The infamous GWAR-B-Q was this past weekend at Hadad’s Lake and featured a long list of raging metal bands. I showed up to the GWAR-B-Q at around one o’clock on Saturday, which was a little after the initial opening time of 10:00 am. There were a large number of people milling about, swimming, dancing, and drinking, but it wasn’t yet packed. What caught my eye first were the bikers speeding down a small hill and launching themselves off of a ramp into one of the lakes--I was nearly run over by one as I walked towards the stages.
Once I’d avoided that near collision, I approached the smaller secondary stage, where Volture was finishing their set. I was pleasantly surprised by their last few songs. The first couple of times I caught them live, I wrote them off as another throwback band, but this time, they sounded a lot more melodic to me, almost directly in the vein of Iron Maiden. I found myself wishing I could have caught their whole set.
One nice thing about the GWAR-B-Q was that the dual stages allowed for one band to play right after another, sometimes overlapping, without the awkward lag between sets that is often experienced at metal shows. The stages were so close together--the main stage was about 200 feet behind the small stage--you didn’t have to walk far in order to enjoy the other bands.
After Volture finished up on the small stage, Cannabis Corpse played on the main stage and put on a solid performance, although I definitely think they were funnier when Andy Horn was still their frontman. Their gimmick may be wearing a little thin, but they were perfect for the party atmosphere of the GWAR-B-Q.
My biggest complaint about the GWAR-B-Q was waiting in the seemingly endless lines. I wandered over to the beer ticket station, waited in line. Meandered over to the beer area, waited in line. Drank a beer while watching Mobile Death Camp, then had to pee, waited in line (the porta-potties were vile, but I guess that’s to be expected). The lines only became longer and more agonizing as Hadad’s began to fill up. I suppose I have one other complaint as well; they quickly ran out of GWAR Beer, and people were left to drink whatever was in the giant keg truck.
After Mobile Death Camp played an exhilaratingly intense set, Warbeast played on the main stage, and were surprisingly good. This is when the crowd really began to pick up. A pit formed, causing dust to rise into the noses and mouths of everyone near either stage. Warbeast came off like early thrash bands Exodus and Death Angel, but they formed in 2008. With all the neo-thrash of today focusing on partying and old-school skate imagery, it was interesting to see a band approach it a little differently.
Next was Corrosion of Conformity’s set, which was as awesome as would be expected. They played more slow, Southern-rock songs than they did when I caught them a few years ago at Best Friends Day. While what they played was fantastic, they could have played less b-sides and a few more hits. The drummer and the guitarists were truly a sight for sore eyes. They were grinning at the audience, smiling at each other, and just having the best time possible. During their set, the sun came out for the first time all day and was blazing hot for a few minutes, which, in my opinion, was more of a nuisance than a gift.
After waiting in an even longer line for my second beer, I headed back over to the main stage, where Municipal Waste was getting started. Much like COC, they were a fun band to watch perform. The drummer (a good looking guy for his age!) was center stage and very involved with the other members of the band, as well as the audience, who were going wild.
Next, I headed to the small stage to get a good spot for Pig Destroyer. As usual, they launched into a ferocious set of groovy classics. Since Pig Destroyer is pretty much my favorite band, I was stoked, but not entirely prepared for the utter chaos that was the crowd while they played. People were jumping from the rafters, crowd surfing, and moshing the entire time. At one point, frontman JR Hayes actually got a little mad about all the beer and water being thrown, and asked the crowd to keep it off of Blake Harrison’s expensive electronic equipment. I braved the crowd for a while, but once I got tired of guarding my glasses and bag, I stepped out of the gazebo to watch the rest of the set. While trying stand there and watch, I was inundated by yells from the scantily clad Slave Pit announcer girl (who had trouble keeping her boobs in her shirt, and ended up with a nip-slip) on the main stage, who was giving away free shirts, coozies, and hats. It was a shame that her ramblings interfered with people’s enjoyment of the second stage. Still, I can’t complain too much about seeing Pig Destroyer live at a water park.
GWAR played next, and they were beyond phenomenal. Within the first three minutes of their performance, the first five rows of people were splattered with GWAR secretions. First there was blood squirting from a priest’s ass, due to the insertion of a giant cross. Hitler, Obama, and Jesus were brutally murdered, spewing gallons upon gallons of bright red (fake) blood onto the audience. Of course, the lead singer was sporting a giant fake penis, which eventually squirted shockingly bright green goo. The crowd was having the time of their lives, and GWAR was enjoying themselves immensely.
Surely there will be a fifth annual GWAR-B-Q--if you missed this one, be sure to catch it next summer. If you made it this year, you shouldn’t need to be convinced as to why you should keep going back for more. Due to the overcast skies and cool temperatures, not a lot of people were swimming, but the energy was right, all of the bands were happy to play, and the crowd was fight and drama free. GWAR lives on, and this proves that no matter what happens, Richmond will find a way to rage out at Hadad’s Lake at least once every summer.