Machines vs Monsters Tour
Static X, Dope, GWAR & A Killer’s Confession

The Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre
Wallingford, Connecticut
June 7, 2025


Photos & Review by Frank Piercy

WALLINGFORD, Conn: I couldn’t believe the line of people that were going into The Dome at Toyota Oakdale when I pulled into the venue. Not only was it very long but the age differences were astonishing, I was seeing moms with their 7- and 8-year-olds, parents with their teens, I even met a guy waiting for his nephew to show up for the show. The Dome has been around in one form or another for about 75 years now and has had the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Who grace its stage. These days, the Dome is more or less the lobby to the main theater and where they set up a stage for the standing room only shows and to be honest, I prefer it a bit more than some other local venues, well actually a lot more.

The crowd at the barrier was getting deep and anxious for the show to start. People were here for a rock show and were eagerly anticipating A Killers Confession. Lead by former Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis the band lead off with “Purpose” followed by “Sun” and “Greed” the latest single from AFK “Hollow”, ‘Filth” and a classic from Mushroomhead ‘Qwerty” with keyboardist Richard “Stitch” Thomas, also former Mushroomhead, sharing the spotlight. The set was closed out with the song “Kill or be Killed”. The energy that the band showed up with was multiplied tenfold by an audience that sang along to every word as crowd surfers rained from above. Waylon, Stitch and Daniel “Lil Dan” Fox on drums, JP Cross on bass with Steve Watson on guitars did not disappoint and set the bar for the rest of the night.

A KILLERS CONFESSION photo gallery

The first band to follow in their footsteps was the industrial metal band, Dope. Not backing down from the energy that AKC started the night out with, Edsel Dope started out with “Blood Money”, “Bring It On” and “Bitch”, “Debonaire” one of my favorites, “Die MF Die’ The crowd surfers did not stop during this set and neither did the audience singing along. “I’m Back”, “Sick”, “Burn” and the surprise song of the evening, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) yep the old Dead or Alive song. It really capped off another killer set.

DOPE photo gallery

Then it got really intense…..
Security started putting on ponchos and the photographers in the photo pit started putting rain covers on their cameras after being warned about liquids flying from the band. The number of people against the barrier wearing white tshirts increased as the Scumdogs of the Universe took to the stage. The crowd went wild as Blothar the Berserker and band took to the stage followed by a rather tall individual with a saw arm and a DOGE t shirt and shortly afterwards the blood shorted flowing with Sawborg Destructo helping him lose his head. The crowd was going nuts and security was working overtime as the people came over the top of the railing. I did not get a set list for Gwar, I have been a fan of this band since the beginning and was enjoying the show as much as the crowd. Filling up the rest of the stage was Beefcake the Mighty on bass, Balsac the Jaws of Death and Grodius Maximus on guitars with Jizmak Da Gusha on drums. This was another solid set by a fantastic band, who led us into the band headlining this mini festival

GWAR photo gallery

Static X
The masked man known as Xer0 came out unto the stage standing tall and climbed the stairs to the top of his perch for the first song as the crowd went wild. People screaming and fists pumping as the people started to ride the crowd to the stage. The set started off with “I Want to Fucking Break It” then straight into “Cannibal” the stage show was spectacular with video screens across the back of the stage and fog shooting up out of the floor, “Terminator Oscillator” was the last song for in the photo pit and I left it as “Love Dump” filled the air. “Sweat of the Bud”, “Wisconsin Death Trip”, “Fix”, “Bled for Days”, ‘Black and White”, “Get to the Gone”, “I Am”, “Zombie”, “Destroy All”, “Cold” “I’m With Stupid” and closing out the night was “Push It” Featuring original members Tony Campos on bass, Ken Jay on drums and Koichi Fukuda on guitar paying tribute to their fallen band member, Wayne Static, by bringing in this machine known as Xer0 and keeping these great songs in our minds.

STATIC X photo gallery

This show was something that really impressed me, with the talent and energy of A Killers Confession and the nonstop movement and power of Dope, Gwar was a perfect fit showcasing their unique brand of rock n roll theatrics as a prep for Static X. Unfortunately for America, Static X is off to Europe for the summer and Dope is tagging along, but you can catch A Killers Confession through the US this summer.