M'Lou Elkins
CONCERT PHOTOS + REVIEW
GWAR
11/15/24 – The Studio at The Factory – Dallas, TX
©M’Lou Elkins/Skip2Photography.com
On Friday, November 15, metal fans gathered in Deep Ellum for GWAR’s anarchic, politically-infused performance at The Studio at The Factory in Dallas, TX.
While waiting for the legendary Scumdogs of the Universe to take the stage, we were Rick Rolled and the entire venue sang along in unison:
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
It was a humorous and light few minutes, as only minutes before the crowd had been chanting “Hail Satan” along with Dark Funeral, the Swedish black metal band who had successfully warmed us up for what was to come.
Nobody was safe from the band’s satire as GWAR wasted no time in bringing a mix of gore, comedy, and brutal political commentary to the packed venue. Starting off the night with “El Presidente,” a bloated Trump and a Kamala Harris with a massive backside battled each other in a showdown that ended with Trump on his back and Harris squatting over him with faux poop projectile vomiting from her rear. Ah yes….GWAR is back!
Frontman Blöthar the Berserker commanded the audience’s attention with his awesomely inappropriate humor. The band’s distinctive combination of metal and punk, mixed with a barrage of politically-based skits, kept the crowd pumped throughout the entirety of the night. The audience was completely soaked in blood and gore by the time the third song played. I honestly can’t remember which song that was…I was busy shooting images in the photo pit while simultaneously dodging blood, and at one point while I was hovered over my camera with my head down, Blöthar singled me out and yelled, “What the fuck are you doing?” I was successfully mortified, but while I had gear to protect the fans in the pit seemed to be in heaven, screaming with arms outstretched and eating up every second of the absolute mayhem that was going on around them.
Trump was only the first politician in line to literally be ripped to shreds. Obama sauntered on stage and he was quickly beheaded, which caused even more fake blood to be sprayed onto the excited crowd. George W Bush, Lincoln, Jefferson, a ginormous George Washington waving an equally ginormous American flag, Reagan, and a confused Biden wearing a bathrobe and sleeping cap followed. Each time, they were either beheaded, disemboweled, had their arms ripped off—or sometimes all three— to the delight of the fans who were by this time completely drenched in fake blood and gore. It was a literal political bloodbath. Most of the crowd looked as if unicorns had vomited on them en masse, and it was awesome.
GWAR ended with “Fuck This Place,” which in this political climate seemed more than ever like they were giving the finger to the establishment.
As fans filed out of the venue, most made a pit stop in the restrooms and attempted to scrub off the bloody mess GWAR had made of their skin, me and my friends included. Well, all of my friends except for one who had remained unscathed by hiding way in the back to avoid the blood and gore part of the night’s festivities—I’m looking at you, Woodard!
In a time where many things are taken too seriously and tend to divide people, GWAR’s unique blend of political satire had the opposite effect. No matter what side you are on politically, on this night everyone was united; united by blood and metal.
Check out the GWAR concert photo gallery below:
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