Monster of the Day #1405

“And what’s the deal with airline food?”

  • The Rev.

    Yup, that’s what I expected. R.I.P. Dave.

    I picked up their first CD on a whim in my freshman year at college and have been a fan ever since. I got to see them twice in Omaha whilst living there, first during the “Carnival of Chaos” tour and later just for the hell of it, apparently. Techno Destructo, Robo-Sleazy, and a bunch of mutant penguins were a part of the first show. Sadly, Slymenstra was not there. Oderus said she’d broken her leg…then said she’d broken it off completely, being Oderus, so I don’t know if she was truly injured or what. I never did get to see her and her fire dance live, as by the second time they rolled through she had left the band. Anyway, the shows were a hell of a lot of fun. I wisely bought and wore a plain white T-shirt to both; they ended up looking tie-dyed.

  • Sadly, as both a native Richmonder and a fellow VCU grad, it makes me sad how much I hate GWAR’s actual music. Love the shtick, totally get the joke, think their music blows donkeys. I do have a friend whose sister dated Beefcake in college though (this means little, *everyone* in Richmond has a GWAR connection of some sort).

  • Eric Hinkle

    I remember a fan of the band telling me that once in an interview, GWAR themselves bluntly stated “We wear these outfits on stage to get an audience. Because our music sucks!”

  • Given that the whole thing is an acronym for “God, What an Awful Racket, I’d say Dave and Co. were always pretty well aware of their musical limitations. It helps to know that they were art majors, not music ones and the whole thing started as an art costuming project at VCU that just kind of got out of hand.

    More unforgivable is that their self-branded craft beer sucks too. Or at any rate GWAR Blood is way over hopped for a red ale.

  • It was always a good day when Oderus made an appearance on “Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld” though.

  • Ericb

    I actually saw this band in a small club in Boston back in 1991. The only reason I went was because I was hung up on a girl who was going to be there. Didn’t pay much attention to the band.

  • The Rev.

    I wonder which Beefcake that was (there have been four to date). I would guess one of the first two for some reason.

    I’m certainly not going to argue with anyone that doesn’t like their music, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Of course, I also don’t entirely hate ICP, either, so maybe I am not the best advocate for them.

  • The Rev.

    I actually ran across those clips a few weeks ago*. Great stuff, except that one time he was clearly on something. I just felt bad during that one.

    *Someone pointed me to a clip of Oderus reading “Goodnight Moon,” which led to a hilarious bit with three GWAR members going trick-or-treating in a neighborhood somewhere, which led to the “Red Eye” clips.

  • The Rev.

    They may have their limitations, but a few of the members are actually rather talented. Their long-time drummer Jizmak beats a mean kit, and the first two Beefcakes as well as the late Flattus Maximus are/were pretty good, too.

    Never had their beer, and apparently I never will.