Things To Do In England When You're Dead

Gwar played Liverpool last night, the first date of whats the most extensive UK they've done in years. They said they'd of been back sooner, only the map was covered in animal feces. This is a good indication of what to expect from the shock rockers of their day.


All this touring is in support of their new album, Beyond Hell, which has seen them make a significant effort to develop a more appealing sound. Combine this with them doing a radio friendly and phallus free music video for their cover of Schools Out and it become clear that Gwar are moving beyond the stage show and are actually trying to get noticed as musicians.


The downside here is that they didn't seem as good musically as last tour, and that as we all know, people go for the stage show. Maybe it was time to move on from the Ronald Regan ABC Warrior stuff, but how could they not bring the worm?! They used to grantee an audience member would be eaten every gig, not no more. Its not all bad however, still some good on stage action. sHitler and Nazi Pope are welcome new additions, and the stage props of a giant white rock labeled "crack" is a complete classic. Osma bin Laden is gone, but in whats sure to go down well in Europe, they've a certain Islamic prophet who is de-bearded with gory results.

So despite the new direction and motivation, Gwar still stick to what people expect (The World Maggot excluded), but in just updating the jokes from their heyday I think they instantly make the show out-dated. Their sense of humour however remains highly developed and makes perfect sense to those who are enlightened to what it is they're doing. So while they've changed their sound and objectives they still manage to carry the touch and tradition of Rock 'N' Roll theater and while they've stumbled, they've stumbled only slightly and recovery is still within thier monstrous clawed stride.


And shit, sure beats Lordi