Gwar announced Thursday that it would continue with its annual "Gwar-B-Q" event, despite the recent death of founding member and vocalist Dave Brockie.
"As Dave and Oderus would have wanted," said band manager Jim Flanagan in a statement, referencing Brockie's stage alter-ego Oderus Urungus.
The group also announced a public memorial for Brockie on August 15. Both events will take place at Hadad's Lake in Richmond, VA, the band's hometown. "Gwar-B-Q" will occur the day following the memorial.
This will be the fifth installment of the "Gwar-B-Q" event, which features "Beer, Bands, BBQ, Skate Park, Events, Water Park, Raffles, Giveaways, Guest Celebrities, and More" according to the band's website. Brockie's recent passing obviously hasn't given the band enough time to consider who will carry on in his place, if the band will carry on at all following the August event. Considering that "bands" and "guest celebrities" are slated to appear, don't be surprised if a litany of guest vocalists step up to perform in Brockie's steed for the event. Richmond has one of the nation's largest collection of metal acts, including Lamb of God, Municipal Waste and Pig Destroyer among others. Lamb of God's Randy Blythe performed at a 2012 event honoring deceased Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker.
As for the group's future past 2014, Rolling Stone got a quote from an employee for Gwar's Slave Pit Inc. that suggested the band hopes to carry on.
"He's the reason this thing was here this long, and in his memory hopefully we can keep it going," they said. "But I don't know. That's what he'd want, I'd suppose. He doesn't want somebody to do a better job than him, that's all."
