STATIC-X BRINGS THEIR MACHINES VS MONSTERS TOUR TO THE DOME

By: Kat Gullage
Photos: Holly Roy Photography

Xer0 and crew landed at the Toyota Oakdale Theater Dome on a steamy Saturday night with
special guests GWAR, Dope and A Killer’s Confession, to perform a sold out show at the 1800
capacity venue.

Cleveland, Ohio’s A Killer’s Confession was first on deck. The band is the brainchild of Waylon
Reavis, former Mushroomhead vocalist, who sported an intricate mask inspired by the
facehugger from the Alien movies. He was flanked by JP Cross on bass, Steve Watson on
guitar, Daniel Fox on drums and keyboardist Richard “Stitch” Thomas, themselves adorned in
hooded cloaks and less intricate masks. They have four studio albums and one on the way,
Victim 2, but their eight song set were cuts from two of them. They opened with three from
Victim 1, “Purpose”, “Sun” and “Greed”. Their sound utilized clean and dirty vocals and leaned
more on the melodic side. Gave me more of a Sleep Theory type vibe. “Hollow” (V2) sounded
good, I was familiar with the video. “Filth” (V1) gave way to new music “Facts” before a
Mushroomhead cover was thrown in for good measure with “Qwerty”. Their set wrapped with
“Kill Or Be Killed” (V1). I understand the masks, costumes and character development based on
their roots, but I’d be interested in seeing them unmasked with a different line up.

NYC’s Industrial Metal band, Dope, kept it rollin as more fans filed into the Dome. Founder Edsel Dope flaunted his unmistakable vocals with Virus on guitar, Daniel Fox on bass and Chris Warner on drums.  Dope has seven studio albums and their nine song sethit on five of em. The band has quietly sold over a million albums worldwide. Title track “BloodMoney” Part 1 was the opener followed by “Bring It On” and “Bitch” off of Group Therapy. The
music was good, but completely drowned out the vocals. Edsel addressed the fans “Make some
fuckin noise you mental patients! I know I’m in Connecticut. I know Hartford and Norfolk. Who’s
smokin weed out there? What are you called, Connecti-cunts?” “To all the bands and crew,
thanks so much. Anyone come here to get rowdy tonight? I wanna see the floor bouncing like
it’s 1999!” There was an embarrassing amount of participation. We got “Debonaire” from Felons
and Revolutionaries, misspelled Debonair on the official setlist. “Get your fists in the air like it’s
1999!” He singles out an enthusiastic Dope fan up front. “Hi! You look very excited! Nice to meet
you!” “Listen motherfuckers, you really here to get rowdy? We’re pulling out dinos and blood and
all sorts of shit, let’s get this pit going!” The pit did commence as the band performed fan favorite
“Die MF Die” off of Life. Two from No Regrets kept it goin with “I’m Back” and “6 6 Sick”,
followed by “Burn”. The set wrapped with my favorite Dope cover, Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me
Round (Like A Record)”. Dope definitely fit into the line-up, but the fact that I couldn’t hear the
vocals made the set lackluster for me.

Over the top shock rockers GWAR (shortened from the original band name
"Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh") filled the stage with their gigantic off putting costumes. The band is known
for their controversial depictions peppered with graphic violence that tend to spray the audience
with fake blood and various body fluids. They have a cult following and the diehards were there,
dressed completely in white - including a guy sporting a chef’s hat, hoping to get splashed.
Unbeknownst to them, the venue had requested that GWAR keep all fluids on the stage and not
ruin their rug. GWAR is not known for following the rules, so I watched closely too see what
would transpire. This version of the band was lead vocalist Blothar the Berserker (Michael
Bishop), rhythm guitarist Balsac the Jaws ‘O Death (Mike Derks), bassist Beefcake The Mighty
(Casey Orr), lead guitarist Grodius Maximus (Tommy Meehan), drummer JiZMak da Gusha
(Brad Roberts), co-vocalist and nemesis SawBorg Destructo (Matt Maguire) and bodyguard /
backing singer Bonesnapper (Bob Gorman). GWAR has fifteen studio albums with one on the
way and their ten song set penetrated eight of em. They opened with “Fuck This Place” from
The Blood Of The Gods and immediately brought out a fake Elon Musk, complete with DOGE
shirt and chainsaw, and decapitated him. Lust In Space’s “Metal Metal Land” was next and it
churned up a steady stream of crowd surfers. Fan fave “El Presidente” introduced a character
that was a mash up between Trump and Fat Bastard (from Austin Powers). Faux Trump danced
enthusiastically with the band at first, before he was skinned and stabbed. Normally, this would
have led to the loyals being sprayed with fake blood, but not one drop crossed the threshold
(womp womp). Smoke cannons shot off intermittently during “Womb With A View” (War Party)
and “The Salaminizer” (Scumdogs Of The Universe). I couldn’t imagine how hot these guys
were in their massive costumes that had them towering over everyone. “Slap U Around” from
This Toilet Earth flashed images of real life Taylor Swift on the back wall while a fake pregnant
Taylor emerged draped in a Travis Kelce jersey. The very distasteful bit was full of derogatory
language and disgusting mannerisms. It made me want to walk out, but that’s just my opinion. I
understand that GWAR fans are drawn to their contentious humor and that’s fine, to each their
own. The show rolled on with “Immortal Corrupter” (Violence Has Arrived) and “Lot Lizard” from the upcoming release The Return Of Gor Gor. A song about a “crack-addicted cross-dressing
dinosaur prostitute that shreds weiners at truck stop pickle parks”. “Gor Gor” off of America Must
Be Destroyed introduced a ginormous T-Rex that required expert choreography to fit it on stage
amongst the imposing players. This was some impressive Jurassic Park trickery. GWAR
wrapped with “Sick Of You”. There you have it! A GWAR show will have you offended and
impressed at the same time. The music was fairly solid but I don’t think I’d be interested without
the costumes and fanfare. GWAR has extended their brand to include comics, games, clothes,
skateboards, coffee, toys and the ugliest looking sex toys ever made. Check out their website!

As if we weren’t already pumped, the lead in song for Static-X was Pantera’s “Walk” in it’s
entirety which resulted in a full venue sing a long. A countdown clock appeared and ticked off
eleven seconds to lift off. Original Static-X members took there respective positions:
Tony Campos on bass, lead guitarist Koichi Fukuda aka The Osaka Assassin (love watching
this guy play!) and co-founder / drummer Ken Jay. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Xer0, from
fictitious Otsego Industries, climbed the steps to a raised platform, his red eyes aglow. Their
sixteen song set pulled from seven of their eight studio albums and began with a deeper cut “I
Want To Fucking Break It” off of Start A War. The sound quality was on point, pretty flawless.
The fans are into it at this point, I had a hard time taking notes cuz I had to play defense with
some drunken wanna be moshers next to me. Xer0 disembarked his edifice. “Hello
Connecticut!” He got a decent response. We were then fed title track “Cannibal” and “Terminator
Oscillator” (Project Regeneration, Vol 1) during which Xer0 called for “Everyone to fucking
jump!” and they did, for about twenty seconds. Static-X then dipped into the LP that started it all,
Wisconsin Death Trip, with “Love Dump”, “Sweat Of The Bud”, the title track, “Fix” and fan
favorite “Bled For Days”. My observation at this point was that the crowd seemed tired or hot or
just too chill for a Static-X gig. I’ve seen em on multiple occasions and we’re usually bouncing
the whole time. However, the fans did seem to know the songs, even though it wasn’t my
favorite setlist of theirs, and there was a smallish circle pit. A couple from Machine were
churned out with “Black and White”, where we got a lone crowd surfer, and “Get To The Gone”.
Xer0 asks the audience to “Sing this one with me!” and they surprised me by giving full
participation for “I Am”. A giant FrankenStatic creature appeared during Z0mbie from Project
Regeneration Vol 2 and we were showered in confetti snow. Shadow Zone’s “Destroy All” was
on deck and the sixth crowd surfer of the set passed by. “Connecticut, are you having a good
time?” Valid question. He got a passable crowd response. We got a perfect rendition of “Cold”
off of Machine. I figure this song is as close as we’ll get to a love song from Wayne, it carries a
bit of a Deftones vibe. Smack dab in the middle of the tune we got the story of how they all
loved their treasured friend, Wayne Static, and images of the Evil Disco King flashed on the
screen. The fans showed their appreciation with a resounding roar. The band exited the stage
and came back after a quick moment. Then it was back to WDT for “I’m With Stupid” where we
got more snow confetti and they dropped giant balloons emblazoned with the Static-X logo on it.
Xer0 addressed us one last time, “Thank you so much for comin out to the show tonight. Thank
you for making me feel so welcome in the Static-X family. I do appreciate it. Wayne Static was
my old friend, these are my old friends (he gestured to bandmates), you (the fans) are our old
friends. Thank you old friends for spending your Saturday night with us in Connecticut.” “We got
one more song, you’re gonna get one more song.” The weary crowd attempted to placate him. “I
don’t know, some of you sound not so sure.” The fans gave it their all. “Are you ready for one
more fuckin song?!?” “This song is called “Puuuusssshhhh Iiiiiittttttttt!”. Everybody woke the fuck
up and jumped around and the circle pit grew in size.
​
I am 100 percent sold on the current Static-X line up. Xer0 looks like a terminator type cyborg
clone of Wayne Static. Having met Wayne (RIP Evil Disco King) a few times, I wholeheartedly
believe that he would approve and be fuckin psyched that his music is still being revered. This
quote from one of my besties that attends all the Static-X gigs with me, sums it up: “What a
fuckin awesome show Static-X was. Unreal. Absolutely killed it.”

A KILLERS CONFESSION

DOPE

GWAR

STATIC - X