GWAR’s 2nd Leg of the Return of the World Maggot Tour – REVIEW

GWAR’s 2nd leg of the Return of the World Maggot tour came through Mojoes in Joliet with supporting acts Municipal Waste, Ghoul, and Legacy of Disorder. You can check out our review after the break.

The concert season for the spring of 2012 is underway and it has gotten off to a very busy start. Hard rock/metal bands galore on tour everywhere. Some artists even playing the same towns on the same exact dates! However, Gwar and their opener’s still had no problem filling up the venue on a Sunday night in a B-market area.

New Zealand’s Legacy Of Disorder kicked things off right to a warm reception received by the crowd showing up early to catch them! Though they hail from NZ, their sound brings to mind the American sounds of the Pantera/Lamb Of God groove worship. Being the stand out band of tonight’s line up, LOD definitely used it to their advantage hammering out as many tunes as they can within a half hour to give those in attendance the bang for their buck.

Up next was the spooky-good Ghoul and their stage presence while haunting was maniacally fun at the same time. Kicking things off with the appropriately titled opener Off With Their Heads off 2011’s Transmission Zero, Ghoul sawed through the crowd harder than any SAW movie could have. They gave the crowd a good fine dose of ooze to cover people in as if they were pre-gaming them for the impending  Super Bowl that was Gwar later in the night. These hellions warned those watching that all good things would come to an end, and the ending they gave the rabid fans was one that left them breathless and stunned as if they saw a traumatizing yet scarily fun blood feast.

The party vibe heavily picked up as soon as Virginia’s own Municipal Waste stormed the stage. Metal heads and punk rockers galore flocked in droves to the barricade for their dose of a headbanger face rip that only they could offer. MW made it apparent that if you were there, you were partying as they slammed and rolled into Beer Pressure from 2007’s The Art Of Partying. These Virginians definitely know their way with words as they drove into “Guilty Of Being Tight” which is a play-on-words of Minor Threat’s “Guilty Of Being Right”. It wouldn’t be a Waste set as well if they didn’t close out with Born To Party which has their anthemic statement “MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK YOU UP!” and they did just that by the time it was all said and done, you knew everyone had given in to their “beer pressure”.

Tonight’s main event was finally up and Mojoe’s was packed to the gills for the almighty Gwar. People of various ages packed this place for the headliner from teens toparents with their children getting them started at an early age showing them what they grew up on. For those who do not know, this spring tour was dedicated to the memory of the late Cory Smoot aka Flattus Maximus. In respect to their formerly deceased guitarist, Gwar didn’t replace Flattus and retired his character and are moving forward as a 4 piece. Gwar finally arrived and wasted no time lashing the ooze out at their fans they like to call slaves. Colors of red, green and blue were everywhere and it was not long before people in the crowd looked like something off The Smurfs. If Gwar were to run America, the national anthem would be their classic hit “Bring Back The Bomb” as they announced on the stage before they plowed thru aforementioned song.  Vocalist Oderus Urungus declared that when we die we go to the “Metal, Metal Land” and at around this point GWAR had brought a puppet of Jersey Shore Star Snooki on stage to “kill” and “hack” away to let off more ooze all over their slaves/fans as the people watched in adoration of the “murder” of the television star. To cap it all off, GWAR laid their last song of the night to their fallen brother. One they haven’t played in years titled “The Road Behind” and Oderus and the crowd were united as one together word for word with this song. The aliens we know as Gwar make their quiet exit and when they do a flashing light comes on shining over the display of a guitar used by their fallen bandmate. It was a heartfelt moment for those seeing it before they had exited. But It was also a reminder that Cory’s legacy will always be with the fans forever.

In a very competitive spring touring market, if you had to slim down your choice of shows, make it THIS ONE. Gwar is one of those rare shows where though the music may be considered heavy and nasty, it’s the type of show that can provide fun for the entire family, and that is one guarantee I am willing to stand by!

Information about the review…
Tour: GWAR’s 2nd Leg of the “Return of the World Maggot Tour”
Bands: GWAR, Municipal Waste, Ghoul, and Legacy of Disorder
Reviewer: Nicholas Wier
Date: March 25, 2012
Venue: Mojoes in Joliet, IL