Guitar Gear Forum

Good morning,

I just got back from the Milwaukee show - my first concert since the Bungle show in February of 2020 - and here are the bits:

1. The Rave is not a great venue, and it’s in an even worse neighborhood.
2. Merch table was not running properly; I was second in line, and waited for damn near 20 minutes. Not a good experience, but I got my obligatory shirt and a print.
3. First opener: Eyehategod. Their feedback was seismic; I don’t know enough about them, but they’re sludgy, and from New Orleans. Singer broke the mic stand.
4. Second opener: Napalm Death. Napalm Death whipped the crowd into a proper frenzy, and they had their set down tight. They were, however, plagued with persistent sound issues - their mics weren’t right, especially for the drummer - and it wasn’t me nitpicking.
5. Several people, myself included, came very close to beating a man to death for ripping open a shitload of glow sticks and splashing them around.
6. Glow sticks were also thrown at GWAR, and that is simply unacceptable. Don’t throw shit at the performers. Ever.
7. GWAR was on point, and played almost the entire Scumdogs of the Universe album - Slaughterama and Sexecutioner had to be omitted, due to their vocalists no longer having a touring role in the band - and it felt like a 1990-era show, with the talent of 2021.
8. Techno Destructo was back, which made that show that much more enjoyable.
9. They decapitated Joe Biden, and I couldn’t be happier. This is not a political statement on my part (definitely one on the band’s); GWAR has killed every United States President since Ronald Reagan, and it is comforting to see that tradition continue.
10. Balsac the Jaws of Death has a cool signature Schecter, and the one he played had a light pad built in. I wanted to say it was a Kaoss Pad, but I don’t believe that it was. It didn’t really do anything, except change colors.
11. Some tours are messier than others; this wasn’t a particularly spew-heavy show, but not the driest show I’ve attended.

Thank you.

GWAR is always a fun show. I've seen them many times. I like both Eyehategod and Napalm Death but they're an interesting pick to open for GWAR. I'd think they'd be able to headline shows the same size as GWAR, especially Napalm Death. They've been around forever and have a very strong following.

I thought they just hired someone recently that was intended to be their touring vocalist.

Sounds like a bit of a shitshow, but I hope it was fun. I haven't been to a show in what feels like ages...

Who recently hired a touring vocalist? GWAR? Not exactly:

On March 31, 2014, GWAR lead singer/frontman Dave Brockie, who portrayed Oderus Urungus, died of a heroin overdose. In the subsequent weeks to mo ths, two new vocalists were hired: Mike Bishop, portraying Berzerker Blöthar, returned to the band, after a 15-year absence, and Kim Dylla, portraying Vulvatron. During the Oderus Eternal 2014 tour, Dylla’s performances were subpar, and she was frequently intoxicated, to the point of incoherence, during the show, which led to her termination at tour’s end. There were other issues, as well, which the band has declined to explain, and the whole thing was a mess. Kim Dylla remains on very bad terms with the band. Bishop is the band’s principal vocalist, and has recorded one album with them, thus far.

Napalm Death? Eyehategod? Couldn’t tell you. Don’t know enough about either band.

But GWAR’s set was great. Eyehategod was pretty good; Napalm Death sounded like four people playing 2 1/2 different songs at the same time. And they were having issues with their mics, for which I can’t fault them entirely.

2022 show highlights:

1. First opener, Nekrogoblikon, was a quirky, crossover metal band, with a keyboardist, and a goblin character, who didn’t sing or play an instrument. I wasn’t into them, because I had a very long day at work, and was half-asleep. Not a fair review, which is why I will definitely listen to some of their music.
2. Crobot was on next. For those who don’t know who they are, they are a four-piece hard rock outfit, with tasty riffs, a good, driving bass, a steady, hard-hitting drummer with a good groove, and a vocalist/frontman with presence. There are good Soundgarden influences, and they closed their set with a cover of Rainbow In The Dark, with the keyboardist from Nekrogoblikon. It was a blast, and refreshing, to see a true rock band.
3. GWAR delivered a great show. It was the tour for the new album, New Dark Ages, and it was featured heavily. I’ve listened to the album, in its entirety, only once, and that was yesterday; as a result, I wasn’t as familiar with the songs. They played the better cuts, in my opinion, and there were some really cool deep cuts.
4. Pustulus Maximus sounded fantastic, with his Dean MLs, Les Paul Standard, and his Jubilee. Balsac wasn’t as prominent in the mix, with his Fractal rig, but, then again, I wasn’t directly in front of him, and The Rave isn’t exactly known for great acoustics.
5. The choices of victims were classic GWAR: Political figures, caricatures of Bohabs (GWAR’s undying legion of fans), and assorted monsters.
6. I was standing in front of the vocalist, Berzerker Blöthar, and was in the direct line of fire for everything. My tongue was black, when I got to my truck. I have since showered and brushed my teeth, and my tongue is merely a pale blue.
7. This is the first time I left a GWAR show - I refer to other concerts as such, but never GWAR, because it’s so much more than live music - with a shirt drenched in predominantly blue spew. My shirts usually end up red. Make no mistake: I got blasted with red, but Blöthar’s “udders” shot blue.

Glad I saw this, I was really sad when I heard the news Brockie had passed. I've seen clips of the band over the last couple of years and sounds cool.

I've had a few tracks from Beyond Hell, which is a brilliant album, come on in the car. I need to add some of the older and newer stuff to a playlist.