Posted by The night opened with the aggressive grindcore band, King Parrot. Singer Matt Young set the tone for the evening with his high energy, bouncing around the stage and throwing water on to the crowd. They played a short set that included Shit on the Liver and ended with Fuck You and the Horse You Rode In On, which definitely got the crowd warmed up for what was to come.
Soulfly came on next. They played a powerful set that had the crowd cheering and chanting their name throughout. The set included some of my favorites, Jumpdafucup and Eye For an Eye. While maybe a little tamer than King Parrot, their set was everything you expect at a top tier metal show: high energy, good screams, and lots of hair flying on stage. Not to mention the crowd surfers. There were a lot of them that night, and they definitely seemed to kick off during Soulfly’s set.
Before Gwar came out, security were given Gwar branded ponchos. I thought that was a nice touch, as anyone who has seen Gwar before knows everyone in the venue (and the venue itself) is about to get thoroughly drenched in fake blood. Gwar took the stage in full regalia, ready to thrash their way through American politics. Opening their set with Fuck This Place, Gwar played through a 17 song set (14 main set, 3 encore songs) including some of their biggest hits like Saddam a Go-Go and Gor-Gor.
About halfway through the set, singer Blöthar the Berserker called Trump a pedophile, which seemed to piss off a couple of men in the crowd who made their displeasure known… loudly. This surprised me a little bit because what concert did they think they were going to? Gwar have been very clear on their opinions about Trump. But, they didn’t end with Trump. Not in the slightest. The evening encompassed the symbolic deaths portraying caricatures of many important cultural figures, including a priest getting creepy with children, an ICE agent tasering a small child, and Bill Clinton who, upon finding himself in the Epstein files, said, “Dear Epstein Files. I never believed this could happen to me.” Like the others, he was decapitated and his blood soaked the audience, much to their very damp glee.
After all the blood, gore, and metal of the evening, one of my favorite moments was during the encore when the band broke out in a cover of Pink Pony Club. It was so antithetical to everything else that happened that evening, it almost felt like a palate cleanser. I even got an extra bit of a chuckle when I heard people singing it on the way to their cars after the show. But, it didn’t end there, as I found myself singing it the whole next day.
That was, of course, after I scrubbed about a gallon of fake blood from myself, enough to turn my shower red. Gwar is definitely a band worth seeing live, but I also recommend bringing towels and a change of clothes. And, maybe don’t stop at 7-11 on the way home, like I did. The cashier is sure to give you some very questioning and concerned looks.
Long Island Sounds 