GWAR: Seriously Liberating Music
GWAR may not appear on the list of bands snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame very often, but the shock rock pioneers deserve consideration not only for their longevity but also because they proved that a national act can put on a big, theatrical show even if they aren’t headlining 20,000-seat arenas.
GWAR has visited Western New York frequently over their 41-year career. They will be at Riverworks on June 8 as part of Static X’s Machines VS Monsters Tour.
GWAR’s brand of performance art includes more debauchery and spraying of random substances than a Bills Mafia tailgate, which led to my first question for Michael Bishop, better known as lead vocalist Blöthar the Berserker.
“Mafia? Do you mean the criminal organization? Because I have stories about them,” Bishop noted.
After a quick primer on Bills Mafia, Bishop and I had a good laugh after discussing the smashing of tables and spraying of condiments, then he told his story.
“We were at some venue in upstate New York, and honestly, I don’t know if they were part of the mafia or not, but the security guards were these big beefcake guys dressed in expensive suits, and they looked like something out of the movies. They got angry because we were squirting them with stuff, and then they started fighting us. We got into this big, like, a real deal, stage-clearing brawl with the security that was supposed to be working the show.”
“We didn’t even know those guys were going to be there, and then they show up in front of the stage, and we wind up shooting them with pretend pee,” Bishop recalled.
GWAR’s theatrics may seem sophomoric to some. Still, they are a real band with a loyal fan base, and the collective comprises serious musicians and artists.
“People have a certain expectation of what GWAR is, and we still have fans that come to see us for the first time. One of the things people may not consider is that we are continuing the tradition of Iggy Pop and the peanut butter incident. We also represent the freedom for people to do what they want; our shows are very liberating.”
Bishop referred to the legendary Iggy Pop peanut butter incident in 1970. In it, Iggy found a fan with a jar of peanut butter, flung gobs of it at the audience, and smeared himself with it.
“People just can’t believe what they see at a GWAR show, and I believe they are inspired because we show them they don’t have to stay in a box or follow a set of rules.”
Although many artists labeled as “shock rock,” including Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie, have garnered massive mainstream success, GWAR is often unfairly overlooked not only for influencing other artists but also for carrying on the tradition of bands like The Tubes. I brought them up during our conversation.
“It’s funny because no one else has made that connection, we were all huge fans of The Tubes. We were also into other visual bands like Devo.”
One of the other things that GWAR shared with The Tubes was the cost of their stage production. The Tubes eventually had to maintain the huge production cost in a small venue. Still, GWAR has been able to make the economics work.
“The production costs will always be a major obstacle, but we make it work and are not willing to compromise. The fact that we make a huge mess can also be a deterrent; nobody else really does that.”
If you haven’t experienced a GWAR show, tickets for the June 8 performance are still available. Just don’t wear your nice clothes.