LIVE: GWAR – Tampa, FL, USA – November 16, 2025

Venue: The Ritz Ybor

City: Tampa, FL

Date: November 16, 2025

Review and Photographs by: James Zambon (https://jameszambon.com)

Ybor City was already buzzing before doors even opened. The line for GWAR stretched around the block when I got there at doors opening. Inside, The Ritz seemed well prepared for the carnage that was to come, with the stage wrapped in visqueen and security already donned in ponchos. It’s always a perfect venue for a loud, sweaty, chaotic night, and this lineup delivered exactly the kind of glorious mayhem I was hoping for. Four bands, each completely different, but all hitting the same sweet spot for anyone who thrives on some heavy riffs, punk-leaning attitude, and general sonic chaos. Blood Vulture opened the night, and honestly, they were a fun surprise. I was expecting something rougher, maybe more sludge-leaning or abrasive, but instead they landed with this unexpectedly melodic edge that worked incredibly well. It wasn’t soft by any stretch—just more tuneful than I’d anticipated. It warmed the crowd up fast, you could feel everyone shake out of their pre-show stiffness and start leaning toward the stage. Their set felt like the calm before the inevitable blood-spray storm that would come later, and they handled that role perfectly. Then the Dwarves hit the stage, and everything instantly shifted into high-gear punk chaos. They came out like they had something to prove, blasting through their set with that classic “no time to talk, just play” tempo. Exactly what you want from them. The circle pit opened immediately—like immediately—and before long people started surfing overhead like they were trying to ride the tides of Ybor itself. Loud, fast, reckless, and fun. Just a killer punk set that primed the crowd beautifully for the heavier stuff to come. Helmet followed, and they were absolutely thunderous. Pure, chest-rattling heaviness from the first note. Everything I love about them live was present—precision, volume, and that stoic, locked-in intensity that only Helmet can pull off. They leaned heavily into Meantime, which had me grinning like an idiot the entire set. Hearing “Wilma’s Rainbow,” “Bad Mood,” “Ironhead,” “Milquetoast,” all back-to-back was everything I wanted. And then closing with “In the Meantime”? Absolute perfection. Easily one of the tightest, most satisfying sets I’ve seen from them in a long time.

Then came GWAR—the reason half the crowd showed up in clothes they didn’t mind destroying, many dressed all in white. Unfortunately, it looked like a pretty major lighting malfunction hit after the first few songs. For most of their set, there was basically no front lighting at all. Blöthar (Mike Bishop) had a dim hotspot at center stage, but Grodus, Beefcake, and Jizmak were only silhouettes of their alien forms. Backlit shadows thrashing in the fog. As a viewer it kind of added this weirdly cool, sinister vibe—like the band had emerged from some hell-cavern with only torchlight behind them. I just wish that I could’ve seen them perform more. Even with the lighting fiasco, GWAR did exactly what GWAR does: they put on a ridiculously fun, violent, messy, macabre, and absurd spectacle. The appearance of GOR GOR was hilarious, and watching the inevitable “slaying” unfold through intermittent flashes of stage light was genuinely entertaining. The band was energetic as hell, shredding through their set while unleashing a truly incredible amount of bodily fluids onto the crowd. Almost nobody in the house aside form the balcony and sound booth made it out unstained, and honestly, that’s exactly the metric of a successful GWAR show. By the time the set wrapped, the room looked like a battlefield and the crowd looked like they’d survived some kind of intergalactic hazing ritual. I absolutely do not envy the cleanup crew at The Ritz, because they’re going to be finding red splatter in every corner of that venue until at least 2030. But damn—GWAR always makes it worth it. Even with most of the band obscured in darkness for majority of the night, they still delivered a performance that felt wild, memorable, and genuinely fun. Every band brought something different to the table, and together they served up a heaping dose of heavy, loud, chaotic music. Blood Vulture surprised me, Dwarves lit the fuse, Helmet delivered the kind of set that reminds you why they’re legends, and GWAR… well, GWAR turned The Ritz Ybor into a blood-drenched comic-book fever dream. Couldn’t ask for anything better.

Setlist: The Great Circus Train Disaster – Filthy Flow – Metal Metal Land – Saddam a Go-Go – Crack in the Egg – Bring Back the Bomb – Hail, Genocide! – Fuck This Place – Womb With a View – Lot Lizard – Bad Bad Men – Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Felt So Good – Tyrant King – America Must Be Destroyed – Mother Fucking Liar – Pussy Planet – Sick of You

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries