By Christopher Crone
April 17th at Channel 24 felt like stepping into a venue that already knows what it wants to be, clean sightlines, strong sound, and a staff that actually seems invested in the experience. First time there, and it immediately left a solid impression. Big credit to Joshua on security, who took the time to walk me through the room like a seasoned stage manager, best sightlines, how the pit moves, and where the light would hit. He wasn’t guessing either, the photos prove he nailed it.
Opening the night was King Parrot, bringing a blast of chaotic Australian energy that hit like a runaway truck. Formed in Melbourne in 2010, they live up to their name, “parrot” slang for a fool or clown, but the joke’s on anyone who underestimates them. Their mix of grind core, thrash, and punk came with a wild, off-kilter sense of humor. A barefoot guitarist added to the unpredictability, and songs like “Shit on the Liver” carried a surprisingly pointed message about sobriety beneath the madness. It was unhinged, loud, and weirdly precise all at once.
Next up, Soulfly took that energy and cranked it into overdrive. I first met guitarist Mike DeLeon years ago when he played with M.O.D. in Vacaville, super approachable, clearly driven. Seeing him now, locked in and commanding a stage like this, felt like watching a long game pay off. The set launched with “No Hope = No Fear,” and when “Jumpdafuckup” hit, the crowd didn’t hesitate, everyone in the building followed instructions like it was mandatory. Total mayhem.
A standout moment came when John Tardy joined them for “Scouring the Vile,” adding that unmistakable death metal bite. They wrapped with “Eye for an Eye,” leaving the crowd completely spent, and still wanting more.
Then came the main event: GWAR on their 2026 “Gor Gor Strikes Back” tour.
Seeing GWAR live is less a concert and more a full-scale theatrical assault. I’d always wanted to catch them but never had someone quite “ready” for the experience. Turns out, a photo pass is all the motivation needed. The real question wasn’t if it would be insane, it was where to stand to avoid turning thousands of dollars of camera gear into a modern art piece.
While the front rows embraced the inevitable “blood baptism,” I picked my position carefully, close enough to capture the spectacle, far enough to keep things functional. Because once GWAR starts, there’s no halfway.
Fronted by Blöthar the Berserker and backed by Grodius Maximus, Bälsäc the Jaws o’ Death, and JiZMak da Gusha, the band delivered exactly what their reputation promises, an over-the-top collision of metal, theater, and unapologetic satire.
The closest comparison still lands somewhere around Beach Blanket Babylon, if it were rewritten with alien warlords, horror-movie effects, and absolutely no interest in playing it safe. GWAR runs a kind of twisted “variety show,” where exaggerated versions of real-world figures get pulled onstage and meet spectacularly messy ends. On this run, that included characters resembling Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, and Jeffrey Epstein, all treated with the band’s signature brand of equal-opportunity destruction.
That’s the key to GWAR’s whole approach: nobody is off-limits, and nothing is subtle. Its aggressive satire turned up to cartoon levels, think Looney Tunes filtered through a late-night B-movie marathon. The gore isn’t meant to shock as much as it is to entertain in the most exaggerated way possible. Fans in the splash zone wore white shirts like they were suiting up for the main event, fully expecting to walk out drenched in red and green.
Underneath all the chaos, decapitations, monsters, gallons of stage blood, there’s a surprisingly tight performance and a fully realized mythology driving it all. It’s ridiculous, theatrical, and completely committed to the bit.
From King Parrot’s feral opening shot, to Soulfly’s crowd-commanding intensity, to GWAR’s all-out spectacle, the night never lost momentum. And for a first visit, Channel 24 proved it can handle everything from precision shooting to full-scale alien carnage without breaking stride.
Some shows you attend. Some you endure. And then there are nights like this, where you keep one eye in the viewfinder and the other on whatever might be flying your way next.
Categories: Concert Photography, GWAR, king parrot, soulfly
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