GWAR continues to celebrate their uncontrollable and destructive pet T-Rex Gor Gor, with metal heavyweights Soulfly and King Parrot on The Gor Gor Strikes Back tour. This is beyond a concert; it is a traveling demolition crew that happens to play metal with a bit of theatrics thrown in. Each band intensifies the chaos in its own way, resulting in the wildest extreme music tour of the season. Saturday night, April 11, the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles hosted this madness, and it was a loud, intense, bloody good time.
Kicking off the night, Australia’s King Parrot delivered pure unhinged energy for a solid 30 minutes with their brutal, frantic Grindcore sound. Vocalist Matt Young paced the stage like a pissed-off kangaroo ready to kick your ass. These lads sparked chaotic circle pits with songs “It’s a Rort” and “Shit on the Liver,” which had the crowd in an early heavy metal frenzy. Young had the crowd separate for a Wall of Death, and he also did some crowd surfing as he belted out his vocals. The set ended with the song “Fuck You and the Horse You Rode In On,” which had the crowd singing the chorus back to the band with angst.
Building off the energy conjured by King Parrot, Soulfly hit the stage and took the night from frantic to crushing, opening with “No Hope = No Fear” as Max Cavalera, along with his son Zyon on drums, guitarist Mike DeLeon, and Chase Bryant on bass, quickly had the Los Angeles Soulfly Tribe banging their heads in unison for the next 45 minutes. Cavalera, a founding member of Sepultura, who also fronts Cavalera Conspiracy and Go Ahead and Die, is the epitome of all things heavy. He looks fit and trim and is more active on stage than he has been in years, banging his head and jumping around throughout the set.
Touring in support of their most recent release Chama, Soulfly played three songs from the album “Favela/Dystopia,” “Storm the Gates,” and the title track “Chama,” ending the set with the one/two knockout punch “Jumpdafuckup” and “Eye for an Eye.” Cavalera and Soulfly remain one of metal’s premier extreme bands, destroying the stage every night.
The controlled chaos of GWAR now begins . . . with one of their cohorts taking the stage and setting the plot, the band led by vocalist Blöthar the Berserker, guitarists Balsac the Jaws of Death and Grodius Maximus, Beefcake the Mighty on bass, and Jizmak da Gusha on drums launched into the anthem “Fuck this Place” and before you could figure out what was going on, blood was shooting everywhere. There is just disorder across the stage.
It’s a GWAR ritual, the fans, especially right up front, wear white shirts in hopes of leaving the show drenched in blood and fluids, and the band is more than happy to make that happen. While GWAR does have killer songs and all are very talented musicians, the real draw is the visuals and theatrics.
In addition to the band, the night included Sawborg Destructo, Bonesnapper, and, of course, the return of the band’s pet Tyrannosaurus Gor Gor, amongst others. There was a giant T-Rex egg cracked open with a baby Gor Gor attacking once escaped from the egg, several other characters were ripped apart, and Gor Gor made a few additional appearances as a Giant full-grown T-Rex ripping apart all in his path. All this was happening while gallons of blood were sprayed over the crowd, who were loving every minute of the bloody baptism.
Of course, GWAR always throws in some political parody into their set and on this night had Kristi Noem quickly mutilated, and Donald Trump also made an appearance onstage as he was slaughtered as well. Many GWAR classics were played during all the chaos, including “Saddam a Go-Go” and “Hail, Genocide!” ending with “Sick of You.”
GWAR successfully destroyed Los Angeles, leaving everyone looking like they had just escaped a murder scene. Equal parts concert and theater but full-blown chaos throughout, GWAR continues to deliver pure grotesque and satirical entertainment every show. The Gor Gor Strikes Back tour runs through April 29, ending in Charlotte, NC.
SOULFLY
KING PARROT
