Legendary Richmond-by-way-of-Antarctica-by-way-of-outer-space ragers GWAR should need no introduction to the readrs of this publication. Having recently returned to full strength with the addition of guitarist Pustulus Maximus, GWAR are currently bringing their unique brand of spacefaring metal to the rest of the US on the Fate Or Chaos tour. However, they will return to the Virginia area at the end of November, and will be doing a special one-off show at Washington DC's 9:30 Club on December 20. This show is something of a Richmond showcase, featuring not only GWAR but the reunited Kepone and newly formed RVA metal supergroup Iron Reagan. Kepone is a raging alternative rock trio who released three albums in the mid-1990s before taking an extended hiatus, finally returning last year to give their first performance in over a decade at the 2011 Gwar-B-Que. Since then, they've been playing live somewhat regularly, proving that their every bit the talented, incendiary live act they were the first time around. Featuring former GWAR members Michael Bishop and Tim Harriss, as well as Avail/Holy Rollers drummer Ed Trask, Kepone truly put the "power" in power trio, and are not to be missed. Iron Reagan, a fast, thrashy four-piece, brings together members of Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse, Darkest Hour, and Suppression to lay down some no-frills crossover-style hardcore in the vein of DRI and SOD, complete with the brutally humorous lyrics that groups like that--and GWAR, for that matter--have made a specialty over the years. And of course, we don't want to take away from the most important part of this show--GWAR will be playing, bringing the talents of Pustulus Maximus to local audiences for the first time in the live arena, and generally laying waste to everything in their path. Expect plenty of the blood, gore, filth, and rage you've grown to expect from our terrifying alien masters. Tickets to this show will be the perfect early Christmas gift for all of you raging metalheads out there.
WHAT: GWAR Brutally Conquers the 9:30 Club!
WHO: GWAR, Kepone, Iron Reagan
WHERE: 9:30 Club, 815 V St NW, Washington DC
WHEN: Thursday, December 20, Doors open at 7 PM
ADMISSION: $25--advance tickets available HERE
And the real Christmas gift is that you just might be able to go see this show for free! We're giving away two tickets to see GWAR along with special guests Kepone and Iron Reagan at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, December 20, and you can enter to win them yourself using the amazing computerized widget below this paragraph! You've got until Friday at 5 PM to enter, but don't wait--do it now!
One last thing--here's GWAR's first filmed performance with Pustulus Maximus, recorded for an appearance on the AV Club's Undercover series, in which they did an excellent and hilarious version of Kansas's "Carry On My Wayward Son." It's actually been on our site before--Sounds Of RVA included it in her column back when it came out--but when something is this awesome, there's nothing wrong with an encore presentation. Right? Enjoy: