By Tiffany Detzel

Edited by Erica McNatt

On March 27, a sea of folks in white attire gathered outside of the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. This could only mean one of two things: some weird religious shenanigans are about to happen, or GWAR is in town. Thankfully, it was the latter, as their shenanigans are much more enjoyable.

First up to the stage were Fuming Mouth. Right off the bat, these guys melted everyone’s faces off. Blast beats, super heavy guitar riffs, and screaming that could burst your ear drums. The mosh pits and windmills could be seen in the crowd throughout the set. After a few songs, the band demanded a wall of death (the audience splits in two and then after a prompt or countdown they run and slam into each other), and I gotta say, well done, Columbus. If you love in-your-face, hard AF death metal, then Fuming Mouth is the band for you!

Next up were Cancer Bats. These guys’ stage presence and energy are unmatched. Bouncing around stage, 360 guitar swings, and lots of crowd interaction made this such a fun set to watch. Throughout the set, the crowd easily matched the band’s enthusiasm and could be seen nonstop moshing. We were also treated to a Beastie Boys cover of “Sabotage,” and nearly everyone in the venue could be heard singing along. Be sure to check these guys out if they tour near you!

Now on to the main event, GWAR. One of two things happen when discussing GWAR with someone. Either a) they’ve never heard of them (or at best ask if they were the band that was often on old episodes of Beavis and Butthead), or b) they have fun stories of the multiple times they’ve enjoyed the band with various friend groups. A GWAR show is an experience everyone should have at least once in their life, as no other band does what they do. Sure, they perform some heavy and fun rock music, but that is not all they bring to the table. They bring gigantic costumes, silly story lines, topical skits regarding current events, and an unfathomable amount of fake blood to spray at the crowd (which is where the tradition of wearing white comes in to play). During this set, we were treated to the literal defacing of Benjamin Netanyahu by a young child from Gaza as our aforementioned topical skit. Everyone in the crowd seemed to throughly enjoy this as their screams roared on while being sprayed with his blood. The newest member of the band, Grodius Maximus, at one point jumped off stage and into the pit to perform with the audience. After the show, it was fun seeing the crowd in once-white shirts now drenched in almost tie dye-type patterns of red and also hearing their enjoyment of the show, especially if it was their first time. I currently have four of my own GWAR-stained shirts, and I can’t wait until my next one. 

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