I 10 - The Michigan Daily --WednesdayM69 28, 1997 M , ,u s.f. .. .R . s. .. _ . .. , .. . W . , v , ,._ . s . . . . . a _ . . GWAR brings theatrical, gory stage show to St. Andrew's By Brian M. Kemp meant to excite and at the same time too seriously." For the Daily disgust. While the band is pumping out The origin of GWAR can be traced Just as you have become tired of jams, rubberized humans are sliced through two routes. One story tells of a checking out bands at the Blind Pig open and "GWAR blood" begins time billions and billions of years ago and you've been to spraying out of when the "Master of all Reality" creat- the Nectarine one arteries covering ed Oderus and his cohorts because he too many times P REVIEW j the audience had nothing better to do. After causing this summer, below. In fact, absolute chaos in the cosmos, GWAR GWAR has arrived GWAR everything on was imprisoned to the frozen waste- on its "Carnival of Thursday, s p.m. stage is rubber and lands of Antarctica. After being woken Chaos" tour in St. Andrew's Hail, Detroit huge, including by capitalist/entrepreneur, Sleazy P. hopes of alleviat- $12.50 at Ticketmaster the lead singer's Martini, the monsters chose the obvious ing your terminal two - foot -1o ng option of becoming a rock 'n' roll band. boredom. GWAR is definitely not penis, which he uses to coat the crowd The other story, spun by Oderus him- your typical heavy-metal band and its with a variety of "GWAR bodily flu- self, dates back only 10 years when live performance is the proof of the ids." GWAR was, "A pudding. During the show, the mem- This may bunch of art stu- bers of the band dress and act as hor- sound extraordi- The band m embers dents who rific monsters, bent on destroying n a r i I y played too much America. grotesque, but dress and actas D&D, smoked In a recent interview with The as Oderus com- too much pot, Michigan Daily, GWAR's lead singer, mented, "When horrifc monstws played too much 'Oderus Urungus, hinted at what is to I'm dressed like punk rock, and come Thursday evening. "It's chock- an eight-foot- bens' Qflde#tr vinf basically let full of mutant penguins, giant tall rubber mon- their imagina- Tyrannosaurus Rexes and plenty of ster from outer Ameri a, tions run amok" toxic crack, as well as a giant meat space and I'm G W A R 's grinder to reduce your girlfriend to fighting a giant i n fIl u e n c e s pulp," he said. penguin with a seven-foot-long range from Black Sabbath to pro The group's theatrical stage show is broadsword, I won't be taking myself wrestling and from Monty Python to Kiss. This eclectic list gives them an advantage over the competition of "shock value" bands like Marilyn Manson. "I think he is lame," Oderus said, "He does a good job at convinc- ing 14-year-old, wealthy, middle- class, high school students that they can dress up like an idiot one night a week and be part of some kind of 'revolution."' Yet, on the other hand, Oderus candidly noted, "I'm also jealous and pissed that he makes way more money than I do." GWAR will command the stag t St. Andrew's this Thursday night r Chemlab and local hardcore band Universal Stomp. The show promises to be a long set, and besides, there is no way to stop it. As Oderus put it, "As long as there are blood-soaked legions of foam-flecked, fanatical fans to come to our cannibalistic death orgies and urge us onwards in our blood conquest, there will always be a GWAR! Hail GWAR! And death toilet Earth!" Cheesy effects, lame crowd don't slow down Offspring By Con Bartos Daily Arts Writer Since hitting the big time, The Offspring has been known as an ener- getic, fun-loving bunch of hyper-pop- sters. The band members proved they are just that, as well as "big rock stars" now, with their near sold-out performance at Detroit's State Theater. With a blast of lights and sound, the Offspring shifted right into overdrive and began with "Bad Habit," one of the only tolerable songs from its awful 1994 album, "Smash." This furious tempo sent the noticeably all- ages crowd into a sugar fit. Frontman Dexter Holland and gui- The Offspring put on a lively show at tarist Noodles were the apparent lead- the State Theater on May 18th. ers onstage, with the drummer and bassist turning out to be just exten- sions of the wall. Holland, with his bright blond , newly spiky hair, and a shiny copper-colored jacket, jumped around and shrieked while Noodles, in a Hawaiian shirt, plaid pants and fisherman's cap, proceeded to shred on his guitar and act the fool. The group then R went right into "Beheaded" from its 1989 self-titled debut, which sounded a lot better live than on the original album, with its shoddy pro- duction. The Offspring didn't slow down at all through songs like "Nitro," the sickening "Come Out And Play," "Mota" and "Killboy" from their albums "The Offspring," "Smash" and "lxnay On The Hombre." What was noticeably absent from the set were songs from 1992's "Ignition." (Yes, The Offspring did have two records out before "Smash," thank you.) They finally took care of TI that problem, though, with the catchy "Kick Him When He's Down." The light show was a bit ridiculous and reeked of limburger. This wasn't arena rock, yet it seemed that The Offspring wanted it to be. Bubble machines and strobe lights E V I E W piled on the Cheez Whiz. The he Offspring audience, how- Sunday, May 18 ever, blocked all state Theater, Detroit this out and just started to pay attention to the music, which had been pretty good thus far. After a minute-long intermission, The Offspring launched into the "Ya- ya-ya-ya-ya" intro of "All I Want," the first single off "lxnay On The Hombre." This song, being one of their faster ones, stirred the crowd up yet again, although they'd been jump- ing from the beginning. It seemed that as time went on, Dexter and Noodles loosened up even more, throwing beer on the crowd and offering sarcastic renditions of Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" and Black Sabbath's "Ironman." Following in the footsteps of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan at Detroit's Lollapalia '94, Holland chanted "Fuck Ted Nugent," and started ripping on the talentless Spice Girls. The group went through numerous other songs, as varied as "Gotta Get Away," "Me + My Old Lady," "So Alone" and "Ska." The set ended with the radio and MTV staple "Self- Esteem." The band members left the stage in a sea of lights, and a cou le of minutes later returned to the ste. After Noodles commented that Holland had a "nice ass" several times, with screaming girls agreeing, the Offspring played "Gone Away," its current single. They ended the 19- song, 75-minute set with 1992's fren- zied "Session." Overall, it was a solid fun show despite the cheesy light dis- play, bubbles, dance aerobics and multitudes of screaming 12-year-olds. I a"n-ovr"an "ne I "" r1w F _ Understand the MCAT! Th MCATIs not a at of juat tact$. Learn fow to Improve your proble- solvIng skills & Achieve Great Scores. EXCEL provides Clear InstrucIon, Individual Help & Affordable Tulion. Classes for the Aug. MCAT begin Mon., June 2nd CL' 996-1500 Test Preparation 1100 South.University Don't Panic!! If you think you're pr"nant.. call us-we listen, we care. PROBLEM PREGNANCY HELP 769-7283 Any time, any day, 24 hours. Fully confidential. Serving Students since 1970.