GWAR Is Just What We Needed

In today’s atmosphere you can’t get a better way to unite people than through portraying the common enemy of everyone else. GWAR came out Wednesday night to handle business.  The one thing I’ve always appreciated about or is they are an equal opportunity offender. They’re gross they’re disgusting they’re brutal and I can’t get enough of them. Fans feel much the same way. They show up in white shirts white dresses white hats anything that they could possibly destroy with all of thestage blood, poop and pee among other things.

There’s even a #beforeandaftergwar which features photos of attendees covered in all types of bodily fluids simulated during the show.  It’s become sort of a badge of honor to be as dirty as possible when leaving. I can’t think of a better outlet for the kinds of energy that we have lately. I quite frankly enjoy the show sometimes from the pit and sometimes from a distance. The fact that they have been in this business for as long as they have speaks volumes to how good these musician s have perfected their craft. 

They recently played the Beacham Theater in downtown Orlando and as they’ve been called since nearly there inception the scum dogs of the universe briughtnsome heavy metal and gallons of liquid. Not including any other “fluids” it was rumoured to be over 100 gallons of stage blood. I was purple and red for a bit.  

In the past they were even featured on The Jerry Springer Show for their version of shock rock.  This set began with both of the presidential candidates fighting it out on stage and it becoming a free-for-all. They then introduced a third candidate one from our past who again became the victim of GWAR’S special kind of therapy.

Finally declaring themselves ultimate rulers of the universe and telling the audience that they were f*****. I had a great time. You have to know what you’re getting into when you go to this show.  I personally brought a rain poncho for the photo time and covered my car seats with garbage bags.  Worth it.  I highly recommend them, even if you choose to watch from afar which would not be my choice.  To truly enjoy the show you must be up in the splash zone which I described to many people as like going to SeaWorld and sitting in the first three rows.

I don’t even know what the bar looks like after the show was finished but I imagine it took days to clean up. If you have an opportunity to see them on this tour you should take advantage of it is to say that you did something completely out of most everyone’s comfort zone.

All Photos and Story by: Belinda Reedy Hinton

About the author:
Belinda Glass Hinton has been a professional photographer since 1985.
Photographing her first main stream music shows at 18. Subsequently she has built a successful photography business that landed her a coveted role on the Miller’s Professional Speakers team.
Her work has appeared on album covers, movie posters and magazines covers world wide.
Her forward thinking has been the basis for several other endeavors including introducing Santa to the Bass Pro Shops from 2005-2008.
Leaving most of the high volume business behind to focus her first love, music in 2012.  For the last 10 years she has taken only boutique jobs and is the US Content Editor for Music Injection 2019-2023 and was a contributor from 2009 forward.