GWAR – October 31st – Summit Music Hall

Estimated read time 5 min read

GWARPhotos by Adam Hughes

The Scene: Like a herd of cattle being led to the slaughter, hundreds of GWARriors piled into the Summit Music Hall on an eerie Halloween night, with little knowledge that they may not be coming back out alive. Demons, zombies,warriors, and a gang of Power Rangers packed the sold-out house in anticipation of being a part of the sacrifice. Black plastic sheets decorated the speakers, stage, and upper tiers, while security guards adorned themselves with emergency ponchos and safety glasses. In traditional GWAR fashion, many of the humans wore fresh white t-shirts knowing they wouldn’t be white for very long. I don’t know who was thirstier for blood — the band or the fans.

Openers: Havok & Decapitated. Denver’s own Havok set the stage for this event, proving that a few broken bones will not slow them down. The band’s lead singer, David Sanchez, has hung up his guitar temporarily to heal a broken arm, but is still going strong, cast or not, pumping up the crowd and bringing the energy. Next, Poland’s Decapitated brought a whole other level of vitality to the stage, with a dark and heavy balance to add to the mix; perfect for those seeking a good mosh.

GWAR: Like the pages out of a Sci-Fi novel, GWAR is Hell-bent on death and destruction of the human race, scouring the globe for the last 30 years in search of blood and space crack, taking many lives along the way as their plot to take over the world unfolds. However, their plan was recently put on hold as they search for their missing front man, Oderus Urungus, who the band claims disappeared with all of their money and space crack. With their enemies bearing down on them, GWAR has embarked on a North American tour in search of their fearless leader, claiming to destroy anybody that gets in their way.

GWAR made their Halloween appearance at the Summit Music Hall as part of the Eternal Tour; the first time the band has hit the road since the untimely passing of their lead singer and founder, Dave Brockie, age 50, back in March. The band has stated previously that GWAR can never die, and they have proven that by continuing on in his memory.

Wasting no time, GWAR opened their set by decapitating a faux security guard and spraying his blood on the crowd while hammering away to GWAR classics like “Saddam-a-go-go,” “Let Us Slay,” and “Bloodbath.” Enter Berserker Blóthar, introduced as a Viking sent from the past via a time-space-continuum, who just happened to know the lyrics and decided to take over vocal duties for the time being. Armed with his “bag of dicks” (sagging udders that spray blood) and battle axe, Blóthar laid into the songs with no restraint,while two other challengers, scumdogs Sawborg Destructo and Bonesnapper engage in their own bloody battle over who should be the new vocalist. To add even more bloodshed to the fight for front man, or in this case, front woman, Vulvatron, the newest face of GWAR, emerged to defeated her enemies with her blood-lactating fun-bags and “to-die-for” looks, whipping the crowd into a huge frenzy.

Because the GWAR quest for world domination has been put on the back burner during the search for Oderus, no celebrities or politicians were brutally slaughtered in effigy, per normal, during the making of this show. Still, the band made good on the promise to destroy anyone in their path, slaying various “mutants” throughout the performance as the crazed fans cheered their support. The band even brought out a giant space-crack rock to share.

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the show was the somber playing of “The Road Behind,” a tribute ballad dedicated to Brockie and the other scumdogs who have passed on (cue ocean of raised lighters). The last time I saw GWAR they played this song in memory of the late Flattus Maximus (Cory Smoot – guitarist), whose loss was already a blow to the Heavy Metal world. But the tearjerker was quickly smited by GWAR’s rendition of The Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls,” melted into their own version of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died” which served as an energetic and fitting conclusion to this epic performance.

The final lyrics read: “Oderus’ boat went up in flames, now all of Valhalla chants his name! Oderus, I miss you more than all the others. I salute you my brother! Oderus died, died, He was all of our friend and he died.”

As the lights turned up and the dust settled down, a sea of beer cans, blood, and single missing shoes remained, along with a few blood-soaked stragglers. You could tell who was having the most fun by the amount of red covering their person. The ones that have seen GWAR before know just where to stand to get their desired effects, and the virgins usually get a nice surprise facial in the form of Cuttlefish secretion. Regardless, even if you don’t like the music, GWAR puts on one hell of a show.

Energy: A+
Musicianship: A
Sound: B+
Stage Presence: A+
Set/Light Show: A

Overall: A 

Adam Hughes http://www.silverandcold.com/

Adam is a Colorado native, raised in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. He attended Colorado Mountain College for Professional Photography, and travels all over Colorado and the United States following his favorite bands and artists. His biggest passion lies in music, followed closely by photography. This is how he found his niche

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