All the way from Los Angeles and en route to the now legendary Download Festival the self-claimed founders of drive thru metal made a stop off in Portsmouth with their fast food influenced tribute/parody to Black Sabbath… it was soon to get very silly, but to start things off there were a few more acts on the bill of a more serious nature:
SKIN FOR A CANVAS
Considering the numbers in attendance were few and far between when doors had first opened Skin for a Canvas performed his passionate songs in front of the small crowd beautifully, his voice and acoustic guitar holding the audiences’ attention with just the right amount of in between song banter before jumping off stage for one last tune and a heartfelt tribute to his mother with it’s personal lyrical content.
Having previously been hugely impressed by the acoustic singer songwriter opening at a punk all dayer Ian Mortimer (the man behind the Skin for a Canvas name) was somewhat of a disappointment the last time I saw him, so it was good to see that he was most definitely sober and back on top form this evening.
THE SMOKIN’ PROPHETS
If image was anything to go by then The Smokin’ Prophets were definitely going to provide some old school rock n roll, clad in black and taking to the stage with a confident swagger the amps were turned up a notch ready for the 80’s glam influenced youngsters.
They definitely had the stage presence of a band ahead of their years and with songs about rock n roll (including “Mr Rock n Roll” during which I half expected pyrotechnics and blood spitting antics in answer to Kiss’ “God of Thunder”) the Smokin’ Prophets are almost the missing link between the eighties of Motley Crue and the more modern day Black Veil Brides.
GRAVEL RASH
By the time Gravel Rash were playing the crowd had increased and there was more of a sense of occasion in the air, so whilst the local lads decided to throw a random cover of the Outhere Brothers “Boom Boom Boom” into the mix it seemed a little unnecessary amongst their more serious southern rock songs.
The band were clearly enjoying themselves however the vocals of Nic Taylor were so deep they came from the depths of his lungs in a rumble that disappeared into the bass lines and whilst they went down well amongst the larger crowd it was of course the headliners most people were here to see.
MAC SABBATH
They may have been late on stage but once the curtain dropped it was clear why – the oversized costumes were ludicrous, Ronald Osbourne’s makeup was of course that of old Ronald McDonald and the pretend burgers were frying nicely at the front of the stage.
It’s not every day the combination of McDonalds and Black Sabbath come together in perfect harmony but needless to say even though guitarist Slayer Mac Cheeze and bassist Grimalice were churning out those classic riffs perfectly, ultimately you stood back with a smile upon your face as songs such as “Iron Man” were re-worked into “Frying Pan” with the opening line of “Cows we’re going to grind, hope your stomach is well lined” – an example of the poetic genius that is Mac Sabbath.
It didn’t stop there either as having opened with “More Ribs” (previously known as “War Pigs”) “Sweat Leaf” is obviously turned into “Sweet Beef“ and “Children of the Grave” soon became “Chicken for the Slave”, all with Ronald Osbourne doing his best Ozzy impersonation throughout whilst flipping burgers and trying to steal beer with a seven foot straw removed from his trousers.
The real money grabbing McDonalds corporation will no doubt try suing Mac Sabbath before long if they haven’t done so already, but for the sale of a few t-shirts there’s nothing to worry about just yet and so following more pun-tastic quotes such as musical references to Andrew WKFC and Burger King Diamond, it was time for the most famous Black Sabbath tune of them all “Pair-a-buns” and thus concluded a rather entertaining night out… with fries.
