Gwar
- Watch Them Die - Bad Acid Trip
May 9th 2004
DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA, USA
Ok, I have something horrible to admit, I've heard the stories, seen
the photos, but in all my years of metaldom, I had never actually
gotten myself to a Gwar concert. So I felt it was finally time to
experience a show when the band decided to grace San Francisco with its
presence (and apparently it had been awhile, as Oderous shouts in the
microphone "It took electing Arnold Schwarzenegger
as your new governor before Gwar would come back to San
Francisco"). Not only that, but my new girlfriend had never really gone
to a metal concert before, so what better introduction than to get
squirted with fake blood and watch monsters and celebrities get
eviscerated and impaled (she didn't leave me after the concert BTW,
which I take as a sign of true love).
The first opening act was a local act called BAD ACID TRIP, which was a
grindcore / punk band. The vocalist was very animated on stage, and the
band was decent as well. While they may not have been revolutionary,
what they did provide was a good slam to the face to start off the
evening, which is always appreciated.
The second band was a new act called WATCH THEM DIE, who were pretty
cool, more in a standard metal vein. But without the pure violence of
the opening act, and without really killer and catchy riffs, they sort
of ended up being the least memorable of the evening. All the while, I
noticed people were putting more and more plastic up around the venue,
covering electrical panels, the sound board, etc. Gwar was near.
After another short break, the main event goes on stage. You're not
quite sure what to do when they first appear, laugh out loud or pump
your fist in the air with a resounding "Fuck yeah!". On one hand, it's
really quite a ridiculous sight. On the other hand, you have to give
them respect for getting on all that shit every night, and doing far
more on stage then just play the music and bang their heads
occasionally. The concert started with 'Ham On The Bone', which was a
great way to get things going. It didn't take long for the craziness to
begin. Unfortunately, the dna lounge is not very large, and hence has a
small stage, so there wasn't too much room for a huge stage show. No
dinosaur, no spinning wheel of death. And no guest appearances from say
"Sexicutioner", it was basically just the 5 members of the main band,
two slaves, and the various characters that came to get impaled. Among
those who got killed that night: George Bush, Osama, some boxer, John
Kerry, the pope, some godzilla-esque movie monster, and much more. Each
one came down the back stairs, came on stage, jeered the audience some,
then proceeded to get their head and arms cut off, spewing fake blood
all over the audience (I was lucky enough to have oderous give me a
good spraying early on). While formulaic, it was still fun. Other songs
they played during the evening included 'The Salominizer', 'Immortal
Corruptor', and of course the encore included a great rendition of
'Maggots', probably their favorite song of mine. The mosh pit was
pretty damn crazy, everyone drenched in blood and some sort of green
substance that Oderous squirted from a giant cannon attached to his
penis. Ya gotta love it. Anyways, covered in goo and deaf, we headed
back to the car with trash bags in hand, ready to cover the seats
should the blood not dry in time.
The venue was nice enough to post some pics from the event, available
here: http://www.dnalounge.com/gallery/2004/05-09/. In
closing, don't wait as long as I did, go see Gwar before they do
something horrible like decide not to tour anymore. Although I do
recommend trying to see them at a larger venue, and of course wear
disposable clothing.
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