Review: GWAR unleash chaos in LA on 4/19/26 with Soulfly and King Parrot
In the politically correct world we live in today, there is not much room for raunchy comedy, unless it involves fantasy characters. Long story short, hail to GWAR for keeping it “real” in a fantastical world of heavy metal packed comedy. On Saturday April 19th, 2026, GWAR’s current tour Gor Gor Strikes Back landed in Los Angeles, CA at the Belasco Theater. This lineup made for another wildly good trio of bands, including the support acts Soulfly and King Parrot. Three bands mixing thrash, crossover thrash, grindcore, groove metal, nu metal, and even death metal made for a very action packed evening.
Starting the early evening off around 7:30 was Australia’s finest grindcore champions, King Parrot. This is not your typical heavy metal band, as they are full of hilarious comedy stage bits and some rapid fire vocals that can put any rapper to shame. Unlike GWAR, they are just some regular-looking heavy metal dudes on stage, with an occasional missing article of clothing, exposing, in this case, a barefooted guitarist. On previous tours, when bassist and backing vocalist Wayne “Auntie Slatts” Slattery is on stage, there is usually bare chest exposed. He was unfortunately not able to make this live tour, but Matt “Youngy” Young and the rest of the gang certainly kept the momentum going. After singing while crowd surfing, Matt sailed back up to the stage and grabbed an audience member’s cellphone to devour. It’s a running joke that never gets old. They played a fun setlist with old favorites and later discography favorites including “Bozo,” “Shit On The Liver,” and ending on a high note with “Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On.” For only 5 songs and 30 minutes, it was a memorable highlight of the evening.
Then it was time for one of the many Max Cavalera bands, Soulfly. What is great about this band, besides the cool Brazilian ritualistic grooves mixed with heavy thrash and nu metal, is that it is timeless. This set featured Max’s son on the drums, which is so great to see future generations fully grasp the concept of this band. It would be a real downer if kids today started forgetting about bands with real instruments. Ending the set with “Eye For An Eye,” was perfection for nostalgic fans, and these heavy hitters showed absolutely no signs of slowing down.
Moving on to Virginia’s crossover thrash band GWAR, they played songs from eleven albums out of their sixteen studio album discography. As their fans know, this band has suffered a few deaths of key members; however, as the scumdogs of the universe that they are, they carry on, knowing that those who left thrive on another planet. Even in 2026, they paid tribute to Dave Brockie at the end of the set and acknowledged a few other deaths, including Chuck Norris. GWAR has their special costume and puppet aesthetic that is undeniably their own. This evening was filled with a giant foam ICE agent that was split into two and murdered. They also used their “blood” squirting puppet antics with a pedophile priest, a dog-killing lady, a fat orange president, Bill Clinton, and Gor Gor. One of the most detailed and intense puppets was the giant, dinosaur-like Gor Gor puppet. What is a little over the top after all these GWAR shows that keep growing songs and puppets/full body costumes is that the messages are all over the place now. It’s a good problem to have too much material to work with, but for some newer fans it could possibly be overwhelming. Nonetheless, they were packed full of entertainment, and the white t-shirt fans in the audience left with the salmon/pink t-shirts they had hoped for. When bands make you want to get slimed, they are doing something right.
They started off the evening with “Fuck This Place,” and ended with a Chappell Roan cover of “Pink Pony Club,” and then said “Los Angeles, we are sick of you,” while jumping into their song “Sick Of You.” It’s was a long and endearing set that is not for the faint of heart. Anyone who gets offended by basically anything should probably just “Saddam A Go Go” home. Since the 1980s, these guys and girls have been performing difficult tasks like playing guitar in outlandish, amazingly well-crafted foam-sculpted costumes. GWAR is one of a kind and definitely from another planet, but they must go on for eternity because of it. Get out there to see this US tour before it ends! It’s not something that should end in regret. Stay metal!
