of an introduction to fans and followers of punk and metal, in 2013 the guitarist began an eponymous solo project in an attempt to branch out beyond his association with the Misfits. Doyle released his solo debut album ‘Abominator’ the same year, and has been playing shows with his own band ever since. Following a run of headline gigs, he joined up with masked industrial metal veterans Mushroomhead to open for them for a string of shows. The first of two Southern California appearances as part of this tour was at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood last night and attracted an excellent turnout.
At around 10 PM, Doyle and his band hit the stage and played a 45-minute set that exceeded all expectations. The handful of Misfits classics they played were unsurprisingly well-received as fast mosh pits accompanied each of them, but the ‘Abominator’ material was not far behind by any means. For a person like Doyle, it’s always going to be hard to break out of the Misfits mould and get noticed to the same extent for his own project, but attendees getting their first taste of ‘Abominator’ were genuinely impressed by the quality of the tunes, which are decidedly more metal than anything he’s been involved with in the past. Besides, the strength of the performance really brought them to life and Doyle’s guitar tone in particular, emanating a great ‘clean distortion’ style, is a huge factor in the band’s on-stage success. Doyle’s band clearly puts on an excellent show and musically has what it takes to stand on its own.
Interview with Doyle coming soon
Headliners Mushroomhead hit the stage at 11 PM. I had never seen them before and my expectations were very low. As it turned out, their style came across as much too ‘industrial’ for my taste, and I could not hear any of the guitar over the heavy synth and percussion layers. Plus, the usage of three non-instrument playing vocalists was a huge turnoff for me, and no band should really need three vocalists. In my opinion, this is just industrial music, not industrial metal. Since industrial music is not my area of expertise, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that people should not go see this band, as people in the crowd seemed to be having a great time during their set, but I can safely say they are not my thing and I’ve seen them enough already.
With that being said, this was another worthwhile outing at the Whisky, albeit for Doyle’s band alone.
Doyle remaining tour dates w/ Mushroomhead:
4/09 – Santa Ana CA @ Observatory
4/10 – Fresno CA @ Fulton 55
4/12 – Portland OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
4/13 – Seattle WA @ El Corazon
4/14 – Spokane WA @ Palomino
4/15 – Billings MT @ Pub Station
4/17 – Denver CO @ Summit Music Hall