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Review & setlist: GWAR gives fanbase a bloody good time at House of Blues
The heavy metal band played a 90-minute set including a cover of Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club."
GWAR orchestrated a heavy metal bloodbath, Friday night at the House of Blues.
The shock rock instigators let it all hang out, during a rompously bloody and brutal 90-minute, 17-song set, in front of a near capacity crowd.
The fully armored quintet unloaded a furious dose of musical mayhem, while simultaneously spraying copious amounts of fake blood ad nauseum at their audience almost as soon as they took the stage.
“We’re GWAR,” said lead singer Michael Bishop aka Blöthar the Berserker. “We always do things the hard way.”
The bastard stepchildren of Alice Cooper, GWAR has taken his brand of theatrical shock rock to dastardly new depths. But unlike Alice, there is no subtlety in GWAR’s game, only an aggressive take-no-prisoners approach that’s earned them infamy, controversy, and a legion of diehard fans, since forming in 1984.
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For the Gor-Gor Strikes Back Tour, the band followed the trials and tribulations of the mythical alien mastodon. From first appearing in its egg form during set opener “F–k This Place,” to hatching and taking its first bite out of GWAR during “Crack in the Egg,” the monster quickly got acclimated to his heavy metal surroundings. The band happily supplied the soundtrack to his aggressive antics, much to the delight of the crowd.
Dressed in their signature gothic costumes, GWAR looked every bit the part of barbaric medieval interplanetary warriors.
Bishop commandeered the stage sporting horns and large studded shoulder pads. His gruff vocal growls fit a rough-and-tumble exterior. Meanwhile, his band did a masterful job of staying in character, while playing proficiently in their bulky on-stage armor.
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League guitarist Tommy Meehan aka Grodius Maximus ruled supreme. The monstrously bearded ax-wielding beast supplied ample riffage on scorchers like “Tormentor,” the groovy “Metal Metal Land” and fun sing-a-long “Hail, Genocide!”
Rhythm guitarist Mike Derks aka Balsac the Jaws of Death, added the extra crunch on cuts like “Lot Lizard” and “Saddam a Go-Go.” It was quite the feat considering he played with what looked like a jumbo-sized bear trap on his head.
Bassist Casey Orr aka Beefcake the Mighty, along with masked drummer Brad Roberts aka Jizmak Da Gusha, kept the backbeat razor sharp. Orr handled lead vocals on the catchy “Hate Love Songs,” bobbing his bulbus spiked helmet in time with the frenetic groove.
The band’s crazy on-stage attire was matched by their sheer over-the-top violent and sometimes vulgar sense of humor, while also incorporating plenty of social and political satire to boot.
Effigies didn’t come any more blatant than when an oversized ICE agent rolled onto the stage looking for illegal aliens. Since the band were in the guise of their out of this world alter egos, he hit the proverbial jackpot. But before the bumbling agent could reach for his cuffs he was promptly sliced in half head-to-toe, during the comically offbeat “Have You Seen Me?” Both sides of the agent’s carcass split in half, bathing each end of the stage with a double dose of blood, guts and entrails.
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Nobody was safe from this kind of parody, from pedophile priests during “Tormentor” to stereotypical rednecks during “Lot Lizard.”
Former United State Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was targeted during “I’m in Love (With a Dead Dog).” Even Donald Trump took the brunt of it during the punchy “El Presidente.”
Each character suffered a similar fate falling under GWAR’s mighty sword. From blunt- forced trauma and impaling, to throat slicing and disemboweling. The blood-soaked audience ate it all up with each tune.
Meanwhile, Gor-Gor continued to grow, culminating with a nifty reveal of a full-size space reptile that would have made even Iron Maiden’s mascot Eddie jealous.
For the encore, former president Bill Clinton took the stage reading – what else – but his favorite passages from the Epstein file. Slick Willie ultimately lost his head during the raucous “Mother F–king Liar,” bathing the audience one more time at maximum volume.
When they weren’t disposing of their adversaries, GWAR paid tribute to its past. Bishop saluted founding member Dave Brockie aka Oderus Urungus, who died in 2014, with a rousing rendition of “Pink Pony Club,” during the encore, followed by set closer “Sick of You.”
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While not for everybody, GWAR’s brand of in-your-face theatrics still packs a punch. They don’t just push the envelope; they bulldoze the factory that makes the envelopes over a cliff.
And while some will shake their heads and stand at a safe distance from all the blood shed, they’ll continue to give their loyal fanbase what they want.
At least until their blood bags run dry.
Setlist for GWAR at the House of Blues in Boston, March 27, 2026
- F–k This Place
- Crack in the Egg
- Eighth Lock
- Have You Seen Me?
- Tormentor
- Hate Love Songs
- Lot Lizard
- Saddam a Go-Go
- I’m in Love (With a Dead Dog)
- Metal Metal Land
- El Presidente
- Tyrant King
- Hail, Genocide!
- Gor-Gor
Encore:
- Mother F–king Liar
- Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan cover)
- Sick of You
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