Report

Scumdogs of the Universe, Gwar, Invade New Jersey

Band Photo: Gwar (?)

The mighty Scumdogs of the Universe, otherwise known as Gwar, invaded the Starland Ballroom of Sayreville, NJ this past Sunday, October the 15th. This Gwar conquest was the first of Gwar's that my friend and I had witnessed. Before Gwar began their set though, The Red Chord and Municipal Waste had the honors of the opening ceremony.

Municipal Waste started off. I had heard of them through a friend that directed me to their myspace page. From that, I knew that Municipal Waste was a decent band, but after watching them spread their toxic thrash, I must say that I was thoroughly impressed. Municipal Waste’s first two songs were only ok, but after that their intense energy and quality music got me into them. Municipal Waste impressed me at the end of their set by taking out a boogie board and the singer climbed on top of it as the crowd kept it up and he stood up on it and finished out the set on the boogie board, literally crowd surfing. I thought that would be a hard act to follow, but I knew Gwar was going to be able to; they’re intergalactic warriors after all. But before that, The Red Chord came on.

The Red Chord weren’t very impressive in my opinion, though I did enjoy their breakdowns and some of the vocals. I wasn’t impressed with them because after a couple songs they start sounding like every metalcore band out there today. I suppose listening to your friends’ Darkest Hour, Underoath, and other metalcore band CDs ruins listening to new bands. Anyway, after what I thought was a mediocre performance, it was finally time for Gwar and I was more than excited for it!

When Gwar opened they opened with a scene in which a giant puppet astronaut landed on the planet Ragnarokk and was communicating to his ship about searching for life forms. This went into the discovery of one of Gwar’s slaves and the astronaut’s decapitation and blood spilling over those standing in the front row. Gwar then went into their first song, after which they announced that they would be playing their entire new album, “Beyond Hell”, as well as some older songs. In between each song Gwar had a scene with a giant puppet and some kind of story. Among the puppets decapitated and spewing blood and semen made of paint on the audience I recall a puppet dressed in a Nazi uniform with a Hitler face on one side and a Jesus face on the other, one of the popes in red robes, Gwar’s head slaughterer, Oderus Urungus, said “Didn’t we destroy you on the Sounds of the Underground?” After which Oderus and the pope became engaged in sword combat and the slaves commenced hacking his flesh and limbs away as was the routine of the night. Among favorite songs I heard that night were “8th Lock” and “Immortal Corrupter”. After the show I felt a sense of violation, but completion as I had just seen the most perverse, yet totally satisfying show of my entire life! Gwar, in my opinion, have the BEST live show I have EVER seen! Definitely catch these guys; the whole entire show from Municipal Waste to the Red Chord to the mighty Gwar, this show has something for everyone!