REVIEWS AND PRESS BEESTON GREYHOUND Tribute acts, eh? Love em or hate em, they are now an established and accepted part of the live music experience. Some good, some absolutely abysmal and one or two, maybe, possibly, great. Some can, and do, go to ridiculous lengths to replicate every conceivable facet of their heroes act, from plastic surgery to Kings ransoms on costumes and props. This is not the time, or the place, though, for a debate regarding the key attributes of a successful tribute act; is authenticity the primary goal? A little humour and self deprecation the key factor? Or maybe technical finesse over and above all else? For this writers money, greedy mofo that he is, a blend of all the above is the secret to earning the Moonshine Seal of Approval. And so, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Sack Sabbath. Probably sufficient information, right there, for you to deduce this is not a West Life tribute Unlike eight out of ten other leading brands of Sabbath tribs, the
Sacksters concentrate purely on the Ozzy-era and, it has to be said,
theyre some experience. Comprising front man, Ozzy Oddbin (great
moniker), guitarist, Tony I.O.U. (inspired), drummer, Bill Board (even
better), and bassist, Geezer I-cant-believe-its-not Butler
(outstanding), Sack Sabbath were amusing, extremely entertaining and,
musically, highly impressive. The rhythm section, deciding to leave the theatrics to the two front men, and looking like any other pair of ordinary Joes, provided a little balancing sanity. The packed house enjoyed every minute of it. And why wouldnt they with all the Sabbath classics you care to mention despatched with accuracy, precision and skill? N.I.B., Fairies Wear Boots and Iron Man so faithfully replicated and yet, somehow, with a certain something the band made the songs their own. Almost as impressive was the sound they managed to conjure. It was, actually, a little eerie hearing that retro, fuzz-drenched wall of noise, so authentically like the genuine article, slamming at you from just a few feet away. If eyes had been closed, ears would have been fooled. Bill Board or, more accurately, Bored, judging by his inscrutable
expression and general air of disinterest, nevertheless turned in one
of the tightest and most polished performances Ive ever seen from
a tribute drummer. War Pigs, in particular, benefitting from his attention
to detail and total command of the material A Sabbath signature, certainly during their 70s heyday, was the distinctive tone of Wards bass and the way it doubled the riffs before spiralling off into zany, Entwistle-like, minor pentatonic work-outs. The fact that they were so effortlessly reproduced here was only marginally less impressive than the fact they were delivered by a musician who, literally, appeared to be asleep on his feet. Or maybe he was trapped Behind The Wall Of Sleep? Sorry And while were talking attention to detail, kudos to the excellent
I.O.U. who rarely took the easy way out. No cheating on Paranoid for,
instance. Nope. That famous riff was hammered out on the twelfth fret,
complete with Iommis tricky appoggiaturas stylishly peeled off. But its not just musical excellence with these chaps; Oddbin was a hysterically realistic Ozzy, complete with sly references to the fucked-up lifestyle, marital traumas and fondness for chemicals surely now as famous as the songs that can rightly claim to be the genesis of heavy metal. That nasal West Midlands whine sounded more like Ozzy than Ozzy (all the more remarkable considering its progenitor hails from Beeston)and Children Of The Grave and Symptom Of The Universe were better value for money than the palsied, shambolic, self-parodied buffoon can offer himself these days. Outstanding entertainment and if you can find better, Ill eat my Rat Salad HARRY PATERSON CLASSIC ROCK INTERVIEW JAN 2007 THOMAS TRIPP BOURNEMOUTH Sack Sabbaths gig at the Tripp last Saturday was my first
involvement in booking bands and I was very pleased to be Justins
wingman for this event. As I had initially found the band and recommended
them, I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would be as good as
their reputation led me to believe. As it happened, they exceeded those
expectations and turned out to be one of the best tribute bands I have
ever seen. I saw Black Sabbath back in 1972 on the Master of Reality
tour, but I enjoyed this performance every bit as much. There was a
lot of fun being had on stage and Ozzy had me laughing out
loud on any number of occasions. Tremendous musicianship and a very
appreciative, knowledgeable audience made for a fantastic evening. I
had a chat with the lead singer after the bands sound-check and he told
me the sign of a good gig is when the audience join in with War Pigs
which
they did very vocally at the Tripp! It was also great to hear songs
like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Snowblind and of course, Iron Man. Paranoid,
as youd expect, brought the house down
my ears have only
just stopped ringing! Hopefully, this will be the first of many collaborations
between Big Just and The Bishop, so Im looking forward to more
evenings like this. Sack Sabbath had a great time as well, so expect
them back before too long! INTAKE MANSFIELD Ok hands up the people who didn't go to see Sack Sabbath then,well i am shocked,if you aint seen them before (like me) and you like early sabbath you are in for a treat. The sound was excellent (thanks John) Tony (Russ) IOU,was amazing,mind you the rest of the band was, not wishing to single out anyone cause I only know Russ,but the singer (wikked Ozzy clone),the bass player and drummer know their stuff, it was like being at a sabbs concert just shut your eyes and listen. If you dont go to any gigs for the rest of the year catch these guys they will rock your socks off . Metal Mickey-DJ at Mansfield Intake club.
CREWE LIMELIGHT What to do on a Sunday evening? Yea, I know, it's Sunday evening,
tomorrow there's Around 9:50pm the screen went up and Sack Sabbath opened with 'Children of the Grave' quickly followed by 'Iron Man'. This opener established the following: The mix was just right; The front man really did look and sound rather like Ozzy from 25 years ago. It augured well for a great evening and we weren't disappointed. Eddie Doyle.
DOUBLE HEADER WITH FRED ZEPPELIN ROBIN 2 BILSTON,
First on stage is Sack Sabbath a band you could say I'm familiar with. Formed four and a half years ago and with many line-up changes along the way the "Ozzy" fronted Sabbath clones play only the early material from 1970-77. With every song in tonight's hour long set a "classic" the audience, who by and large are here to see the headliners, are won over by great numbers like war pigs, hand of doom and symptom of the universe. With top notch performances from front man Ozzy Oddbin, who whips up the crowd with screams of "lets go fuckin' crazy, lead guitarist Mr Tony IOU who manages to keep sane during Ozzy's antics and Mr Bill Lard at the back on drums with new boy Geezer (I can't believe it's not) Butler on Bass giving the rhythm section plenty of oomph. The final song of Sack Sabbath's set approaches in the guise of Sabbath bloody Sabbath, how they got away without playing paranoid is anyone's guess. (NOTE-We were all set to play it but we ran out of time! Gutted!-Sacko) Both of these bands are well worth checking out if you've somehow managed to miss them so far and when they team up like tonight then you really are in for a treat GD. Well, what can I say! Absolutely brilliant!!! "Fairies
Wear Boots" was superb, as were all the other classic Sabbath tracks
you performed! Well impressed! I hope to catch you again!
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