Going to Gwar is a lot like going to Rocky Horror. It’s more spectacle than actual show and you know exactly what you’re getting. You’ll get a little wet and messy and largely it’ll be the same show you remember with a few tweaks. Oddly enough, I had not been to either in maybe a decade and on a whim I’ve have managed to catch both of them in the past month.

Rocky Horror was a little disappointing, to be honest. The crowd was way too overzealous, yelling different things over each other and coming in up to 10 seconds early in an effort to be the first to holler it. Some of the cast was great and some was 4 shades shy of great, while others made no real effort at all. I left largely underwhelmed.

Walking into the Gwar show I was thinking about the whole Rocky disappointment. Was it that Rocky was really disappointing, or was it that those 10 years changed me to a point where even the best crowd/cast would leave me wanting? Had I matured beyond Rocky Horror? If so, had I matured beyond enjoying Gwar? And, if so, is this a good or bad thing?

Things were obviously different. I walked in with the intent of staying out of reach of all fake spooge and fake blood. In retrospect, if I ever go to another Gwar show I’ll go with the intent of getting covered with all the fake blood and fake spooge I can. It’s an integral part of the show and it was a vital mistake not to take part in that portion of the performance. So what do you get from a spooge & blood-free Gwar show? Pretty much what you’d expect. You get a decapitated Obama. You get McCain having his entrails ripped out. You get witty banter like, “We’re gonna play a song here and if I could read English I’d know what it’s called, but I’m pretty sure it’s a Gwar song.” All in all you get exactly what you’d expect, minus the spooge and blood, so I left the show disappointed in myself but not disappointed in the show, and that’s impressive for a band 25 years strong.

I’ve now decided to see what’s up with the Rocky dilemma by going and seeing the local theater company’s annual Halloween production of it. I’ll report back.

Gwar - Sick of You
Gwar - Sexecutioner
Gwar - The Salaminizer

I went to the show with a guy who takes pictures for a paycheck so I decided to just link to his photos and leave my camera at home. So, if you wanna see the pictures and the increasingly intoxicated night of me and my friends then just head over here.