Riot Fest has responded after facing increased backlash online following GWAR’s beheading of an Elon Musk dummy at their performance at the festival.
GWAR has been facing backlash online from MAGA-aligned accounts, calling out the band after they simulated a beheading of Elon Musk at their recent performance at Riot Fest.
Following the performance, clips began to spread on X (formerly known as Twitter), landing on the feeds of countless who were unfamiliar with GWAR and their theatrics.
The original tweet spreading the now viral clip came from the account @hottakekaren, who, after posting the video, would update their status to say “GWAR’s biggest fan”. Several would accuse the account of being a “rage bait engagement farming twitter account“, however, that wouldn’t stop the clip from stirring a frenzy.
Since discovering the recent Elon Musk clip, more videos have started to circulate online, with videos of the group disembowelling an enlarged Donald Trump dummy going viral.
“This is incitement. They know exactly what they’re doing. Democrats can’t help themselves. They love promoting violence,” wrote LibsofTikTok, a notorious right-wing X influencer.
The premise of calling GWAR democrats who love inciting violence is League of Legends in-game chat level of low-tier rage bait, I have to admit. The thrash band have long had a history of performing wildly obscene and offensive acts on stage throughout their 40 years of being active as a band. It’s part of their charm – the gratuitous violence and absurdity is why fans have stuck with the group for so long. One look at frontman Blothar’s spaghetti string pubic hair should be enough to let people know this isn’t something to take seriously.
Riot Fest’s social media account has also gone scorched earth, actively replying to these comments, calling out the absurdity while egging on haters.
“I’m just glad they used our name. This is honestly amazing publicity for us,” the account would write in another post.
GWAR themselves have yet to make any statement on the virality of the clips; however, it would be surprising if they did. The band is set to perform next in Sacramento, California, at Aftershock Festival on October 5th, and you already know the crowd will be overeager to see if they pull out the Musk dummy yet again.
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