The fake blood comes out of a tank driven by air compressors, and it is aimed at the audience on purpose.
GWAR started about 40 years ago in Richmond, Virginia, among an early punk crew that lived and rehearsed in an abandoned dairy building, and grew out of the clash of ideas between artists Dave Brockie and Hunter Jackson. The members perform in elaborate costumes, and the music has always come wrapped in a running sci-fi mythology. There is even a Grammy nomination on their record.
Brockie, who led the band as Oderus Urungus for almost 30 years, has since died. The collective kept going anyway. Mike Bishop, an original bassist, now sings. In September 2025 the Beyond the Streets gallery in Los Angeles mounted "Let There Be GWAR," a 40-year retrospective full of dressed mannequins, props, comics, drawings and flyers.
The Return of Gor Gor, a multimedia release of new studio recordings and live tracks with its own 32-page comic and a single called "Lot Lizard," arrived in July 2025. In 2026 they toured as "The Gor Gor Strikes Back" with Soulfly, who are also on this Sonic Temple bill, and King Parrot, then announced a fall run under the title "Gor Gor Must Die!"