For practically 4 many years, Gwar have made a profession out of outrageous satire, splattering crowds with pretend blood whereas cartoonishly “sacrificing” effigies of politicians, popular culture figures, and non secular leaders. However their current Riot Fest set in Chicago struck a uncooked nerve, drawing headlines and outrage far outdoors the standard steel world.
Throughout their efficiency, the costumed shock-rockers staged the mock beheadings and disembowelments of each Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald J. Trump — one thing Gwar has been doing for actually many years. Apparently this wasn’t an issue when Gwar was killing Obama, or Joe Biden, or the Clintons, or actually anybody else. For the “fuck your emotions” crowd, y’all are being a bunch of sentimental bitches.
The controversy got here within the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, which has put heightened scrutiny on any perceived depictions of political violence. Clips of Gwar‘s stage antics — divorced from their long-running b-movie absurdism — went viral on X, amplified by political influencers and shops like Breitbart, the New York Put up, and Libs Of TikTok, who branded the act as “incitement.”
Chatting with Billboard, Gwar frontman Blöthar The Berserker (Michael Bishop) pushed again in opposition to the outrage: “The concept that Gwar is normalizing violence is patently absurd. We’re not millionaires which can be afraid of what persons are going to say once they see what we do… there’s nothing regular in regards to the violence that goes on at a Gwar present. It is a cartoon, it is Looney Tunes.”
He clarified that the band’s stage gore is satire, not advocacy: “It is a parody of violence. It is making an attempt to make violence right into a spectacle and present humanity’s absolute absurdity. That is what Gwar is, it is absurdism. To say it is normalizing violence is absolutely reaching.”
Blöthar additionally addressed the social media uproar immediately, mocking the cycle of “rage-bait” engagement farming: “Like I do know this can be a rage bait engagement farming twitter account, however ‘Gwar crossed a serious line’ is likely one of the funniest fucking issues I’ve ever heard. The dumbest folks on the web are nonetheless mad as we speak. Acquired to find it irresistible. So long as they preserve posting that superior video and mentioning our title for the free publicity it is a win for me.”
For longtime followers, the set was enterprise as regular: Gwar have all the time skewered either side of the political aisle (and practically each cultural determine conceivable), their reveals equal elements satirical horror theater and grotesque comedy. But in as we speak’s polarized setting, even their model of over-the-top absurdism finds itself swept into tradition struggle battles.
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