GWAR: Fostering a Positive and Friendly Fanbase?

As Sawborg Destructo jammed Bonesnapper's own sword into his chest, the creature began spewing green blood out into the audience. The stream seemed to be concentrated directly on my face for what seemed like an unnaturally long amount of time. Once it had moved on, I realized my contact was off to the side of my eye so I stumbled to the bathroom.

My once white shirt was completely green and red, along with my beard, hair, and eyebrows. A preppy-looking guy told me I was looking good, and I joked that it was the new fashion trend. I forced the dried, red-dyed contact lens back to the center of my eye in the mirror and as I turned the preppy guy remarked, "You better get back out there, man!" I walked back into the crowd, and ran through the center of the mosh pit, up to the front; Ready to endure even more.

You've probably heard of GWAR if your musical tastes venture anywhere out of what you hear on the radio, but you may have just rolled your eyes at their antics and moved on. If you haven't, I'll explain a bit. They're a metal band with probably the most elaborate stage show around. Here, I'll just show you:

Chances are you either smirked while watching that, or scoffed at the goofiness and moved on. I smirked. I'm 25 years old, married with a kid, and working constantly. So why haven't I matured past the ridiculousness of a live GWAR performance? Why am I explaining away pink hair the next day after the spray of fake blood into the audience dyed it? You might roll your eyes at their antics, but I have reasons for still liking them so much, despite my musical tastes having matured beyond what I listened to in high school.

I've written about music's ability to force me to give up control -- something that I desperately need in my life to help relieve the stress that I constantly allow to build-up. A GWAR show is exactly that. Everyone comes together and relinquishes control, letting the stage show and music take over, instead.

If I was standing behind a preppy/jocky looking metalhead in line at the grocery store, I would probably never strike up a conversation with him. Yet, when GWAR started playing The Salaminizer, I turned the nearest audience member and belted out the lyrics with him while we thrust our fists into the air, grinning from ear to ear.

In a world where far too many bands take themselves much too seriously, Dave Brockie and crew draw-in people from all sorts of musical tastes and bring them together. I ran into a few high school acquaintances at the show. They were all about metal back in school, and often mocked me for my punk t-shirts, but when The Casualties -- the epitome of stripped-down, fast and simple punk rock -- opened up for GWAR, they rocked out just as much as I did. They were there for fun, just like everyone else. That's why I still like GWAR. They bring people together in the name of fun, rather than an attempt at being cool.