“Gor Gor Strikes Back” with GWAR at The Webster

Written by: Kat Gullage Photos by Holly Borden / Holly Roy Photography

Theatrical horror rockers GWAR (short for “Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh”) made a stop at the Webster in Hartford, Connecticut with King Parrot and Soulfly in tow Tuesday, March 24th, 2026.

King Parrot brought their fusion of hardcore metal and punk all the way from Australia. This was my second time seeing them live. Caught em previously opening for the current Pantera line-up. Happy to report the crowd at this gig was not nearly as lame as the one they played in front of before. Welcome to Connecticut. King Parrot has four studio albums and their nine song set hit on all of em. Three each from Bite Your Head Off and A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot, two from Dead Set and one from Ugly Produce. They assaulted our senses right off the bat with “Bozo”, “Disgrace Yourself” and “It’s A Rort”. Singer Matt “Youngy” Young growled at us throughout the performance. The lyrics were hard for me to decipher, but I couldn’t look away. The vocalist demanded our attention as he worked the whole stage, kept the energy level high and acknowledged the diehard headbangers in the audience that were obviously familiar with their work. Matt yelled “Lemme see those hands up!” and we promptly obeyed. Backed by guitarist Andrew “Squiz” Livingstone-Squires, bassist Derek Engemann (DerekFuneral) and drummer Max (no nickname) Dangerfield, the sonic barrage continued with “Target Pig Elite”, “Psychotherapy And Valium” and “Shit On The Liver”. Matt made sure the fans were engaged the entire time as he called on them to headbang and chant. “Hell Comes Your Way” was followed by “Home Is Where The Gutter Is”. Matt outdid himself here as he jumped off stage and hopped on the rail to vibe with ecstatic fans. One of which was lucky enough to have her phone nearly swallowed by the singer as he held it in his mouth, hands free. Matt’s shorts somehow stayed precariously perched above his manhood. King Parrot closed with “Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On”, which you can get emblazoned on a shirt at their merch booth. The singer thanked the crowd and even thought the band performed a heavy set with neck vein popping vocals, it didn’t even slightly dent his energy level. Need a dose of grindcore? King Parrot’s sound was on point and they were a fitting opener. No real parrot appears in their performances.

King Parrot

Soulfly is a Brazilian-American groove metal band with death metal woven into their sound. The band has been feeding their fans tribal infused slamming riffs for decades. They have thirteen studio albums, with their self titled debut, Soulfly, reaching certified gold status. Their twelve song set was carefully cultivated from five of their LPs. The Soulfly faithful fans showed up in force. Founder, frontman, singer and guitarist Max Cavalera (formerly of Sepultura) wasted no time whipping the crowd into a frenzy when he commanded “Jump! Jump! Jump!” on the first notes of the opening track “No Hope = No Fear” (Soulfly) and the majority complied. Mid song he barked “Make some fukin noise!”. The vocals were a bit muddy or not loud enough, but this did not deter the fans. The music was spot on thrash. “Get your fukin hands up!” led into “Seek ‘n’ Strike” (3), while “Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!” was the instruction given before they belted out “Favela/Dystopia” (Chama) and the fans were fully engaged. Max conducted the chaos like a maestro “Get the fuck up! Go! Go! Go! Go! Open the biggest pit of the night! Open that shit up!” and the fans responded accordingly during title track “Prophecy”. Backed by his son Zyon Cavalera on drums, lead guitarist Mike DeLeon and bassist Chase Bryant they kept it rollin with “Storm The Gates” (Chama), “Execution Style” (Prophecy) and “Back To The Primitive” (Primitive). Max would disappear for a quick moment between songs to change axes or drink one of four bottles of water perched on a stack. “Webster we ain’t done!” Max demonstrated holding his arms up and waving em back forth and the fans followed in unison. “Make some noise mother fuckers! We’re gonna get everybody jumpin!” From front to back, the room was fully activated. Max got em to clap in sync. “Everybody scream!” and the place let out a roar. He gets a “Fire!” chant going and eggs on the fans until they break out a “Soulfly!” incantation. “Fire” (Soulfly) proved a great rendition with decent guitar solos. Another track off Chama was next with “No Pain = No Power”. “Are you OK with some more shit?” “We are here to party with you tonight and we won’t stop till everyone’s moving the whole place! I need you get the fuck down Connecticut. The whole place. Get your ass on the floor.” I was like how the hell are we gonna do that in this crowded space? The metalheads made it happen though and when Max ordered us to “Jump the fuck up!” the place exploded with movement while Soufly unleashed “Jumpdafuckup” (Primitive). They closed with “Eye For An Eye” (Soulfly) and “We are Soulfly and we love you!” I have no doubt that was sincere cuz the place was packed for a random Tuesday night and the audience showered them with fandom. Are you a Soulfly fan? Catch their live show for a powerful punch.

Soulfly

This GWAR gig was early on in their thirty-four date run. The Scumdogs Of The Universe sometimes perform six nights in a row. They’re unstoppable and as we know, not even death can kill GWAR. The venue was packed with first timers and veterans. A sea of white shirts hoping to be sprayed with fake blood and fluids. There was a prerecorded intro that one of the ensemble acted out, but it was hard to hear. The band filled the stage with their gigantic unworldly costumes and immediately unleashed “Fuck This Place” (The Blood Of Gods) and the first crowd surfer went up. The band was decent, the sound improved from the last time I saw them live, but the vocals were muddled. A “Fuck This!” chant erupted. An egg appeared on stage and Baby Gor Gor was born! Then he got shot by a giant syringe, lost a limb, and the white shirts got their first blast. Singer and frontman Blothar the Berserker joked “Thank you Danbury! New Haven? I dunno. Those are the only cities in this place.” The band spewed “Crack In The Egg” (America Must Be Destroyed) and the crowd surfers went up again during “Eighth Lock” (Beyond Hell). Something nearly indescribable appeared on stage. It looked like a giant Grimace wearing ICE agent accoutrements like a hat and vest. It could very well have been a pile of poop, but the lighting made it look like a spherical shaped purple giant. Regardless, the ICE clad lump is unmasked and halved and fluids were sprayed on the loyals who begged for more. “You like this? You have no morals! You have no decency!” the singer shouted as the band continued with another track off of America, “Have You Seen Me?”, “Tormentor” (Beyond Hell) and “Hate Love Songs” (Carnival Of Chaos). The pit was in full action, surfers included and Blothar acknowledged them “Hi, how ya doin down there?”. The frontman is backed by rhythm guitarist Balsac the Jaws ‘O Death, bassist Beefcake The Mighty, drummer JiZMak da Gusha, co-vocalist and nemesis SawBorg Destructo, bodyguard/back up singer Bonesnapper and the fearless lead guitarist Grodius Maximus, who at one point leapt off the stage and played while he walked through the crowd and around the entire bar. A feat I had never seen attempted or accomplished before. The fans went wild the entire time as GWAR fed em “Lot Lizard” (The Return of Gor Gor! multimedia album), and “Saddam A Go-Go” (This Toilet Earth). A Kristy Noem facsimile, complete with horse, appeared on stage to a cloud of resounding boos. She proclaimed “I wasn’t fired from the enchanted kingdom of Americaland!” right before her tits were sliced off and more fake blood shot into the pit. “Must’ve been defective anyway. How ya doin Connecticunts?” Blothar proclaimed before he shook his ass during “Metal Metal Land” (Lust In Space). GWAR staple “El Presidente” (The Blood Of The Gods) brought the disembowelment of the standing president, in this case Trump. Faux Trump said “I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” A girl on someone’s shoulders got an extreme shot from the bloody imitation leader. The band followed it all up with “Tyrant King” (Return) and “Hail, Genocide!” (Bloody Pit Of Horror). Fan favorite “Gor-Gor” began with a chant of his name to draw out the senior Gor Gor. It literally required expert choreography to fit the mascot on stage amongst the imposing players and props. It was a sight to behold. Of course Gor Gor attacked and bit and blood was shed and sprayed. At this point GWAR exited the stage and made the bohabs work hard for their reappearance, but the fans were more than up to the task. They played a weird movie that included vignettes like a punishment type slip and slide that looked slick with cum, Corry’s snail and slug killer commercial and some hot chicks with a voice over of “Life’s not like that, life sucks, you need more beer”. It was worth the wait as a phony Epstein appeared, holding the famous files. As is custom, he was decapitated and his head danced around during “Mother Fucking Liar” (The New Dark Ages). GWAR’s cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” cemented my own personal opinion, I don’t like covers. The loyal bohabs were fans of it though! A group tribute to fallen former GWAR member Oderus Urungus had the entire venue reciting his name. “He’d be doing something up here that gets us arrested!” The set closed with their classic “Sick Of You” (Scumdogs Of The Universe), and lemme tell ya, they caught some impressive distance on their last dousing of the crowd, hitting even the very back of the pit. A GWAR show will leave you both offended and impressed. Takes a lot of work from the musicians and crew to pull off this bloody debauchery night after night. Their music sounded better this time, but it’s really all about the perverse spectacle. I saw some white shirts post show and the fluids had left a light orange wash on them. GWAR is not just a band, but a brand that includes music, comics, games, apparel, and the ugliest looking sex toys ever created. Become a bohab by catching a live show, if you dare. Or don’t go and remain an imbecile.

GWAR