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The post GWAR Roar Back Against MAGA Outrage: \u201cGWAR Normalizing Violence Is Patently Absurd\u201d<\/a> appeared first on Consequence<\/a>.<\/p>\n As we reported earlier this week<\/a>, MAGA is fairly miffed at GWAR<\/a>. The legendary shock rock band\u2019s recent on-stage antics, which includes staged disembowelments and decapitations of effigies of public figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, is the latest source of faux outrage by conservatives. But since we still technically have free speech in this country, GWAR have roared back regarding the \u201ccontroversy,\u201d and its more on-brand than their giant, people-eating worm.<\/p>\n In a new interview with Billboard<\/a>, singer Michael \u201cBl\u00f6thar the Berserker\u201d Bishop responded in kind to the blitz of media coverage stemming from the band\u2019s set at Chicago\u2019s Riot Fest last week. That includes items like this mostly asinine celebrity.land headline, \u201cHeavy Metal Band Stage Phony Beheading of Elon Musk, Murder Trump in Shocking Festival Performance.\u201d (I can practically hear the pearls being clutched.)<\/p>\n Get GWAR Tickets Here<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that GWAR is normalizing violence is patently absurd,\u201d Bishop said. He went on to add, \u201cYeah, it pissed me off! We\u2019re a group of artists that makes art, and it\u2019s really the idea that what we have done is normalizing violence\u2026there\u2019s nothing normal about the violence that goes on at a GWAR show. It\u2019s a cartoon, it\u2019s Looney Tunes.\u201d<\/p>\n Bishop also struck back at a series of tweets (including those from a supposedly fake X\/Twitter account<\/a>, @HotTakeKaren) that said their performance wasn\u2019t \u201cedgy, it\u2019s grotesque and reckless.\u201d To which Bishop replied, \u201cWe\u2019re not millionaires that are afraid of what people are going to say when they see what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Heads Up:<\/strong> GWAR\u2019s Bud of Gods collection is currently BOGO<\/a> at the Consequence Shop.<\/p>\n As so many have pointed out again and again across social media, GWAR have staged these so-called spectacles for years, even disemboweling a Hillary Clinton effigy<\/a> in the past. As Riot Fest tweeted out after the surge of reactionary press<\/a>, a claim like \u201cGWAR crossed a major line\u201d is \u201cone of the funniest f**king things I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the addition of a fake Elon Musk (wearing a DOGE shirt, of course) to their stage show, Bishop said the band often focuses its rage on the most relevant public figures of the time. But whoever is on the chopping block at a given show, it\u2019s all done in the name of silly-but-transcendent art.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a parody of violence,\u201d Bishop said. \u201cIt\u2019s trying to make violence into a spectacle and show humanity\u2019s absolute absurdity. That\u2019s what GWAR is, it\u2019s absurdism. To say it\u2019s normalizing violence is really reaching.\u201d<\/p>\n After doing this kind of thing for four-plus decades, GWAR have learned to roll with the punches. Reflecting on the band\u2019s 40-year run, Bishop told Heavy Consequence in a recent interview<\/a>,\u00a0 \u201c[It\u2019s been] bumpy, to say the least \u2014 like a log flume or something. Just constantly plunging and rising, waiting for the next drop. It\u2019s been a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n If you want to see GWAR\u2019s spectacle in your town, their North American fall tou<\/a>r picks back up on October 5th at Aftershock festival in Sacramento, and runs through a November 22nd show in Norfolk, Virginia. Grab your tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Consequence may earn an affiliate commission via purchases made through links on this article.<\/p>\n Popular Posts<\/p>\n