Big treat for Indy Rock Live as the one and only Big Kahuna (@BgKahuna on Twitter) provided this guest post on the GWAR show at the Vogue on Friday.

Last Friday night, I got a chance to see GWAR, one of my favorite bands in the world. I’ve been a fan since 1992 and have seen the group more than any other band. Going to see GWAR is the one thing I do that is outside my real personality. I am not a huge death metal fan and can only name other death metal bands because I did research on them for a speech contest a couple years ago. I probably have as many Yanni and Enya CDs as I do GWAR CDs (ed: That’s hardcore).

My mother-in-law came down to Indianapolis to see the kids and let my wife and I have a date night. We did dinner on the north side, then I dropped my wife off at home and headed to The Vogue in Broad Ripple. You would have better luck seeing my wife performing on stage with GWAR than see her attending a GWAR concert. However, I did meet up with two people who shared a first date the last time GWAR was in Indianapolis. Yes, they were celebrating their GWARniversary. WoW. I guess a couple that GWARs together, stays together.

Having seen these guys approximately ten times in the last twenty years, I would say the crowd was down from previous years. It was still a mostly packed house and the crowd was energized. The Casualties opened up for them and got the audience hyped. The break between the two bands is like a half-time show, a time to ease out of the mosh pit and take a break. This allows the mosh pitters to recharge the batteries before the next portion of the show.

For those unfamiliar with GWAR, they have been around for 26 years and have gained popularity without any radio air play. The quartet is lead by ODERUS URUNGUS (David Brockie). GWAR performs in unique costumes because they are from another universe. A telecast tells their back story. The rest of the band is made up of Balsac The Jaws of Death on guitar, Beefcake the Mighty on bass, and Jizmac the Mighty on drums.

When GWAR takes the stage, it’s a signal to see how many people can be crammed between the security rail and the back of the dance floor. As the population of the mosh pit increases, a slow rotation begins in the center of the group. This is the center of the mosh pit — the Vortex. As the Vortex is spinning, the band or one of the GWAR slaves has a sword fight on stage, and then “blood” is sprayed on the audience.

About 45 minutes into the concert, I decided to attempt entry into the mosh pit. As I get older, I become more and more hesitant of going into the mosh pit. Once in the pit, there is a constant fear of getting hit by the combat boot of a body surfer. An interesting thing happens in a mosh pit; your feet are moving into one spot while your upper body rotates. All this while seven people squeeze into one square foot. At one point, I made it within a foot of the security fence in front of the stage, which is the equal of hitting a home run. It’s the best mosh pit location one can achieve.

GWAR played for 90 minutes and every song was awesome. They played a couple of songs from their strongest album, Scumdogs of the Universe, and sprayed plenty of “blood” on the crowd. (A little hint: If someone comes on stage attached to a hose, chances are they will be spraying “blood” in the near future.) These songs made the concert a lot less death metal and a lot more Glee. Don’t get me wrong, I was singing along as well and loving every minute of it. I would have liked to see some of their more theatrical songs, such as Gor-Gor and The Morality Squad. Gor-Gor features a dinosaur fighting a giant, 12-foot robot on stage.

GWAR is an unique concert experience. From the mosh pit to the onstage battles, to the blood that is sprayed on the crowd, no show compares. The next time they come back though Indianapolis, make sure you go. But be sure to bring ear plugs, a change of clothes, and shoes you wear to do yard work.