More Celebrity Tributes to Dave Brockie: Phil Anselmo, Guy Kozowyk, Gibby Haynes and Jon Stewart

In Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, author Dr. Jonathan Shay discusses the importance of communal grieving as part of the healing process; to that end, the continued outpouring of love for GWAR’s Dave Brockie isn’t just touching, but actually important. Only by remembering the man and openly discussing how torn apart we are by his passing will we be able to move on. Remember, the death of someone you care about isn’t really an event you “get over” — it’s something you learn to live with.

And so the truly heartfelt tributes to one of metal’s most beloved and recognizable figures continues.

First, we have this video from Phil Anselmo (via Metal Insider), which was filmed a mere month ago during the Soundwave Festival in Australia. It features not just Anselmo and Brockie, but also GWAR’s Brent Purgason (a.k.a. Pustulus Maximus), Satyricon’s Satyr and Frost, and Volbeat’s Michael Poulson rocking out to Slayer’s “Angel of Death” backstage. It’s a wonderful display of bros bein’ bros, to be sure, but more than that, it’s also a beautiful illustration of how much Brockie loved metal, and how unjaded he was. Keep in mind the guy was fifty years old and had been a professional metal musician for nearly three decades — and he still got worked up like a teenager when listening to this classic.

Next, Guy Kozowyk has taken to The Red Chord’s Facebook page to pay tribute to Brockie. He changed the band’s profile photo to the below portrait of himself and Oderus, and posted the following message as well:

“Dave Brockie was an all around amazing man. We were honored with spending 20+ combined weeks on tour with Gwar. Such an incredible and talented entertainer. Dave and everyone in that camp have always been so good to all of us. What a terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, band and friends down in Richmond.”

Meanwhile, Lambgoat reports that Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes and Amy Yates Wuelfing, his co-author of the new book No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens, appeared on last night’s episode of The Daily Show to promote the tome. Although it’s difficult to see in the below video, Haynes came out for the interview with “GWAR” written on his forearm. That would be tribute enough, but fans will be pleased to hear Stewart acknowledge Brockie’s passing as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wQhyfKiTC8E

The fact that Stewart is no stranger to GWAR shouldn’t come as a surprise to regular Daily Show viewers. The program referenced GWAR as long ago as this 2001 segment about the twentieth anniversary of MTV…

…and as recently as this 2012 segment about the so-called “war on Christmas”:

In fact, Stewart name-dropped GWAR just last month, during an interview about his time working as a bartender at New Jersey’s City Gardens.

When you think about it, there really aren’t that many other metal bands that penetrated the mainstream’s consciousness the way GWAR and Oderus Urungus did; they’re one of a very small handful of metal bands that even your non-metal-loving friends probably know.

And so we conclude today’s tribute with the band’s appearance in the decidedly not-metal 1995 comedy, Empire Records. The movie starred a young Liv Tyler and Renée Zellweger, but nearly twenty years after its release, this seems like the only part worth remembering.