Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	November 06, 2012
Event:	Gwar & DevilDriver: Fate Or Chaos - North American Tour 2012
Location:	Summit Music Hall, Denver, CO, USA
Galleries:	Gwar, DevilDriver, Cancer Bats - Denver, CO 31.10.2012 by D.T. Metal (23)

Halloween - the one day where people get a pass on dressing up as ridiculous as they want, and nobody even thinking twice about their outfit choices. And what better way to mingle with the sea of "zombies", "batmans" and "slutty nurses" than at a Gwar show.

To be fair, there weren't that many people dressed up that night, and to some of the roadies' dismay, the amount of "slutty nurses" wasn't all that big neither. But hey, it was a Gwar show; meaning by the time it was all said and done, most of the sold-out crowd at the Summit Music Hall in Denver, CO was covered in fake blood anyway.

Since the line of people trying to get into the venue seemed never-ending, we decided to grab a bite to eat and totally missed New Zealand's Legacy Of Disorder.

Next in line were Canada's Cancer Bats and since I already saw them a few times prior (also with DevilDriver) I knew exactly what to expect. In other words, if you are into punk metal, then those dudes will rock your boat.



Vocalist Liam Cormier wasn't even on the stage; nope, he was standing on the barriers so he could be right up close and personal with the fans. They put on an awesome performance and it was a great way to warm up the audience for even better things to come.

I have seen DevilDriver tons of times but the last time I have seen them play on Halloween was actually 2009 in Germany (Neckbreakers Ball Tour) while they were touring with Behemoth, Scar Symmetry, and Arsis. Dez and Co. painted their faces ala Behemoth and it was rather hilarious; but more so since it took them forever to get the "corpse paint" off their faces after the show.

Anyhoo, no costumes for DevilDriver this time around; no big deal since their music spoke for itself. I never know what to expect in regards of their set list and was positively surprised on what they played on this tour. Now, I am not the biggest DevilDriver fan in the world, but this was, hands down, the best gig I have seen them play in a long time.



Starting with the usual "End Of The Line" off their 2005 album The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand, Dez told the audience right away: "Open up the floor", signaling that he wants a mosh pit from hell. And that he got; also the crowd-surfers started to come over the barriers about two songs in, and just kept on coming.

DevilDriver dug somewhat deep into their catalog and didn't just play songs off their latest release Beast. In fact, they only played a whopping two songs from the album. Not bitching here, since the last two of their albums were a bit hectic for my taste, so the older classics, such as "Cry For Me Sky", were a delight to hear live again. Another highlight for me was "Horn Of Betrayal", and even though they have been playing this one on almost every tour, this song never gets old for me.



I have seen the band headlining as well as supporting, but I was surprised on how little space they had on stage. John Boecklin's kit was set up right in front of Gwar's massive, yet covered backline, which meant the rest of the guys had very little room to roam around freely. This was also the second time I saw DevilDriver with Chris Towning (Bury Your Dead) on bass. Sure do miss Jonathan Miller, but dude had to do what was best for him, and after Aaron Patrick, Chris is a great addition to the band.

As usual, DevilDriver ended their set with "Clouds Over California" and the line to get out of the place, to catch some fresh air or have a smoke, hmm ? oxymoron, isn't it?. was almost as long as the aforementioned line to enter the venue. They sure kicked some serious ass that night but I think more people were there to watch the ever so entertaining Gwar debacle.

Last time Gwar came to Denver, was right after their guitarist Cory Smoot (aka Flattus Maximus) passed away rather unexpected, so the mood during that show was much more somber. But since nothing can stop those intergalactic creatures, I knew we all were in for an evening of metal, slaughter and lots of blood.

After an intro by "God", which ended by him saying we all should be "prepared to kneel in front of him and suck his motherf**king *ick", the lights came on and the show started.



Mitt Romney took the stage and with this year's US Presidential election as perfect canon fodder, it sure was a great opening. I thought it was actually pretty funny that Oderus (frontman and vocalist Dave Brockie) commentated about Mitt Romney: "Oh no, it's the 47%", before he "be-headed" him. But equally funny was the fact that a lot of the audience, except those who actually follow the BS our presidential candidates say, didn't get this reference at all.

Some "events" were pretty graphic ? well not to me, but I don't want anybody to puke while reading this article. But to give you an idea, there was a pretty strong statement being made by the Gwar camp, which included a priest, a cross, and shoving such up his ? you get the drift. There was also Hitler, Jesus, as well as Barack Obama on stage, and needless to say, they all got slaughtered.



Even though Gwar recorded this song for a competition, it was pretty emotional when Oderus announced it: "After Flattus Maximus left this planet, a lot of you asked us to carry on; and with Pustulus Maximus [pointing to the new guitarist] we WILL carry on - but we will NEVER forget! Flattus Maximus - Carry On My Wayward Son" and the band proceeded to play this classic Kansas song. AWESOME!

Gwar played a flawless 90-minute set. And trust me, wearing those costumes, this is no easy task. Their stage show was one of the better ones I have seen and seriously, everybody should witness at least one Gwar show in their life; period.