Back in 2012, it almost seemed like an anomaly when GWAR covered Kansas’ “Carry On, Wayward Son” for The Onion’s A.V. Undercover series. Sandwiched at the end of the series, it almost seemed like the band snuck in amongst the indie rockers that populated the rest of the series, in which a band covers another band from a list of songs at the A.V. offices. It was fun, funny, and marked the live debut of then-new guitarist Pustulus Maximus. It also was wildly popular, garnering the most votes of the series. They were asked back last year, where they covered Billy Ocean’s “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car,” appending it with part of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” It again won as 2013’s most popular song.
This year was different. With the loss of Dave Brockie, there was no Oderus Urungus, and while the band made their live debut at the GWAR-BQ, there hadn’t been any footage of their new lineup playing live. They were asked, once again, to perform a song while they were in Chiago for the Riot Fest. This time, they chose Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls,” and while it was a punkier version of the song, things got a little heavy when they appended the song with their own version of the Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died” with lines about everyone from Dimebag Darrell to, of course, Brockie. It should come as no surprise that GWAR once again ran away with it, getting 4272 votes to the #2 pick, which got 587.
