My blogging career started on Livejournal, oh so many moons ago. I no longer use Livejournal, but I have archived all of my entries and occasionally check them out. This is a post I wrote nearly six years ago in March of 2014 about the epic Heavy Metal band Gwar. The frontman for an indescribable band had passed away.
Years ago, and Imma talkin’ ancient history, I went to see my friends band Operation Ivy play at a club called The Berkeley Square. They played a great show in a packed club.
The thing was they were opening for another band, which I thought was kind of odd. Operation Ivy were pretty much punk gods by then. I never heard of the band they were opening for, and I didn’t know anything about them at all, nothing whatsoever. After Op Ivy played I decided that I was kind of tired, and if the headlining band was just okay or wasn’t that good, I would go home early.
I was not even remotely prepared for what was going to happen next.
The headlining band was Gwar.
They came out in outrageous costumes, every one of them. Even their roadies were dressed up in loincloths and warpaint. They had all kinds of props and they played out gruesome skits during the show. They chopped off fake limbs from dancers that came out onto the stage. The lead singer had a huge black main of hair, which he ripped off at one point to reveal a large rubber brain, and then he reached into his brain and pulled out green stuff that he threw at the audience.
Just to give you an idea of how elaborate gwar gets, a quick viddy from one of their shows!
To say that many of the things they did was NSFW is kind of a massive understatement. They were outrageous on an epic scale. If you were even within a few feet of the stage you were going to get hit with fake blood or some sort of fake goo. When I ranted about what an awesome band they were to my friends the next day, they asked what they sounded like. I had to admit I didn’t remember any of their songs. The stage show was everything!
And I saw Gwar for the first time the only way anyone should have seen them: Completely unsuspecting and ignorant of what was about to happen. One moment I had been contemplating going home early, and I ended up with my jaw on the floor for the whole show. I am so lucky I knew nothing about them before seeing them play. The best club experience ever!
Rest in pieces, Oderus Urungus, in that great dive in the sky!
Another show video:
And here’s an entire concert video which is much better quality than the first two videos on this post. (Actual camera people rather than cell phone videos):
Bonus video: A young girl interviews the band’s guitar player.
