On September 20, I made the trip to JJ’s Live in Fayetteville, AR to catch Gwar on their Age of Entitlement tour, also featuring The Native Howl and, for this show, death metal outfit Vore.
Alas, no Brujeria, who had previously joined the tour as well. News arose only a few days before regarding singer Juan Brujo, who had suffered a heart attack. The band issued a statement:
“It is with deep sadness we have to announce that our leader Juan Brujo has passed away today. Juan suffered a heart attack on early Monday morning, after a day off from the current Mexorcista tour in Saint Clairsville, Ohio. He was rushed to the nearest hospital in Wheeling, West Viriginia by emergency services, but, despite the medical team’s greatest efforts, he died this morning. His family, friends and bandmates are devastated and wish to mourn in private, while they appreciate the fans’ love and support. El Brujo ha muerto, ¡que viva el Brujo!”
Long-standing death metallers Vore took the stage to open, and at one point during their performance, offered words of remembrance to Brujo. The highest tribute to a musician’s ferocity is perhaps to recognize their impact and to keep playing, shaking the venue all the louder.
Vore finished out their set by asking the crowd if anyone liked horror movies, then launching into their song Hell’s Half-Acre, written for the horror film by the same title.
The Native Howl took the stage next, opening with a reworked rendition of Metallica’s Harvester of Sorrow which fused bluegrass with thrash—exactly what The Native Howl does in their current style of music. “Thrash grass” is the title they’ve given it, heavy and twangy at once, incorporating banjo, fiddle, pounding drums, and heavy metal, singing of moonshine and riding into darkness.
They wrapped it up with a song called Thunderhead, the first thrash grass song the band ever wrote, according to singer Alex Holycross, and finally, Mercy, the title track from their latest album, the original version of which featured Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, though she was not present for this live performance.
When The Native Howl left the stage, the crowd milled in anticipation, many white shirts visible throughout the venue. As the suspense grew, somewhere in the middle of it, Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up played over the PA.
After getting Rick Rolled and enduring a few other random selections to occupy the space between performances, the background music sputtered to a halt and a gang of alien scumdogs armed with guitars, drums, microphones, swords, morning stars, and other weapons seized the stage.
If you’ve ever been to a Gwar show, you know. If not, well, you’ll not forget the experience. With onstage mutilations and executions, antics of violence, obscenity, and the utterly absurd, Gwar is a horror show, a concert, and a joke with a punchline to shock, rattle, and roll.
Following the passing of founding member Oderus Urungus in 2014, a.k.a. Dave Brockie, this new Gwar lineup solidified with their return release of The Blood of Gods in 2017.
The show involved Gwar classics such as Ham on the Bone, Crack in the Egg, Maggots, and Sick of You, and a few newer tracks including The Sordid Soliloquy of Sawborg Destructo, delivered by Sawborg Destructo on vocals, circular saw blades embedded in his cybernetic frame as he threatened to destroy the band. Theatrics, yet somehow punk and metal at the same time. The band also took executed the prime minister of Israel onstage and took a comical jab at Taylor Swift, because nothing is sacred here and no one is spared.
How does one really describe a Gwar show? If you should ever attend, prepare to be offended or thoroughly entertained, bludgeoned, and if you approach the stage, drenched in blood and possibly other bodily fluids.
The band dedicated the song Immortal Corrupter to Brujo and finished out the set with one of their newer tracks, Fuck This Place, getting much crowd participation with the chorus of that final song.
Upon leaving, I decided a shower was in order. Never have I attended such a messy concert as a Gwar show, nor seen so many white shirts defaced.
The carnage continues across a multitude of remaining dates on the 2024 Age of Entitlement tour through late November of 2024. If you have the nerve, it’s an act to experience, but don’t say I didn’t warn you—and beware the splash zone.
REVIEWER BIO:
Tommy B. Smith is an award-winning writer of horror and dark fiction whose works meander through the darker spaces of the psychological and the cosmic. He has been featured in numerous publications to span the years, and is the author of the Black Carmenia series, as well as the occasional reflections on music, books, or experiences that capture his interest. His presence currently infests the west Arkansas River Valley, where he resides with his wife and six cats.
More information can be found on his website at:
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