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Gwar > Live from Mt. Fuji > Reviews
Gwar - Live from Mt. Fuji

People of Japan let's see your hands! - 95%

Sexecutioner, October 9th, 2007

GWAR’s first official live album on a big (relatively speaking) label. ( A previous live album was released directly by the band) Recorded in Pittsburgh in 2004, despite the title. The title of the album must have been decided already since Oderus refers to the crowd as people of Japan.

The album is somewhat lackingb in the production department, but the performances are fucking great. The vocals are kind of drowned out by the guitars , but it’s still a great listen. Anyone who thinks GWAR can’t play their instruments should give this a listen, and then perhaps reevaluate that position.

The show: I will say that the intro to the show wasn’t nearly as tension building and epic as many GWAR concerts. But the band kicks right into Salaminizer, one of the signature GWAR live songs, as they apparently kill fan Melvin Fleebish (he can be heard very faintly). They then run through two tunes from War Party: Krosstika and Bring Back the Bomb, the latter being the soundtrack to Osama Bin Laden’s demise at this show. Their next victim is one Paris Hilton to the tune of the short but incredibly sweet Ham on the Bone. Next is the epic Immortal Corrupter, played a slight bit slower than the album version. As soon as that song ends, they go straight into Womb With a View. Up next is one of GWAR’s sickest songs lyrically, with a new live twist. Have You Seen Me, while lyrically the same, is complemented in this concert by the band bringing the walking corpse of Laci Peterson on stage. Oderus himself claims it was “the most tasteless thing we could think of”. Next up are crushing renditions of three classics: Horror of Yig, Crush Kill Destroy (with Beefcake on vocals), and Crack in the Egg. Following that are two more songs that were new at the time of the recording. The Reaganator, featuring an enemy of the same name. And Bonesnapper, also featuring a new namesake enemy. Oderus then proceeds to shoot his load onto the audience as the band plays Sick of You. They close the show by bringing out the ever popular biledriver to the tune of none other than “Biledriver”.

The one main complaint I have is that the banter between characters was kept to a minimum during this show (I suppose because they were recording it for an album), which is a shame, but the on stage antics between songs are always incredibly entertaining. You can hear some enemies and victims in the background during songs, and some get an introduction, but mostly it’s a very streamlined show from the sound of it. But despite the absence of the classic in between song stage antics, it still provides for a great listening experience.