With the disappearance of their fearless leader Oderus Urungus, the remaining members of GWAR have launched the Eternal Tour to try and find him. Armed with two new Scumdogs- Blothar and Vulvatron- the mutants are trekking their way across the US in search of their missing commander.
The carnage made a stop at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh on a cold night in December. It bears mentioning that Mr. Smalls has undergone a total facelift, complete with new flooring, paint, additional bars and smoking areas, a new balcony area, new sound system and lighting and a dining area with better than average food. With the addition of a proper photo pit, combined with their new attitude and direction the venue could be a contender for the best in Pittsburgh.
American Sharks kicked things into motion with a killer set of hardcore, neck-snapping head banging. They didn’t move much, but they didn’t need to as the fans loved it. The lead singer was quite comical, joking that the first few songs were their sound check and had the crowd sing happy birthday to their merch guy, Matt who wanted a joint for his gift asking, “Does anyone out there smoke pot?”
They had a nice turnout and their set was extremely well received. They also gained a few extra new fans with their contest to color in their new album cover to win 666 dollars. Intoxicated fans with colored markers- what could possibly go wrong?
Hardcore legends Corrosion Of Conformity were next. They delivered a blistering no fuss no muss set of vicious old school hardcore and were men of little words. Guitarist Woody Weatherman’s Sabbath sized riffs and Mike Dean’s massive rumbling bass lines shook the building to it’s very core.
Dean handled most of the vocals, with the exception of drummer Reed Mullin singing “Vote With A Bullet.” They looked and sounded as good as they did in their prime and the pits were enormous, with people leaving bloodied and broken.
Corrosion Of Conformity had done what only a band like C.O.C. could possibly do and that was to bring the crowd right to the edge of the proverbial cliff, so GWAR could push them over it.
The band took the stage to the intro music of Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard,” which the crowd sang loud and proud, launching into tracks like “Fly Now,” “Madness At The Core Of Time” and “Hail! Genocide!” as images of Oderus came through the magic mirror.
Their epic show contained the usual sacrifices, blood cannons, blood squirting breasts and utters, mutilations, battles, having a mutant pizza delivered, doing huge rocks of space crack, slaying Mr. Perfect, feeding loyal fans into the grinder and is still one of the best shows on this or any other planet.
The show also had its usual share of comedy. At one point they brought Oderus’ severed penis- the Cuttlefish on stage, shooting it’s goo on the all too delighted faithful. Saying, “That’s a lot of cum for a severed dick” adding, “He must have thought the time portal was a glory hole.”
Their set showcased a non-stop barrage of moshing, crowd surfing and stage diving. Other comical moments came when Vulvatron announced she had taken Blothar’s private stash of Viagra, prompting him to scream, “What the fuck did you do that for!” and saying, “We can make any lame ass shit sound good, except Nickelback” before their covers of “West End Girls” and “People Who Died.”
During the encore they had a funeral procession for Oderus. As it raged and the blood cannons soaked the fans one last time a young girl looked joyfully at her Mom and Dad as she got hit with the blood, thus creating a whole new generation of Scumdogs and insuring the band’s immortality.
Oderus would have been proud.
-photos and review by Eric Hunker
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