Mac Sabbath on tour
Beachllach Ballroom
Cleveland, OH
October 19, 2022
by Andrew Latshaw
I want to open this review with letting you know that I have seen Aerosmith, RUSH, Pink Floyd, and Rob Zombie in concert… this is important to know because I have seen some amazing bands and shows in my day. I have long wanted to see and if possible, photograph a Mac Sabbath show, and on October 19th, 2022 UnRated Magazine helped me with this desire. Mac Sabbath, in the intimate and surprisingly awesome setting of the Beachland Ballroom put on a show that I would rank in the top 10 best shows I have ever seen!
Mac Sabbath may not have the ability to put on a show like the aforementioned bands, but let me say that the intimate setting allowed the audience to be immersed into the show! The guys in Mac Sabbath put on a spectacle that I never could have anticipated! I was laughing from start to finish!
They had a couple of openers, LUNG and Speedealer. Lung, I believe are from Cincinnati, OH and Speedealer I want to say are based out of TX, I am not sure where, but I know it is TX. Let’s start with LUNG and let me tell you that they have the most interesting instruments I have ever seen! I mean, there are two people in LUNG, which is funny because we as people usually have two lungs… I digress.
LUNG is comprised of a cellist – Kate Wakefield and a drummer – Daisy Caplan who share the role of vocals. If I were to explain their sound to anyone who has not heard of them, I would say it is a post-punk, industrial, metal opera… I have never heard of LUNG prior to that night, and having talked to Kate and Daisy both, I can say that they are absolute awesome people off stage. When I asked Kate if she was cool with me shooting their set, she was truly a soft spoken and polite young woman! Then she started singing and the ranges she hit blew my mind! I cannot sing, nor can I play a cello, and she did both while still interacting with the audience there at the Ballroom. Daisy was a trip to watch, and his kit was truly unique in shape and structure! We have all seen a drum set before, I have never seen a drum set that looks a lot like bent oversized PVC pipes. The kick pedal on his bass drum, that was square, which is irrelevant really, but still stuck with me! I cannot stress enough, I have never seen anything like their gear! Lung just put out another album, head to their socials and their site, if you like what you see/hear pick up some merch to show them some love!
Now it is time to talk about Speedealer! These guys hit the stage and they wasted no time getting to the heavy! Dan Baron on vocals came out, announced who they were, and just tore it up after the introduction! There was Eric Schmidt on guitar who stayed on the left side of the stage most of the night and he had some moves while the show went on! He had a couple solo moments that just really set the tone for their set! As their set went on, I feel like they fed off the energy of the crowd. The longer these guys played, the more pumped the Ballroom got, and it looked like they were more amped towards the end of their set than when they started. I almost forgot to mention that Zack Busby was on bass and Jono Garret was killing it on the drums!
Looking these guys up, they are categorized as a punk band, I really did not get that vibe! I would say that they are good old fashion metal in my opinion! I have seen punk bands, and I saw Speedealer. I may be way off base saying that, but does the categorization really need to be there? Is this something that we really need to waste time and energy on? These guys are fun as hell to watch and great to drive to! I will admit, I am pretty heavy on the gas when I am jamming to these guys down the road!
On to the headliner… the original food spoofing, processed grub poachers, Mac Sabbath! As I pointed out before, I have seen a lot of shows in my years, and nothing have I ever seen prepared me for the marvels of the evening!
Ronald Osbourne came out in a straight-jacket looking distressed and confused, addressing the audience and introducing the band. Vocals was Ronald, on bass was Grimm Ass, drums was the Catburgler
