Web: gwar.net
Contact: freeman@freemanpromotions.com
Players: Blöthar the Berserker, vocals; Sawborg Destructo, vocals; Balsac the Jaws of Death, guitar; Bonesnapper, backing vocals; Beefcake the Mighty, bass; Grodius Maximus, guitar; Jizmak Da Gusha, drums
Reviewing a GWAR performance as if it’s just a regular gig is practically impossible. GWAR is many things: theater, satire, slapstick, puppetry, and, yes, a great metal band too. The band’s musical prowess, their collective chops, often gets lost in an avalanche of prosthetic limbs and a sea of bodily fluids. But make no mistake, these costumed beasts can play.
The show at the Belasco in L.A. was opened by Australian grind band King Parrot (great music, silly name) and Soulfly (featuring Sepultura, Nailbomb man Max Cavalera). Both were solid; Soulfly has bangers like “Eye for an Eye” to pull out of the ammo sack, genuine crowd-pleasers that got the Belasco bouncing early.
But nobody steals GWAR’s thunder, not even a metal icon like Cavalera. From the second that GWAR walked on stage and smashed into “Fuck This Place” from 2017’s The Blood of Gods (their first album without deceased frontman Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie), the Belasco was awash with chaos. “Crack in the Egg” from the ’92 semi-classic America Must Be Destroyed was next, a song that results in the birth of GWAR’s dinosaur buddy Gor-Gor.
A giant red dinosaur is just the start of the shenanigans. During “Have You Seen Me?,” an ICE agent was revealed to be a massive, walking penis and then chopped in half with a chainsaw. “I’m in Love (With a Dead Dog)” saw the blood of Kristi Noem’s shot dog sprayed over the crowd, before Noem herself was dispatched. During “El Presidente,” Trump (renamed “Fatass Orange President” here) got his torso ripped off. And “Mother Fucking Liar” saw Bill Clinton decapitated while reading from the Epstein files. Nobody is safe.
But again, the music shouldn’t be forgotten. “Hate Love Songs” from 1997’s underrated Carnival of Chaos showcased GWAR’s punkier side. The aforementioned “I’m in Love (With a Dead Dog)” is from the ’88 debut Hell-O, and it remains a set highlight, as does “Sick of You” from 1990’s brilliant Scumdogs of the Universe.
While a GWAR show is a gore-soaked affair (literally—getting covered in fake blood makes for a good night for GWAR fans), this really is all about silly fun. It’s like going to see Evil Dead: The Musical (although GWAR predates that production by many years).
You just have to enjoy the carnage, and laugh. Or don’t—GWAR doesn’t give a shit.
