Canceled show leads ex-Misfits singer Michale Graves to lash out about being purged from Pittsburgh

Scott Mervis / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Michale Graves, the onetime frontman for horror-punk band the Misfits, was set to open his spring acoustic tour in Pittsburgh, a city with which he had some history.

Pittsburgh horror master George Romero directed the videos for his songs “Dig Up Her Bones” and “Scream,” and Graves also appeared in the 2000 Romero film “Bruiser,” doing the song “Fiend Without a Face.” Graves also released the 2008 album "Illusions Live/Viretta Park" on the Pittsburgh label Screaming Crow.

After a small firestorm, the tour is now scheduled to open two days later in Akron.

Graves, known for his skeleton facepaint, was booked at Sidequest, the venue that replaced Cattivo on 44th Street in Lawrenceville. Sidequest announced on Feb. 14 that it was canceling the show, posting on Facebook and other social platforms:

“Many of you have reached out to us about the upcoming Michael Graves show and your concern about him being an open member of the proud boys and having values that go against what we value as a community. We booked that show through a promoter and were unaware of Grave's affiliations. We have since contacted the promoter and canceled the show at our location. We apologize for our oversight in this booking and will work to prevent things like this happening in the future. We appreciate you as a community reaching out to us and want to continue to foster an atmosphere of safety and inclusion at sidequest. We look forward to continue hosting shows with artists that share our values and hope to see you all again soon.”

That same day, Graves, who is banned on Facebook and Instagram, posted on X: “Please continue to support @SideQuestPGH even though they have ‘received some calls and negative comments’ about me and decided to #cancel my performance on March 2nd. New venue to be announced soon.”

He followed that on Monday with an X post saying, “And so the show in Pittsburgh, PA has been pulled from the 3rd venue now because of the ‘attacks’ that have come online. I received an email to "stay out of town" How the hell am I supposed to fight this?”

Graves and Sidequest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Graves’ history of fighting goes back to the early 2000s when he co-launched the website Conservative Punk in part to offset NOFX frontman Fat Mike’s Punkvoter.com. Graves appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to talk about the site.

By then, Graves, who joined the Misfits in the post-Danzig era from 1995 to 2000, had moved on to solo projects.

Things got quite a bit hotter in 2020 when Graves posted in support of the Proud Boys, the right-wing organization defined by The Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. In the lead-up to Jan. 6, 2021, Graves posted a flyer for InfoWars Alex Jones’ Rally to Save America, saying he would be there along with “hundreds of thousands of fellow American patriots [to] rally in the capital."

Graves claimed in that hearing that he did not march with the Proud Boys.

In October 2023, Graves performed at Pittsburgh’s now-closed Hard Rock Cafe. Prior to that he had played such venues as Spirit, The Smiling Moose and Altar Bar. Last month, he played the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles.

Chase Ebaugh, of promoter CE Presents, which was trying to book Graves in Pittsburgh, told the PG: “Michale Graves is an artist we have previously booked without issue at other venues. As the booker, I was unaware of any connections to [alt-right groups]. He was booked based on his recognition as the former lead singer of the well-known punk-rock band Misfits. However, upon learning of these allegations, we made the decision to cancel the event. Both CE Presents and The Smiling Moose, the venue which was to host the event, firmly oppose all forms of racism and inequality and will not book or host performers who support these ideologies.”