- GWAR w Soulfly +King Parrot
- 4/5/26 - Epic Event Center - Green Bay, WI
- ©Gabriella Steinbacher
Easter Sunday has rolled around, but for The Epic Event Center, it’s nothing like a typical celebration. Instead of colorful egg hunts and chocolate bunnies, fans have made the trip to the Green Bay venue to get drenched in blood and mosh till the last note.
Outside of the venue on a surprisingly warm night for Wisconsin, fans lined up, donning white shirts that GWAR has promised to ruin. The Epic Event Center has always seemed to draw a crowd since opening in 2021, whether it be local acts or national entertainment, classic country or thrash metal. For the more secluded stadium-adjacent venue, the parking lot was surprisingly full, and once you entered venue, you could see why. Fans filed in as soon as the doors opened, wearing battle jackets, torn jeans, and… bunny ears, to tie it all together, of course.
Conversing with fans, some mentioned it was their first show, buzzing in excitement for the band they’ve seen all over the internet. Others were true veterans, their shirts already covered in blues and reds from who knows how many GWAR shows. Regardless of experience, most seemed to have the same goal: get as close as possible, get drenched, and have a great time.
Before the night could settle into anything predictable, King Parrot came out swinging. The Australian grindcore outfit, fronted by Matt Young, has spent the last decade-plus carving out a reputation for chaos across releases like Bite Your Head Off, Dead Set, Ugly Produce, and their most recent – A Young Person’s Guide to King Parrot – and they brought every bit of that to the stage.
Opening with “Bozo,” they hit immediately at full throttle. Young tore through the track with a frantic, confrontational presence – darting across the stage, locking in on the crowd, and delivering each line with a feral edge as the band tore through a set stacked with cuts like “Disgrace Yourself,” “It’s A Rort,” and “Target Pig Elite.” The sound was relentless – sharp, fast, and messy in all the right ways.
Check out the King Parrot concert photo gallery below:
Mid-set, Young pushed it further, firing bottles of water into the crowd and soaking the barricade, which only amped things up. It was early, but the room was already in it – pits opened fast, bodies collided, and the crowd met the band’s intensity head-on. King Parrot didn’t ease the night in – they kicked the whole thing sideways before the next band even stepped onstage.
Second on the roster, Brazilian-American groove/thrash metal band Soulfly made their way on stage. Founded in 1997 by former Sepultura vocalist Max Cavalera, Soulfly has released a whopping 13 studio albums, 23 singles, and 12 music videos, with the most recent being “Chana,” released in 2025. From being support for Pantera to joining the lineup of Ozzfest, it was obvious the band knew how to control a crowd, and they really did.
Second on the bill, Soulfly hit the stage and immediately took command. Founded in 1997 by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, the Brazilian-American groove/thrash outfit has built a massive catalog – 13 studio albums deep, including their 1998 debut Soulfly, which went gold in the U.S., and continuing through to their most recent single “Chana” in 2025. From Ozzfest stages to major tours alongside bands like Pantera, they’ve long proven they know how to work a crowd -and that experience showed.
They opened with “No Hope = No Fear,” wasting no time locking the room in before rolling into a barrage of tracks that pulled from across their catalog, including “Prophecy,” “Back to the Primitive,” and “No Pain = No Power.” The groove was thick, the riffs hit with weight, and the crowd responded instantly, with fans decked out in Soulfly gear shouting every word back at the stage.
Check out the Soulfly concert photo gallery below:
Mid-set, they shifted gears with moments like “Headup,” paying tribute to Deftones, before gearing up for one of the night’s standout moments with “Jumpdafuckup.” Calavera had the entire crowd crouch low, throwing out, “Do it for the Easter Bunny” and “Stay down and Green Bay will win the Super Bowl,” before, of course, commanding everyone to “Jump the fuck up.” The floor erupted on cue, bodies launching as the energy spiked all over again. They pushed through to the close with “Eye for an Eye,” wrapping a set that had the crowd fully locked in and buzzing for what was still to come.
American heavy metal band GWAR, formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, has been actively touring, releasing albums, and rotating members since their debut album “Hell-O!” in 1988. The band is known for their outlandish costumes, storytelling, and, of course, the bloody mess that they make out of their fans.
While GWAR currently holds no original members (the last playing member being guitarist Dave Brockie, AKA Oderus Urungus, who passed in 2013,) the current lineup still stands strong. GWAR is currently fronted by lead vocalist Mike Bishop (Blöthar the Berserker,) with guitarists Mike Derks (Balsac the Jaws of Death) and Tommy Meehan (Grodius Maximus), bassist Casey Orr (Beefcake the Mighty), and drummer Brad Roberts (Jizmack Da Gusha.)
When the lights finally went dim in the Green Bay venue, fans screamed, watching an introduction for Gwar’s “Gor Gor Strikes Back.” The first scene is the hatching of a little dinosaur dubbed Gor Gor, who stars in the show as GWAR finds themselves unexpected parents to the young dinosaur. Throughout the concert, various political figures attempt to kidnap Gor Gor, leading to bloody fights between them and the band, which sprays “blood” onto the thrilled crowd. Eventually, the now teenage dinosaur is finally taken, returning later in the set fully grown to retaliate against GWAR for their terrible parenting. (It makes a lot of sense, I know.)
Stepping away from the theatrics of the band, which can be a little difficult as it’s shoved right into your face with a splash of red and blue, GWAR isn’t a band you go to just for the music, yet, with the strong lineup and setlist itself, they very well still can hold their own. Beginning with “Fuck This Place,” an obvious fan favorite as each line was screamed out by an enthusiastic audience, the rest of the set went like this:
1. Crack in the Egg
2. Eighth Lock
3. Have You Seen Me?
4. Tormentor
5. Hate Love Songs
6. Lot Lizard
7. Saddam a go-go
8. I’m in Love (With a Dead Dog)
9. Metal Metal Land
10. El Presidente
11. Tyrant King
12. Hail, Genocide!
13. Gor-Gor
Encore
1. Mother Fucking Liar
2. Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan Cover)
3. Sick of You
It was finally GWAR who was able to fully wake the crowd up. Crowd surfers started going up by “Eighth Lock” and didn’t let up till the end of the show. Along with that, the mosh pit that had been steady throughout the whole night nearly doubled; a jumble of people turned neon red, slamming against each other with nothing but excitement.
As the night grew later and the encore began, no sign of exhaustion came from the rowdy crowd with bunny ears soaked red. Just puddles of gore on the floor, leaving a statement of what the night became. It was certainly a sight to see as GWAR, with their big, monstrous costumes and grotesque-looking props, launched into their rendition of “Pink Pony Club,” singing a ballad of self-discovery and freedom. This… beautiful rendition didn’t last long, though, as GWAR broke out with their final song, “Sick of You.”
Check out the GWAR concert photo gallery below:
The song, released in 1990 on Scumdogs of The Universe, has become iconic for being their final song, with GWAR and fans alike chanting, “I’m so sick, so sick of you,” for one final powerful moment. As the last note rang out and fans began to disperse, instead of the sad chatter that comes with a fun night finally ending, people laughed, pointing out the mess of dye they’d become, and that really was what made the night so special.
Catch GWAR on the Road…
