Toronto

It’s been a while since I’ve had my lunch choice for the day thrown back in my face later while taking in a show. Enter the one and only Mac Sabbath from Burminhamburger, England… or Los Angeles, CA. Supported strongly by Playboy Manbaby and Cybertronic Spree on the “More Than Meats the Eye” tour, this mashup of Black Sabbath Vs the Golden Arches of my childhood came loaded with endless band and restaurant-related jokes and the heaviest of metal riffs from your Sabbath favorites.

Opening the show, Playboy Manbaby was like a shot of Windows 95 Upgrade Disc in the arm. Tons of nostalgia on being shown on a screen behind them, from screen savers to movies like “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians” and Cadillac commercials.

Cybertronic Spree has an open invite to play my wedding, a mix of original material with very fun covers of classic rock songs. Each band member dressed up as a transformer, bit me right between the 80’s child eyes and man were they an act to behold. I will be keeping an eye out from them to return to Denver and make it a point to see them again with friends. 

Frontclown Ronald Osbourne moved back and fourth on the stage, oozing of Ozzy’s mannerisms and accent, Slayer MacCheeze was dressed to the nines as the one and only Tony Iommi from the neck down, and the $0.99 Motörhead cheeseburger up top. The “physical embodiment of sorrow”; Grimalice; somehow knew where the bass was and played it well, and the Catburglar sat back in the shadows, keeping time on the drum kit that was dressed like stacks of Big Macs.

The music they play is heavy, faithful and familiar to every Black Sabbath fan, with a rich and honed comedic tone that runs throughout the entire show. The wordplay is strong in the lyrics, and continues between the songs as the band member’s quip back and fourth such as the topic of other food-based bands that make up the Drive-Thru music genre.

This was the first successful attempt out of three I had made to see Mac Sabbath live, and they were not just a band with a gimmick (and I’m not saying gimmicks are bad at all), but a gimmick band with real chops, pulling from a legendary metal band that will entertain the hell out of you.