Rock ranges throughout the decades at Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival

Stroll through almost any American shopping mall today and you are likely to encounter at least one teenager wearing a black T-shirt with a day-glow, leering skull image and the name “Misfits” in horror-movie typeface.

The iconic copyright ? perhaps one of the first and most persistent associated with American punk-rock culture ? represents a band founded nearly 50 years ago.

The Misfits headlined the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival on Friday night, May 17, the second of the four nights the event took over the Historic Crew Stadium.

Expanded to four days last year, the program this year included four stages in order to showcase more music. It is the third installment of the fest, which replaced Rock on the Range, the original version of the gigantic metal/hard rock celebration that began in 2007 and ran through 2018.

The Misfits signaled a decided shift this year toward legacy bands. Judas Priest, an English outfit formed in 1969 performed Thursday, The Misfits on Friday, Pantera ? whose original guitarist was murdered on stage, albeit in a post-Pantera group, at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus in 2004 ? was formed in 1981; Disturbed (1994) headlined Thursday and Slipknot (1995) on Sunday.

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Other acts included Cypress Hill (1988), Anthrax (1981), Mr. Bungle (1985), Living Colour (1984), Bad Religion (1980), Helmet (1989), L7 (1985) and Limp Bizkit (1994), scattered among far younger and upcoming talent.

The Misfits’ closing set Friday night never quite rose to the considerable anticipation for one of punk, metal and hardcore’s pioneers, prime creators of the subgenres of horror punk and psychobilly.

The band included founders Glenn Danzig on vocals and bassist Jerry Only, as well as guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.

For a time early on in his career, Danzig left to form Samhain and Danzig. Court action was partly the inspiration for Danzig’s return 10 years ago. Performances by the group have been sporadic ever since.

Over the years, an air of such fetishized mystery has surrounded their rarer releases that a few have fetched five figures. Perhaps that legacy led to unreasonable expectations.

The band sounded tight and energetic, though there was little danger in their lack of spontaneity. The selections ? a generous sampling of their best-known work ? covered all the bases. With little fanfare and to a mostly darkened stage, the group took the stage with “Death Comes Ripping” and followed with cornerstones from their catalogue, including “Vampira” ? about the original “horror girl,” said Danzig ? “Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?,” “Halloween,” “Who Killed Marilyn,” “Bullet” and more.

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Introducing “Die, Die My Darling,” the 68 year-old Danzig said, “This is a love song I wrote a long time ago.” The arrangements didn’t stray, nor did they surprise. The giant video screens on either side of the stage included little or no live footage, only compounding the sense of Danzig and company’s disconnection.

Toward the end of the set, the crowd thinned. Mr. Bungle, which came on a few hours before on one of the three stages outside the stadium, was a very different matter. In fact, the group’s anarchic performance seemed to leave some in the audience not so sure about what they had just seen.

Concocted and led by Mike Patton ? a restless musical explorer who has found vehicles in bands including Faith No More, Tomahawk, Fant?mas and several more ? his work has ranged from metal and punk to avant-garde jazz, ska to shmaltzy pop ballads.

Most of that was in evidence Friday night. It all became a bit challenging to track. A song that began with crashing metal would yield to spacey treated vocals and end suddenly. It was difficult to surmise where one song ended and another began. It was nonetheless a musical adventure, one that was augmented by frontman Patton’s sense of humor, sarcasm and obvious commitment to his material.

To wit, when Mr. Bungle began with crooning ballads such as Spandau Ballet’s “True” and then lacerated them with a ferocious metal attack, it almost seemed part of a whole. A cameo from Sepultura/Soulfly’s Max Cavalera was a special treat.

Code Orange’s crushing hardcore was considerably less stylistically ambitious, though the band created a mighty maelstrom of musical energy. The key in the group’s attack was singer Jami Morgan, a magnetic frontman who alternately sang passionately or growled with the best of metal growlers, all the while pacing and jumping with the energy of a young Henry Rollins.

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The band, which seemed dour and sludgy just a half-dozen years ago, was precise and fevered.

Outside the stadium, lording over what used to be the parking lot immediately south of the venue, the Cathedral Stage was packed earlier in the day for Sum 41. The larger footprint of the venue has been redesigned to accommodate four full stages. The pop-punk band was in its element, treating the faithful to a new song from its upcoming, and “final album,” according to lead singer Deryck Whibley.

In addition to the considerable audience space, the stage broadcast to the festival’s arts and lifestyle vendors beyond. Sunday evening featured a cross-generational lineup that emphasized the musical diversity that is a hallmark of the festival.

Helmet, led by founder Page Hamilton on guitar and vocals, reflected a streamlined version of the genre-bending it began in 1989 while performing on the Citadel Stage.

Hamilton ? a jazz student, as well as a veteran of avant-garde composer Glenn Branca’s guitar orchestra and No Wave group Band Of Susans ? brought an intense, compact echo of the group’s inspirations to the stage.

“Milquetoast” tapped a pummeling beat to carry his and second guitarist Dan Beeman’s alternately sawing and chopping interplay that made the band clearly stand out from the rest of the afternoon’s schedule. “Just Another Victim,” recorded originally with House of Pain, visited the political side of Hamilton’s songs, which are just as often thorny philosophical rants.

Up next on the adjoining Sanctuary Stage ? switching between it and Citadel allowed for very little break in the action ? L7 harkened back to another wrinkle in the musical ‘80s. The all-woman four-piece included original members Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner and Jennifer Finch in a set that skirted riot-grrrl punk, grunge and Runaways-basic rock 'n' roll.

“Sadly, this song is still relevant, though, we wish it wasn’t,” Sparks said introducing “Wargasm,” a particular highlight.

Downright young by comparison, Georgia hard-rock outfit Baroness didn’t fiddle a whole lot with the stylistic recipe, which harkens back to the “heavy music” of the ‘70s. The four-piece did, however, bring a no-frills, at times masterful take to the stage as the sun dimmed in the west.

“Last Word” highlighted one of the band’s biggest strengths, as guitarist/singer John Baizley and virtuoso lead guitarist Gina Gleason mixed and matched their individual sounds and style in a breathtaking pairing.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival span genres