GWAR (and randomly Journey) @ Bamboozle Festival, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ, 5/2/09

Somehow it seemed like a good idea to work handing out free candy as a slave for Wonka candies at the Bamboozle Festival this year. Even crazier than that, somehow GWAR managed to secure a headlining spot on said festival on one of the larger stages. And crazier even still, somehow the surprise guest for the festival turned out to be Journey (or so I thought). It was a very strange day yesterday....

Imagine the scene at Bamboozle Festival: the mainstage headliners are Fall Out Boy, and other bands include Newfound Glory and Disney cutie, Demi Lovato. The crowd is massive, shops at Hot Topic, and has an average age of 14. I planned my pathetic work schedule around catching GWAR's set, since that was all I was interested in, but was then surprised to hear "Any Way You Want It" blasting from mainstage. I asked my fellow Wonka-slaves what was going on and was informed the 'surprise guest' was journey. That was more surprising than a wet fart. I ran over to the stage in time to catch their last song (they played a monstrous 4 songs total), which of course was 'Don't Stop Believing'. It's Journey, so it's fun, and everyone loves it. I later learned it actually wasn't Journey. It was some Long Island cover band named Evolution who had me and everyone else fooled.

Back to GWAR. It was what it was. They were at their GWAR-y best with an introduction filled with "fucks" and jabs at Fall Out Boy for being pussies. What's not to like? Obama, along with everyone famous ever, was decapitated and gutted making for plenty of opportunities for the pre-pubescent crowd to get covered in fake blood and green shit. Everyone in attendance seemed shocked by what they were seeing, so I am sure GWAR was loving the crowd.