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MAC SABBATH SETLIST
Black Sandwich Song played from tape Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds (Wesley Willis song) MAC SABBATH TOUR DATES
Aug 31 Omaha, NE- Waiting Room
Sep 6 San Diego, CA - House of Blues Sep 7 Sat Garden Grove, CA - Garden Amph Sep 8 Palmdale, CA - Transplants Brewing Sep 15 Phoenix, AZ- Crescent Ballroom Sep 18 Katy, TX- Wildcatter Saloon Sep 20 Austin, TX - Meanwhile Brewing Sep 21 Dallas, TX- Trees Read More
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“I’m Lovin’ It!”
When you’ve been a premier online source for music and pop culture happenings since January 2007, there’s bound to be a few parody acts covered, and a few tribute and cover bands seen- we don’t normally seek out those kinds of shows, but we do love a good cover song or two.
There have been a handful of good cover bands like Zakk Sabbath (whose Zakk Wylde is currently playing guitar in sort-of now tribute band Pantera who we caught earlier this year), the smooth and elegant French band Nouvelle Vague and several more. Parody bands like Steel Panther and the more regional Hairball who expertly spoof their genre and deliver a high-end, full character experience, are always fun as well. But we’ve never seen anything quite like the drive-thru metal of the Los Angeles-based (“but formed in outer space”) wormhole-traveling, psychotic clown and his band of Monsanto mutants, Mac Sabbath.
Out on their tenth anniversary tour, and landing in downtown Lawrence at the Granada Theater to help save us all “from the disastrously decayed synthetic state of music and sustenance”, this was the ideal show to welcome college students back to town to show what the complete opposite of boring live music is.
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The three-act festivities began with another galaxy borne act (by way of Phoenix) Spaceman Bob- a relatively new hip-hop electronic multimedia project shrouded in mystery, from Robbie Pfeffer of art punk band Playboy Manbaby. Under dim black light, a video clip from 2001-A Space Odyssey heralded the arrival of Pfeffer and his drummer and his high-energy set found him bouncing from stage end to end, singing/rapping that we were actually all from space and to not call the cops, instead call the “Cosmos”.
From there, song subjects became the likes of Costco hot dogs and Kohl’s cash, as the pair shed their outer clothes to continue in crop tops and shorts to a snippet of Genuwine’s “Pony. Keeping the energy frantic, they ended by getting the crowd to collectively air-punch an imaginary bag to the sounds of their closing, “Punch That Clock.”
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After a short break, the genre starkly shifted to the outlaw self-described “trash grass and blues” drinking anthem songs of Colorado Springs trio, Tejon Street Corner Thieves, in support of their recent album, “Juxtaposition”.
The trio, led by singer-songwriter and banjo player Connor O’Neal were the first act to sign to Amigo the Devil and Regime Music Group's label Liars Club Records and have the new record set as their follow up to 2022’s “Thick as Thieves”.
The band came out singing “Whiskey is all we need”, welcoming shots from any giving audience members (which soon would deliver).
Their song “Greasy Coat” was a barn burning cover of the Chance McCoy original, they turned the Cab Calloway jazz classic, “Minnie the Moocher” sideways and upside-down, and their not-really-a-children’s song, “Down by the Bay” was hilarious and entertaining. Fittingly ending similar to how they started with 2017 sing-along, “Whiskey”, the band will swing back through the area, with a free Sept 4 show in Lenexa at Limitless Brewing.
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Lights dimmed and a droning robotic voice started repeating types of burgers, then the curtain dropped to reveal the spectacle that is Mac Sabbath – from Birminghamburger, England vocalist Ronald Osbourne, guitarist Slayer MacCheeze, bassist Grimalice, and the Cat Burglar (aka Peter Criss-Cut Fries) on drums, amid smoke spewed from Ronald McDonald heads on stakes on each side of the stage, and a desolate landscape backdrop.
The founders of drive-thru metal have only managed one vinyl release in their decade of debauchery, preferring to bring their brand of fast-food themed music to the live masses on a regular basis, instead.
The band features faithful covers of Black Sabbath songs but with the lyrics humorously re-written to keep to their fast-food theme – Sabbath’s "Paranoid" becomes "Pair-a-Buns"; “Sweet Leaf” becomes "Sweet Beef", "Never Say Die" becomes “Never Say Diet” and “Iron Man” becomes “Frying Pans,” among others.
Osbourne’s stage persona mimics the real Ozzy’s maniacal smiling and clapping along (with his mic in front of an open grill), and his over-the-top Birmingham accent, brings the parody that much closer in. The band even branches out from its all-Sabbath sings, to include the likes of Kiss, Pantera, Twisted Sister, and shhh, when prompted with the ‘secret word’ of the show, Osbourne dons a Kum ‘n Go bucket hat to croon their cover of “The Distance”.
Fellow metal bands weren’t safe from ridicule either, as they called out the likes of “Dokken Donuts” (Dokken), “Jack White Castle” (Jack White),” Twisted Sizzler featuring Wen-Dee Snider” (Twisted Sister), “Cinna-Bon Jovi” (Bon Jovi), and many more mentioned.
Skits included shotgunning beer through an overlong giant straw (pulled from the front of Osbourne’s jumpsuit, no less) crooning a “Blue Velvet-like” Roy Orbison cover in near-darkness, choking rubber chickens, a twisted version of one-time McD spokesman Mac Tonight, some crowd surfing and bat-eating (both on a burger bun, of course) and an epic sword battle between Osbourne and a man-fish as the band played “The Grouper” (Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper”) among other hilarious highlights.
The band and show defy any real description, so it’s really best to catch them live, with both tongue firmly in cheek, and head ready to bang. The secret is musically, the band is really very solid, made more impressive by the fact they can play while wearing the makeup and overstuffed costumes, that are surely incredibly warm and difficult to see anything out of.
Guitarist MacCheeze in particular, regularly shreds despite his wobbling oversized tusked burger head gear.
For any fan of metal and Black Sabbath, seeing Mac Sabbath live is an absolute ‘must, and for anyone looking for some comedy and twisted good fun at a concert, there’s no better drive-thru metal than this live show.
(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
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| JohnC ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |
this article made me chuckle
Posted by: Quynh | 09/03/2024 at 07:07 PM