There are concert experiences that leave you with ringing ears, a vid or two on your phone and perhaps a T-shirt. Then there’s GWAR, where you leave wondering whether the colored liquid soaking your clothes will ever come out or stain your car seats. Never mind your hair.
Subtlety has never been part of GWAR’s appeal. The long-running intergalactic warriors of heavy metal have built a career around outrageous costumes, grotesque characters, over-the-top theatrics and an “in-your-face (and elsewhere)” approach to those within hose range. It’s part heavy metal concert, part horror show, part comedy routine, and an excuse for an audience to embrace its inner adolescent.
Hopefully, they understood that before they came.
The stage is populated by creatures that look as though they escaped from a particularly disturbed science fiction production. There is plenty of mock violence, exaggerated gore and the sort of theatrical carnage that would be difficult to explain to someone who wandered in expecting a conventional rock show, or even someone who researched the theme before attending. It’s hard to interpret everything live.
And then there’s the water, colored to resemble blood or spew or… does it even matter? There are the obvious hoses, blood vessels and other orifices in the costumes that, at any given moment, might blast the audience. People on the balcony were “safe,” as were those in the far back. A good measure of the potential danger is how far the venue goes to protect its house speakers and other electronics.
The Masquerade has hosted GWAR many times before, even offering its white logo T-shirts for $12. Because, sure, you can buy a GWAR T-shirt, but proof of immersion is a great souvenir.
It’s all gloriously ridiculous, but GWAR isn’t simply a theatrical act with a metal soundtrack. There’s a legitimate band behind the costumes, delivering a heavy, aggressive performance that gives the spectacle its foundation. The music is loud, muscular and unapologetically over the top, as it should be.
What makes GWAR work is the audience’s willingness to participate in the insanity. Nobody is there expecting restraint or good taste. The costumes, characters and fetchingly absurd stage antics are all part of an elaborate joke that the band and its fans have been sharing for decades. Getting soaked is not an unfortunate side effect but rather band-bestowed badge of honor.
There’s something refreshing about a band that has no interest in appearing cool, sophisticated or particularly concerned with what anyone thinks, even taking aim at a faux-Trump with a gut-wrenching spray.
Not every concert needs to be an immersive emotional journey or a showcase of musical virtuosity. Sometimes it’s enough to turn up the volume, suspend your better judgment and watch a bunch of monsters make an absolute mess of the place.
GWAR.
Mac Sabbath takes the familiar world of fast food and turns it into a heavy metal parody, with Ronald Osbourne leading a cast of twisted fast-food characters through a mashup of Black Sabbath-inspired riffs and lyrics devoted to burgers, fries and corporate excess. It’s absurd, deliberately cheesy and surprisingly committed to the musical joke. The concept might sound like a novelty act, but the musicianship gives it more substance than the costumes alone would suggest. And when he tries, Ronald has the Ozzy mumble down pat.
“We’re Not Going to Shake Shack” and “Paranoid” were my favorites. For those attracted to GWAR or Mac Sabbath, this was an inspired pairing for a tour.
Where the other opening acts lean heavily into character and comedy, Midnight is straightforward, only similar to the other bands in wearing masks.
Midnight is actually a solo project by Jamie Walthers, under the pseudonym Athenar, but taking the music on the road requires a band, even a faceless one. The music is fast and aggressive, drawing on the rough-edged spirit of early extreme metal, with plenty of guitar pyrotechnics to please metal fans. It’s odd to call out a band for being different by performing without the theater, but Midnight was a great change of pace.
X-Cops brings a different kind of theatrical absurdity, presenting a squad of hard-nosed, badge-wearing law enforcement characters with perhaps an unorthodox approach to keeping order. The band, which includes members of GWAR, delivers a mix of hardcore punk and metal wrapped in police-show satire.
It’s fun, and actually kind of a cool way for GWAR members to get some audience face time.
