Review: Nev Pearce
Photography: Nate Rose

Bohabs of Australia!!

The time has finally arrived for our great overlords, GWAR, to return and slay their way across our land!

It’s been a long time since we last saw the Scumdogs on our shores—their previous appearance was at Soundwave Festival in 2014, shortly before the passing of their leader and my hero, Oderus Urungus.

Now, the band has returned as part of the Good Things Festival tour, along with three exclusive side shows, kicking off tonight in Brisbane at Crowbar.

GWAR have been storming the globe for their massive 40th anniversary celebrations, and seeing them bring the chaos back to Australia was definitely not on my bingo card. Their over-the-top, blood-soaked stage show takes a huge amount of effort (and cash) to move around — even for a band that famously hails from the deepest wastes of Antarctica.

It took years for them to make it down here the first time, and when they finally did, their beloved pet dinosaur Gor-Gor didn’t make the trip back home with them. It wasn’t until their next bloody crusade across our shores that the beast was reunited with the Scumdogs once again — and I have high hopes of seeing the tyrant lizard tonight!

Opening the show is Melbourne metal crossover band Dregg, who have been making a name for themselves over the last few years touring the country and supporting other big-name acts. I’d heard a lot about them and their live show, and they definitely lived up to the hype. With heavy bass drops, crushing breakdowns and a high-energy performance, Dregg poured everything into pumping up the early punters with their quirky nu-metal-inspired tunes.

The sound desk is covered in plastic, the floor is carpeted with old matting, and the time has finally arrived for our overlords to hit the stage and begin the bloodbath.

Opening with “Circus Train Disaster” from their latest release, The Return of Gor-Gor, tonight’s performance follows the story of the return and rise of the tyrant lizard. It kicks off with the ringmaster character telling his tale — but he’s quickly disposed of by GWAR, having his face ripped off, which sends blood shooting into the crowd for the first of many gory deaths of the evening.

Led by Oderus’s successor, Blöthar the Berserker, GWAR still know how to put on one of the best — and messiest — shows around. Tonight, Elon Musk is the next to be slain before the band tear into “Metal Metal Land.”

We are then treated to an old GWAR classic — and one of the songs that kicked it off for me years ago — “Saddam a Go-Go” from one of my favourite records, This Toilet Earth, which was really cool to see.

As the show rolls on, the first glimpse of the tyrant lizard appears when GWAR Woman brings out a cute baby version of the reptile — only for it to be pumped full of crack from an oversized syringe, leading perfectly into another classic, “Crack in the Egg.”

The next special guest of the evening is none other than American president Donald Trump, who’s greeted by a wave of boos and middle fingers from the crowd before being brutally disemboweled to the track “El Presidente.”

The later-era material goes hard live as well. Tracks like “Lot Lizard” and “Tyrant Lizard” whip the pit into an absolute frenzy, slotting in seamlessly alongside GWAR’s classic cuts and even marking the return of a teenage Gor-Gor to the delight of the crowd. The band is locked in and playing tighter than ever—especially impressive given they’re doing it all in full suits in the unforgiving QLD humidity.

You’ve also got to give credit to Blöthar, who—despite fronting the band for the past 11 years—still has some truly monstrous shoes to fill in the absence of Oderus. His stage presence, sharp comedic chops and powerhouse vocals more than rise to the challenge. Honestly, I don’t think anyone else could do what he does.

Wrapping up the night with an encore of Rock ’N’ Roll, Pussy Planet, and Sick of You—the latter dedicated to Oderus—the show closed in a glorious, blood-drenched eruption that satisfied long-time fans and pulled newcomers straight into the madness.

While it still saddens me that Oderus has passed on to Valhalla, I’m grateful I had the chance to see him twice. The band has done a mighty fine job carrying his legacy forward for future bohabs, and that feels genuinely important.