Music
Gwar is opening their own bar called GwarBar
by Mark Teo
May 28, 2014
After the tragic passing of singer Oderus Urungus—Dave Brockie to his mother—there were plenty of questions about Gwar’s future. The band, though, appears to be trucking on, as they’ve scheduled summer dates at RiotFest, organized the fifth annual Gwar-BQ, and have even developed a disgusting-sounding e-cigarette flavouring calledGwar Fluids. And if intergalactic ribs and a vaped puff ofJizmoglobin (seriously, that’s one of the band’s patented Gwar Fluids) wasn’t enough, the band has announced a plan to open a new bar called—wait for it—GwarBar.
The band has launched an Indiegogo campaign around the bar, which they hope to open in their hometown of Richmond, VA. According to the band, they want to use the space to honour the memory of Brockie.
“GWAR is known throughout the Universe for its outrageous stage show, irreverant humour and head pounding music, but for years we have wanted to turn our demented eye to the service industry,” the band writes. “With the untimely passing of our leader, Dave Brockie, we are more determined than ever to make one of his last dreams a reality, the creation of the GWARbar!”
It’s a place that will surely serve meat sandwiches.
For their part, the band seems dead serious about the concept. They’ve enlisted Virginia restauranteur Travis Croxton—who runs an oyster joint called Rappahannock River Oysters—for help, while long-serving band member Michael Derks (or BalSac the Jaws ‘O Death) will be developing the menu cocktail offerings. The band says that he has 30-plus years in the industry—and in an interview with CBS6, he revealed that he’ll be developing “intergalactic junk food.”
“I have a lot of foodie friends, but I also have adult friends who have a childish palate,” Derks said, describing the menu as children’s food for grown ups. “Food you loved as a kid, but done really well.”
The band will be opening the restaurant in Virginia’s gentrifying Jackson Ward neighbourhood, the band hopes to revitalize a historic building at 217 Clay St. They hope to renovate the entire building, including adding a beer Gwar-den. “We will be building a smoke house to create our world famous GWAR-B-Q,” the band writes. “We need a GWAR sized meat grinder to make creative new takes on hot dogs and freshly ground hamburgers.”
If that pitch wasn’t enough, here’s a video about GwarBar. Give frequently. Give a lot.
