Just like the KISS Army and Slipknot’s maggots, GWAR’s superfans flocked en masse to their larger-than-life masked heroes under a vibrant shared banner. Rather than any sort of corporate branding or mainstream acknowledgement, though, this organic movement revels in its underground status. The band’s Total Slavery official fan club may be on ice, but the Bohabs take care of themselves.
“The term these days is ‘Punisher’,” Bob teases, with tongue only partially in cheek. “Our fans were super-punishers. Our term back in the day was ‘Bohab’ and once the fans found out about it, they embraced it, like, ‘Yeah, we’re guys who love GWAR so much that we just want to abuse them with questions and autograph requests.’ If we didn’t have such a dedicated fanbase, we would not be here. And those guys really understand the effort it takes to be GWAR.”
Tellingly, that’s exactly the sentiment echoed by the self-confessed Bohabs we spoke to.
“GWAR puts in 1,000 per cent effort every night and you feel that energy in the crowd,” enthuses New Jersey native Dillion Jackson. “It's wild they are some of the best musicians in the world, but they're playing in 40lbs of rubber and football gear – and they still sound better than anyone else!”
London’s Lani Hernandez-David continues: “The thing that first grabbed me about GWAR was, of course, the outrageously amazing costumes… but the main aspect keeping me [hooked] is the sheer quantity of material available: the movies, the comics, the videos on YouTube. Even without the costumes, they can [so colourfully tell] a story about barbaric aliens destroying Earth and causing havoc across the galaxy. They are non-stop content creators – which I love!”
“There's depth and devotion in everything GWAR does,” adds fellow UK Bohab Rob Alderman. “They play incredible, well thought-out music in a way that only a band of monsters could possibly manage, and I almost always have one of their tunes stuck in my head!”