The intergalactic scourge known as GWAR descended upon The Masquerade in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday night, unleashing the second night of their newly launched Gor Gor Must Die Tour in a blood-soaked spectacle of metal, mayhem, and over-the-top depravity. Joining the extraterrestrial overlords for this latest assault were special guests X-Cops, Mac Sabbath, and Midnight. Established in 1989, The Masquerade is one of Atlanta’s most iconic music venues, with a gritty, industrial character perfectly suited to an evening of unrestrained sonic violence. The venue houses four indoor rooms — Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Altar — each with its own atmosphere and capacity, but Heaven, the largest general-admission space, became ground zero for the night’s carnage. Fans packed the room, many sporting elaborate costumes or the time-honored GWAR uniform of white T-shirts, ready to be baptized in chaos as the interstellar shock-rockers brought their trademark theatrical brutality to the masses.
X-Cops delivered a riotous blend of crossover thrash, punk aggression, and irreverent social satire starting at 7:00 p.m., setting the stage for an evening where law enforcement parody collided with unapologetic heavy metal. Featuring masked musicians decked out in police uniforms and riot gear, the band leaned into its deliberately over-the-top persona, transforming its anti-authoritarian humor into a barrage of jagged guitar riffs, pounding rhythms, and confrontational energy. The long-running GWAR-associated project (originally formed in the mid-1990s as a GWAR side project, the band grew out of an idea conceived while filming the group’s movie Skulhedface), which returned after more than two decades away, delivered a welcome dose of chaotic irreverence, complementing the tour’s larger-than-life theatrics with its own brand of musical mayhem. As the original bad boys of metal law enforcement, X-Cops proved a fitting addition to the Gor Gor Must Die Tour, reminding Atlanta that when these officers hit the stage, keeping the peace was never part of the job description.
X-Cops
X-Sheriff Tubb Tucker — Vocals
X-Sargent Al DePansia — Guitar, vocals
X-Lieutenant Louie Scrapinetti — Guitar, vocals
X-Officer Ed Banger — Bass
X-Inmate #8048675309 — Drums
X-Bike Cop Biff Buff — Vocals
X Agent Zypygski, the “Zipper Pig” — Vocals
The Prisoner — Vocals
Setlist:
1.) Smartass (Hands Up)
2.) Welcome to New Jersey
3.) Zipper Pig
4.) We’re the Pigs
5.) Cavity Search
6.) Barbells
7.) Paddy Wagon Rape
8.) The Art of Shutting Your Fucking Mouth
Mac Sabbath then served up a heaping helping of fast-food-fueled heavy metal absurdity starting at 7:45 p.m., bringing its gloriously twisted take on Black Sabbath to the Gor Gor Must Die Tour. Billed as the self-proclaimed pioneers of “Drive-Thru Metal,” the band blended doom-laden riffs and classic metal grooves with a bizarre McDonald’s-inspired spectacle that turned familiar fast-food imagery into an outrageously entertaining rock ’n’ roll parody. With its costumed characters, off-the-wall humor, and reimagined metal classics, the Los Angeles outfit delivered a performance that was every bit as ridiculous as it was musically heavy, offering a welcome dose of comic relief amid the evening’s darker sonic assaults.
The quartet tore through a set that included tracks like “Organic Funeral,” “Sweet Beef,” “Frying Pan,” and “We’re Not Going to Shake Shack,” before putting their own twisted spin on “Paranoid” and closing with a medley featuring “School’s Out,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Raining Blood,” and “Crazy Train.” The fast-food-fueled theatrics provided plenty of comic relief without sacrificing the heavy-metal muscle, making Mac Sabbath an especially entertaining addition to an already unconventional lineup. Equal parts absurd and musically convincing, the band proved that even a drive-thru order could come with a healthy serving of talented metal riffs.
Mac Sabbath
Ronald Osbourne — Vocals (parody of Ronald McDonald and Ozzy Osbourne)
Slayer MacCheeze — Guitar (parody of Mayor McCheese and Slayer)
Grimalice — Bass (parody of Grimace)
The Catburglar (also known as Peter Criss Cut Fries) — Drums (parody of The Hamburglar and Peter Criss)
Setlist:
1.) Organic Funeral
2.) Sweet Beef
3.) Chicken for the Slaves
4.) Frying Pan
5.) We’re Not Going to Shake Shack
6.) Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
7.) School’s Out / Detroit Rock City / Raining Blood / Crazy Train medley
Midnight brought a vicious dose of blackened speed metal to the stage, unleashing a raw, no-frills assault starting shortly after 8:30 p.m. that served as the perfect precursor to GWAR’s pending carnage. Led by frontman and multi-instrumentalist Athenar, the Cleveland outfit ripped through its signature blend of snarling vocals, buzzsaw riffs, punk-fueled urgency, and filthy heavy-metal swagger, delivering an audio invasion built for headbanging, moshing and mayhem. Tracks such as “Satanic Royalty,” “You Can’t Stop Steel,” and “Violence on Violence” showcased the band’s relentless attack and old-school metal sensibilities, while its grimy, leather-and-chains aesthetic reinforced the rebellious spirit coursing through every riff. With a live album, Satanic Attack Live!, scheduled to arrive November 6, the trio hit the road with its ferocious reputation firmly intact, leaving little doubt that the band was ready to drag Atlanta into its own brand of hellish metal chaos. Midnight delivered an unapologetically nasty set that provided a sharp contrast to Mac Sabbath’s comedic antics while keeping the evening’s intensity firmly in overdrive. By the time “Fucking Speed and Darkness” brought their performance to a close, the stage was set for the main attraction.
Setlist:
1.) Unholy and Rotten
2.) Evil Like a Knife
3.) Satanic Royalty
4.) You Can’t Stop Steel
5.) Rip This Hell
6.) Necromania
7.) Black Damnation
8.) Lust Filth and Sleaze
9.) Violence on Violence
10.) Savage Dominance
11.) Holocaustic Deafening
12.) Shock Til Blood
13.) Fucking Speed and Darkness
Returning to the scene of the crime nearly one year later at 10:00 p.m., GWAR once again descended upon The Masquerade with the kind of intergalactic savagery that has made the Richmond, Virginia, metal institution one of heavy music’s most outrageous live attractions for decades. Fronted by the imposing Blöthar the Berserker, the Scumdogs of the Universe combined punishing riffs, thunderous percussion, and snarling vocals with their trademark brand of outrageous and grotesque science-fiction theater, transforming the stage into a blood-soaked battleground. The band unleashed a set that included “The Salaminizer,” “Crack in the Egg,” “Fuck This Place,” and “Maggots,” alongside the appropriately titled “Gor-Gor.” Other highlights included “Tormentor,” “Bring Back the Bomb,” and “Tyrant King,” with the unexpected addition of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” adding another dose of GWAR’s wonderfully twisted sense of humor.
As always, GWAR’s appeal extended well beyond the music itself, with grotesque costumes, exaggerated violence, and gallons of simulated gore turning the performance into an immersive spectacle that was equal parts heavy metal concert and deranged theatrical production. The aptly titled Gor Gor Must Die Tour provided the perfect backdrop for GWAR’s latest campaign of carnage, bringing a fresh chapter of the band’s twisted mythology to the South. With more than four decades of outrageous performances behind them, the Scumdogs showed why their combination of thrash-metal intensity, outrageous satire, and unapologetic vulgarity continues to stand apart from the pack. Beneath the elaborate monster suits and buckets of theatrical blood, the band delivered the goods where it mattered most: a relentless barrage of metal that encouraged headbanging, raised fists, and gleefully unrestrained mayhem. GWAR’s enduring formula remained as gloriously unhinged as ever, leaving the soaked and sweaty Atlanta audience battered by the spectacle and thoroughly entertained by the destruction.
GWAR continues on for a number of weeks, wrapping up for the year on Saturday, December 12, at The NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia.
GWAR
Mike Derks (Balsac the Jaws of Death) — Rhythm guitar
Brad Roberts (Jizmak Da Gusha) — Drums
Matt Maguire (Sawborg Destructo) — Co-lead vocals
Bob Gorman (Bonesnapper) — Backing vocals
Michael Bishop (Blöthar the Berserker) — Lead vocals
Casey Orr (Beefcake the Mighty) — Bass, backing vocals
Tommy Meehan (Grodius Maximus) — Lead guitar, backing vocals
Setlist: (mostly)
1.) The Salaminizer
2.) Crack in the Egg
3.) Metal Metal Land
4.) Eighth Lock
5.) Fuck This Place
6.) Maggots
7.) Tormentor
8.) Lot Lizard
9.) Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan cover)
10.) Brick Back the Bomb
11.) Tyrant King
12.) Gor-Gor
13.) Crush, Kill, Destroy
14.) Sick of You
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.