GWAR Revisited - Nashville, TN

Monday, April 22nd, 2013
GWAR, Wilson, Voodoo Prophet
Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN
$24

So an entire year has passed since my first GWAR show in Nashville, and admittedly, I know nothing more of GWAR this year than I knew last year. Well, except for the notable fact that I now know that GWAR puts on an insanely awesome live show, and that I was definitely not going to miss this year's show! This show was almost exactly a year after my first show (with last year's falling on April 21st, and this year's on April 22nd), which I thought was funny. Beforehand, I had scoured the internet and found a little plastic waterproof case that is designed to be used with cameras with zoom lenses, so I'd picked one up in anticipation of this show (and any future ICP shows I may go to as well!). Since last year's show was spent staying way back from the stage and avoiding getting spritzed, I was super eager to head back to another GWAR show so I could get right up in the action!

When I arrived, the first performer was almost ready to take the stage. I hung around for a bit and chatted with someone I'd met at the Twisted Insane show the previous night before I headed straight up for the barricade. The first band to perform was Voodoo Prophet...a band that I've heard of for years, but had never actually seen perform live.





I thought they were great, and were a very appropriate opener for someone like GWAR. I certainly hope that I'll get to see them again at some point, since their set was a lot of fun.

Wilson was the next band on the bill...I'd never heard of them, but they ended up being fantastic! The lead singer was so expressive, and was very engaging with the crowd. He looked genuinely angry at some many points, and moved around the stage a lot. Overall he was just really fun to watch. At the end of his set, he came out with a big marching band drum, and marched around the stage, pounding it furiously. It was pretty fun, and I'd definitely make sure to catch them again if they were in town! They also announced that Warbeast had had a breakdown and weren't able to be there for the show. Just as well, since I'd never listened to them. I was still getting used to the settings on my camera at this show, so I didn't get any good pics of this set.

Once it was time for GWAR, I packed up the contents of my purse into a garbage bag, and stuffed it all back into my purse so I would be ready for the show. The guy next to me started to poke fun at me, thinking that I had a poncho with me, but I quickly gained his respect back when I said that I was just packing up my wallet and stuff into the bag. That guy actually had a broken arm, but didn't have anything to cover it with. We tried calling over a security guard to see if they had an extra bag of some kind to cover his arm, but they didn't.

When GWAR finally came out, I was so stoked to be right up front against the barricade so I could get a front row view! The show didn't immediately start with the messiness, so I was able to get some pretty decent shots before my little plastic pouch got all covered in blood! I'm still not familiar with almost any of GWAR's songs, so I couldn't tell you much of anything they played! But I did recognize the song "Bring Back the Bomb," which is one of the few I've actually come to enjoy.

Same as always, each guy wore his amazing monster costume, but being up close, I got a much better view of the people inside the costumes, which was awesome. I was standing directly in front of Beefcake the Mighty, and I was able to see his face really clearly. Too bad that he didn't even seem into the show at all, spending most of the time just staring off into space with a blank expression on his face! From that close, I got a better look at Oderus Urungus as well, and I loved how detailed his mask and costume are. I also thought it was funny how his mask completely covers his upper lip but not his chin, which leads to an almost ventriloquist dummy-like effect when his bottom jaw moves as he sings! It was funny to watch since it just made it look like his mouth was moving up and down instead of singing words. Funny what you notice when you are that close :-)













A little way into the show, the carnage started. The first character to appear was a priest of some kind, who was quickly defiled, mutilated and eviscerated to the delight of the crowd. And the blood went EVERYWHERE! Since I was off to the side, I didn't get quite enough on me to really get soaked, but I got quite a few decent splashes. Later through the set we saw Jesus, Barak Obama and Hitler all get massacred as well. The one that ended up soaking me the best was Hitler, who was the last character to die (that I recall...but maybe my memory is off). Once they decapitated him, I took at least three direct shots to the face or chest from the stream of blood coming out of his decapitated neck. This was the point where I got soaked from the chest up, with my hair soaked to the scalp in fake blood!

Since this was near the end of the show, I didn't have to hang around long in my cold, bloody shirt. When the show was done, the crowd dispersed and everyone looked like they'd had a blast. A good majority of the people were soaked at least from the chest up, and everyone's faces were all discolored from the multi-colored fluids. Arriving at my car, I lined my seats with garbage bags, and cranked up the heat since I was freezing.

When I got home, there was no question about jumping in the shower post-haste. I was too disgusting to think about touching anything once I got home! After last year's ICP set at the Gathering, all I needed to do was baby wipe myself off all over, then throw my hair into a pony tail, and I was good to go. But there was just NO way that I could have done the same after GWAR! It was so hilarious to step in the shower and watch all the blood and gunk just pour off of me! And when I stuck my head under the shower, all the red started to pour out of my hair and went EVERYWHERE! It looked like a murder scene briefly in my shower! I laughed so hard...definitely not the way I expected it to go after the show! hahaha

It took an entire year, but I now feel like I've had a real, proper GWAR live show experience! This show was SO much fun, and I absolutely won't miss another one of their shows in Nashville!

-Julie

Meaningless violence, courtesy of GWAR!

Monday, April 23rd, 2012
GWAR, Kylesa, Ghoul, Legacy of Disorder
Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN
$24

It's been a LOOOOONG 2012 so far. Aside from one small show at the Rutledge in February (where I didn't take any photos), I hadn't made it to any major concerts or shows since Boondox last December. Needless to say, I was more than ready get back out there and head to a show that I've been anticipating for a while now...GWAR! I remember having friends in high school who went to a GWAR show and came back raving about how much fun they'd had. So when I noticed that there was a GWAR show booked for the new Marathon Music Works, I was super excited to go to the show and see the spectacle for myself! As well, I was interested in checking out this new-to-me venue.


Duly noted. Thank you.



I arrived shortly after the doors opened, and was just in time to see the first act, Legacy of Disorder, take the stage. I had moved up about three people away from the barricade on the far left side, but I quickly realized that even that far over was too close not to get tangled in the mosh pit. The crowd was instantly moshing, and I had to throw quite a few guys back into the pit when they came my way. I normally don't mind moshing, and I expect it at the majority of shows that I go to, but a couple of the guys really were taking it too far. One guy (who later ended up getting kicked out) was clotheslining people, putting people in choke holds and basically just being way too rough. Then later another guy went along the edge of the pit, in the first row of people who were NOT moshing, and started shoving each person violently. I'd just really never seen anything like that at a show. Normally the moshers keep to themselves and only bump into the non-moshers by accident, but this was certainly not the case with this crowd!



With my lesson learned, I retreated to about halfway back in the venue from the stage.

After Legacy of Disorder was done, Ghoul took the stage.





They used synthesized vocals throughout the performance, and performed with what looked like linen wrappings on their heads. They were very entertaining, even at one point growling that they'd only come to Nashville for the BK tender strips haha (this was said by the guitarist who was wearing a Burger King crown through the whole first song!).



Later in the set, they had a large robot looking character come out, followed by another type of character with a large spikey ball. The crowd continued with the high energy moshing throughout their entire set, and seemed very into the performance.

After another break, it was time for Kylesa.





From the get go, the crowd didn't seem as interested in Kylesa as they had been for Ghoul and Legacy of Disorder. There was almost no moshing, despite the music being similarly intense. They didn't wear any costumes, and didn't move around the stage or do much besides just stand there and play. I guess they served as the break that the moshers needed so they could be rested up for GWAR haha

Finally it was time for the main event, and the crowd was writhing with excitement. One by one, the members of GWAR took the stage, and I couldn't help but feel that the long years of waiting for this show had been worth it. I really couldn't understand a word that was being said (and the fact that I'm not familiar with most of their music didn't help), but it didn't matter. I was too consumed with the performance itself to worry about what was being said!



Through the show, they had numerous characters come out onstage, each of which met its demise and spewed blood, puke, diarrhea and other such body fluids all over the crowd.



At one point, a big pregnant Snooki monster came out on stage, and was promptly eviscerated, with blood spraying all over the crowd and the fetus dangling from its umbilical cord.



There was a skeleton deer/goat looking character that had its head cut off and sprayed blood.



Then there was some other kind of thing with a big mouth and sharp teeth...and man, it really made me wish that I was more well versed in GWAR and what each of the characters meant!


Crazy moshing as the band performs









The performance went on for well more than an hour including the encore, and never let up in the amount of entertainment they were providing. As the finale, Oderus Urungus (the lead singer/monster guy) had something in his hand that was spraying a forceful stream of "blood" into the crowd. Everyone within about 20 feet of the stage was getting completely soaked, and eventhough I was further back, I ended up with a couple of good splashes of blood myself!



At one point, he aimed the stream of blood directly at one of the overhead lights, which made it rain down in a sparkly shower of red liquid.

At the end of the show, as the crowd started to slowly disperse, it seemed like everyone was completely soaked in the red blood the band had sprayed. It was only then that I realized why everyone was wearing white. I had noticed during the openers that an abnormally large percent of the crowd was wearing solid white shirts. But once the show was done, all of those people looked like they'd been massacred and were covered in blood! Awesome! As the venue emptied out, everyone looked like they'd had a blast, and there were plenty of smiles all around.

In general, very heavy metal isn't the genre I'm naturally drawn to. But over the years, I've grown to really appreciate the kind of music and performances that bands like GWAR produce. It's exceptionally obvious that they put their hearts and souls into everything they do, and are as fiercely loyal to their fans as their fans are to them. Granted, I did find quite a few similarities that I can draw between GWAR and ICP...both have over the top, theatrical live performances, both spray their audiences with various fluids, and both have devoted fan bases. The vibe was very similar, and I feel much closer to understanding GWAR's appeal now than ever before.

As for the venue itself, I was very impressed. It's just one big room with a relatively high ceiling, totally flat floors and convenient bars and bathrooms. Nashville really needed a venue this size, so we can accommodate acts that are too popular for a place like the Exit/In, but are not popular enough to fill the entire Bridgestone arena (acts like Twiztid or Tech N9ne, for example, would fit perfectly into this venue). It will be very fun to watch this venue in the future to see what kind of acts will play there.

So yeah...overall I had a fantastic time at this show! At the end of the day, all I can really ask out of a live performance is that I be entertained. And GWAR was definitely entertaining. I can't wait to see them again, but trust, next time I will be wearing white :-)