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Sorry to hear this. My first and admittingly only exposure to GWAR was in the 1994 Super Nintendo game "Beavis and Butt-Head." The game was awful but GWAR was the most memorable thing about it. Them being in it is the only reason I remember the game at all.
Damn. Never was a fan of GWAR -- not a fan of the genre in general -- but you just have to appreciate them for being such imaginative and entertaining theater.
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Originally Posted by picklejuice
Hmmm...I don't know which is worse, Joan Rivers or that band!! LOL!!!
That's definitely a teenie bopper/teenage angst and novelty-type band.
Novelty, yes -- though don't underestimate their actual musical talent. But angst? Not at all. GWAR is all about "theater of the absurd" and their fans are in on the joke.
despite their paper machete armor and outrageous stage show, GWAR was actually a talented band, especially circa 1990-92-ish. Scumdogs of the Universe and America Must Be Destroyed are really good albums.
David aka Oderus Orungus was an immensely talented and hilarious personality too. i'll miss him.
despite their paper machete armor and outrageous stage show, GWAR was actually a talented band, especially circa 1990-92-ish. Scumdogs of the Universe and America Must Be Destroyed are really good albums.
David aka Oderus Orungus was an immensely talented and hilarious personality too. i'll miss him.
I actually really love Battle Maximus (the release from last year)...some of the songs on that are just amazing. Brent really stepped up into the lead guitar role after Cory died.
I don't know what they're going to do now, because Dave was the most impossible one to ever replace. He's the only one who has been there since the beginning (except others in the "art department") and his personality drove so much of the identity of the group.
He was so good to the fans, too. He came out and got to know us. I would wait to see him before I left any show, make sure I got my hug from Dave before I went home...I swear I traveled clear across the country just for those hugs. And I'm one of probably hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, who were actually close to him. He made us all feel like rock stars.
Also (just because I'm a total nerd about this stuff) the armor may have started as a sort of paper mache endeavor, but they mastered foam latex prosthetic molding a long time ago. The stuff is pretty sophisticated these days. I own some props made by Slave Pit Inc. They are high quality pieces. These guys taught themselves an awful lot and came a very long way in 30 years...
He was so good to the fans, too. He came out and got to know us. I would wait to see him before I left any show, make sure I got my hug from Dave before I went home...I swear I traveled clear across the country just for those hugs. And I'm one of probably hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, who were actually close to him. He made us all feel like rock stars.
I'm sorry for your loss SS. You were closer to one of your idols than I have ever been to one of mine (or most rock fans for that matter). I can see he meant a lot to you, and on a personal level nonetheless. My favorite band is Rush, and if any one of the three of them was to pass, I would feel so sad, and I've never even met any of them personally. So, I can try to imagine what you're feeling now, but I'm not able to.
I was never a fan of GWAR, but I'm a fan of metal in general, so I see it as a loss to the community as a whole. The biggest musical loss to me personally recently was that of Jeff Hanneman of Slayer. I felt like I grew up with that band. His death was so untimely, just like that of Dave's.
As you mentioned, only time will tell where they go from here since Dave was the heart and soul of the band. Have they found what the cause of death was yet? Did he have some type of underlying condition that was not made public?
They are performing a full autopsy and tox report, and there are no answers out officially yet.
A local news guy there said last night (the guy was actually acquainted with Dave) that unfortunately they were thinking it might be drug related after all, based on something found in the home.
Personally, I won't draw conclusions until the ME's office releases their findings. For all I know, the cops saw a bong and went, "Ah, he's a drug user!" And we all know that pot didn't kill anybody, didn't kill him (not really wanting to get into a big conversation about that, I'm in CO and we talk about weed enough as it is.) But the facts are that Dave did have some health conditions over the recent years, painful dental stuff, back pain, etc. They could have given him pain pills and he might have taken them with alcohol which you're not supposed to do. He could have messed up the dose. Or...much as I hate to say it...Dave has abused harder substances in his past. I've known addicts who were able to successfully hide relapses and habits from even those closest to them, for years. So even though he has been telling all of us that he was "clean" (all but booze and weed) for years...he may have been lying to the world. From what I know of him, I'm thinking if we do get news that it was drugs, it's going to be pills. Probably pain pills, oxy or something, coupled with alcohol.
But again, too soon to jump to conclusions. It could just as easily have been an aneurysm, heart attack, or anything.
I do know that in the last few times I've seen him, I noticed that he had lost a lot of weight very quickly, and that he seemed to have visibly aged in a matter of months. I was told that the weight loss was because he had painful dental problems and had stopped eating enough because his teeth hurt. But...there are drugs that'll do that to a person, too.
Thought I'd pop back in with an update. They announced a few weeks ago that it was an accidental heroin overdose. Accidental only in the sense that it was not a suicide attempt. I was disappointed to hear this at first, even a bit angry, especially in light of the many times he told me and others that he was no longer messing with hard drugs. But I know he had some painful health issues and perhaps prescription pills just weren't cutting it anymore. While I cannot share details, I have learned since that he was diagnosed with something that may have killed him within months or years anyways, with much more suffering and decline than a quick and painless trip out on the heroin...they say he died with a smile on his face. Creepy or not, it's something. I think he did not suffer.
As for the future of the group, they have tapped a former member from many years ago, Mike Bishop (previously the bassist) to fill in on vocals for their festival in August and a tour this fall. Beyond that, they do intend to continue, which Dave would have wanted, as he very often spoke of GWAR as an immortal concept that should outlive its past, present, and future members.
I attended a memorial/tribute show a week ago in Richmond, flew in just for the weekend. I donated a painting to be raffled off. They are raising money for an endowment for the arts, in Dave's name. To my everlasting happiness, guitarist Mike Derks won the painting. He was very close to Dave...if I could have picked a winner, I would have picked him. It was good to see so many of my GWAR people, although the crowd wasn't huge it was filled with dear friends. Plans are underway for a longer and more over the top trip out in August for GWARBQ. Ice-T's band Body Count will be there. I'm going to see if I can get him to autograph an inflatable doll from Spencer's for me. Wish me luck on that mission... The day prior to this fest, they will be holding a Viking Funeral for Dave's character, Oderus...setting the costume ablaze on a boat on the lake. The same lake that I hope I can goad my friends into tossing Bam Margera in the next day, during the GWARBQ festivities.
Dave is gone, but the rest of us are healing and carrying on.
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I don't know which is worse, Joan Rivers or that band!! LOL!!!
