Most people go into a Gwar show knowing what they are going to get; entertainment, great music, and dyed from head to toe in multiple colors of multiple “liquids”. You get to have a facetious political brawl show before your eyes, and usually a splash of celebrities. This time, Gwar had politics on the agenda and even brought back some terrible zombified ones, and some greats (top hat man). My 16-year-old son had his first Gwar experience when they graced the Revolution Concert House on October 23rd, 2024 in Boise, Idaho, and he was prepared with an all-white ensemble to color his way through the night. He also wanted to get to the concert house super early to ensure front-row visualizations and full spray location.
Before Gwar hit the stage, bands Squid Pisser and Dark Funeral started the night.
While researching Squid Pisser, I learned they do not have a full-time singer, crazy! Tommy Meehan (guitar) and Seth Carolina (drums), have had multiple vocalists sing on their albums. Interestingly enough, it somehow works for them. The band was dressed to capture their eerie essence, and the lighting matched the mood, (much to our photographer, Katarzyna Cepek’s dismay). Lighting is important for photographer shots people! Either way, the singer jumped into the crowd, chord attached to the mic, and tried to behead concertgoers while interacting, which was quite entertaining I must say. They were definitely an interesting experience and a good night start-up.
Dark Funeral took a drastic change of direction. This black metal band from Sweden had corpse paint, a moody atmosphere, and a dark stage presence. When you think of black metal, this is probably pretty close to what you envision. Band members: Lord Ahriman (guitar), Chaq Mol (guitar), Heljarmadr (vocals), Adra-Melek (bass), and Jalomaah (drums), are the musicians behind the music. They presented dark songs and lyrics to match along with the haunting riffs and vocals. They have swept their home country as one of the biggest black metal bands and took on the states to show what they are made of.
Before Gwar took the stage, there was a playlist consisting of clips of some of the most famous pop songs ranging from Brittney Spears, to Spice Girls, to Rick Astley. Yes, Gwar rick-rolled the crowd. When they began, we got to see our a political debate between the two 2024 major candidates. It ended in what you would expect, dismemberment and shit, thankfully not literal shit. During the performance while hearing crowd favorites, “Saddam a Go-Go”, “Bring Back the Bomb”, “Mother Fucking Liar”, and many others, different political presidents throughout the years were pranced on stage and gutted and beheaded, all very normal for the shock metal band. Of course, many jokes and humor were sprinkled in, it’s all in good fun. With comedic musician names like; Balsac the Jaws of Death (guitar), Jizmak Da Gusha (drums), Sawborg Destructo (keyboard), Bonesnapper (backing vocals), Grodius Maximus (guitar), Beefcake the Mighty (bass, backing vocals), and Blothar the Berserker (lead vocals), you know you are in for some crazy times. Always a night full of laughter, headbanging music, and goo, as far as thee eye can see.
Here are some photos taken from our amazing photographer, Katarzyna Cepek
