After a brief arctic slumber your Lords and Masters GWAR will be returning to the road this Spring on the second leg of their “Return of the World Maggot Tour”. The tour kicks off with a special tribute show for fallen band mate and friend Cory Smoot, AKA Flattus Maximus, in Richmond, VA, at The National Theater on Friday March 16th. All proceeds from the Richmond show will benefit the “Smoot Family Fund” which has been established to help support Cory’s widow and their unborn child. Support on this run will come from fellow Richmond metallers Municipal Waste and California’s Ghoul. Legacy of Disorder will join the tour on March 20th in Boston and the tour will run through April 11th in Fort Collins, CO.

Tickets for fan club members go on sale tomorrow January 25th and tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday January 27th and Saturday January 28th .

Personal slave to Oderus and Slave Pit spokesman Dave Brockie had this to say…

“All the years of doing GWAR could never have prepared us for what we have been through, and I want to thank the metal community and the extended GWAR family for all of your support. Finishing that last tour was the hardest thing we have ever had to do, and we still have about half of the country left to hit. We will continue as a four-piece, with the special tribute to Flattus at the end of the show, in order to give our fans a chance to say goodbye to our fallen Scumdog brother in true GWAR fashion-covered in blood and rocking the fuck out! After this tour is over we can start looking to the future and begin to put this tragedy behind us. But for now we are still in “Hail Flattus” mode!”

DON’T MISS GWAR ON TOUR
3/16: Richmond, VA @ The National
3/17: Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls
3/18: Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
3/20: Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theater
3/21: So. Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
3/22: Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater
3/23: Toledo, OH @ The Omni
3/24: Lexington, KY @ Buster’s Billiards and Backroom
3/25: Joliet, IL @ Mojoes
3/26: Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
3/27: Des Moines, IA @ People’s Court
3/28: Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
3/30: Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theater
3/31: Boulder, CO @ Fox Theater
4/1: Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater & Club
4/2: Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater
4/3: San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues
4/4: Ventura, CA @ Majestic Ventura Theater
4/5: Chico, CA @ Senator Theater
4/6: San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
4/7: Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
4/9: Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Café
4/10: Magna, UT @ The Great Salt Air
4/11: Ft. Collins, CO @ Aggie Theater

GWAR-tarist Flattus Maximus (Cory Smoot)
On Saturday night, January 7th, 2012, the metal community took another step in dealing with the tragic death of long-time GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot by holding the first of two events in a three-show schedule of shows designed to support the Smoot Family Foundation and honor the life of this prolific artist, who died of a heart attack this past November at the age of only 34.

Cory had played the role of Flattus Maximus in the world’s most infamous band for eleven years, as well as participated in many side projects, while at the same time producing and engineering tons of records at his always busy Karma Studios. In doing so he had become a treasured part of the local and national metal scene, and they turned out in force to both events, opening their hearts to Cory’s family in a completely selfless display of solidarity, respect, and generosity.

Cory’s widow, Jaime, who is pregnant with Cory’s child, had this message for the fans-

“I want to sincerely thank ALL the friends and fans for their amazing donations and support!! Thanks to Eve and Brent for organizing the events, to the businesses that contributed raffle prizes, and to the venues and bands for making the shows awesome!! You guys made Cory, the baby and me very proud!”

Show highlights included Lamb of God lead singer Randy Blythe singing for thrashers Cannabis Corpse. Blythe was later joined by Municipal Waste lead singer Tony Foresta in shearing off five years of hair from GWAR lead singer Dave Brockie’s head, which was raffled off to a lucky winner but ended up everywhere. But the most stirring performance came from Cory’s band mates Mensrea, who pulled themselves together for a powerful and emotional tribute to the life of this truly amazing man.

The show Saturday night at the Canal Club was also the CD release party for Cory’s solo record, “When Worlds Collide”, which will be coming out on Metal Blade Records soon. The next planned event is on Friday March 16th, when GWAR, Municipal Waste, and Ghoul will play at the National Theater. All funds raised at the show will go to the Smoot Family Fund. For those who can’t make it and still wish to donate, they can do so HERE.

The European leg of GWAR’s “Return of the World Maggot” tour, scheduled to kick off in January 2012 has been cancelled after several promoters pulled the plug on shows, citing poor ticket sales.

GWAR spokesman Dave Brockie commented on the tour’s cancellation:

“Several of the promoters were alarmed by the low ticket sales, and they decided to start pulling the plug on shows. It got to the point where we had lost so many shows that we simply could not afford to do the tour.”

Brockie continued:

“We are super disappointed that this happened, and we apologize to all of our European fans for cancelling the tour. We did everything we could possibly do to save it, but it just didn’t work out. The tickets are fully refundable so make sure you get your money back!”

In other GWAR related news, Oderus and Balsac were recently “hired” by MTV’s Next Movie to review the new Steven Spielberg’s new epic, “War Horse”. Are your Mutant Overlords the next Siskel and Ebert??? Find out HERE.