A WVRockscene Special Series: Our Stand Alone Page Collections

10.30.2008

A Night Out With The Renfields

Saturday night, we got to catch one of our favorite bands, thanks to Kasket Entertainment. The Renfields brought their Transylvania pogo punk stylings and re-animated lineup to the Blue Parrot in Charleston for Kasket's Halloween show & costume party.

The last time Vincent and crew came to town was last December, and since then the lineup has basically changed in its entirety; there are new versions of The Fiend, Jaymee Lee, Set Ramses (we can't tell) and Dr. Von Renfield IV looked like Dangerkat's drummer. We spent some time talking to our werewolf friend and crowd control specialist in the band, Lucio, who danced around the crowd and humped the amps while the band was onstage.

The one thing that hasn't changed is the frontman; The Abominable Vincent Renfield is still leading Team Transylvania. After saddling up at the bar with a pitcher and watching some of the OSU-PSU game, and talking with our good friend Mark (who was there to help film), we talked for a while with Vincent, one of the nicest, coolest dudes we've came across.

We talked about the new lineup and equipment (the band, this time, ran samples through the PA; very cool), with Vincent explaining that instead of making a new CD, they spent the money on equipment instead to make the shows rock more. Mission accomplished.

The Renfields @ the Parrot 10.25
“The Incredible Melting Man”

With Kasket booking local hip-hop rabblerousers Meuwl and B-Rude, and White Mic from Holla Boy, we were treated to some hip-hop before the pogo punk. There were several cool people we knew from DuPont H.S., including Scotty Reeves and Puff, and we ran into Jeff Doss and Mr. Ledbetter too. 'Twas like a mini-high school reunion, but with only cool people.

It was during this time that we sat around talking with Vincent near The Renfields merch booth. We explained to Vincent that The Concept, specifically Dave, whom we'd talked to the day before, very much wanted to catch the band again, but they were up in Pittsburgh for a show with The Composure. Since The Renfields played last, it gave us more time to consume our favorite legal beverages and explain ourselves to people who just aren't satisfied with our coverage of the local scene in other outlets. Sorry.

After all this time it was time, finally, for The Renfields to play. Running through favorites like "Phantom Hearse," "A Creature Walks Among Us," "Slumber Party Massacre," "Black Christmas," and, of course, since it was a Halloween show, "Halloween Night" -- in case anyone did not know how to spell Haddonfield, now ya know! Awesome!

But it seems like no matter how many Renfields CDs we get, or how many uber-catchy, mono-recorded songs they put out, no song is more killer than the punk rock epic, "Prom Night." It was all we could do to keep still whilst filming; trying not to jump up and down or run into The Big Bad's bassist, The Colonel (who was down in front rocking out with us), was tough, as our amateur footage will clearly document.

The Renfields “Prom Night”


But the coolest thing was getting to see one of our favorite bands. Even though we don't really like scary movies, we love The Renfields. Even though they didn't win the costume contest, they are number one with us. We hope they come back soon.

“Renfields Mania”

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