Last November Mac Sabbath brought their pre Thanksgiving feast to Dallas courtesy of their Drive Thru Metal.
A year and two days later, Mac Sabbath returned to the DFW area and catered another pre Thanksgiving feast.
The More than Meats the Eye US Tour brought the band to the historic Granada Theater. It was a move that took the band out of the Deep Ellum area and was welcomed by the fans. The show marked the fifth time Mac Sabbath has played the DFW area.
Joining Mac Sabbath on the tour as main support was Canada’s The Cybertronic Spree and show openers Playboy Man Baby. It was a night full of quirky and visual uniqueness.
The Phoenix based Playboy Man Baby are no strangers to a Mac Sabbath tour or Dallas. The band was on Mac Sabbath’s 2019 American Cheese Tour and played Dallas in August 2019.
Playboy Manbaby was allotted a 30-minute set and the band made most of their set time.
Late in the set, vocalist Robbie Pfeffer took advantage of the barricade free pit area for a bit of audience engagement. Pfeffer spent more than just a few minutes off the stage with the audience. Obviously, fans were willing to join in for the volunteer circle time and adrenaline boosting activities.
Bright colors, cool costumes, tight musicianship, audience hyping and nonstop energy was the recipe for The Cybertronic Spree set. With the first note, the crowd was more than eager to engage in the Cybertronic Spree’s 1986’s party atmosphere.
Photo by Brian McLean
The best way to describe the band is that they are a group of Transformers that have set aside their differences. It’s all been done in the name of Rock and Roll and playing host for the ultimate party.
Photo by Brian McLean
Photo by Brian McLean
The song repertoire consisted of music from the Transformers : The Movie, anime songs and video game covers. The band even covered AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” as well as the “Immigrant Song” by Zeppelin.
Surprisingly, the younger generation that made up the majority of the crowd recognized both cover tunes. Some even attempted to sing along.
After a successful set, the band bid farewell to the audience with an on stage selfie and making way for the arrival of Mac Sabbath.
Veteran and experienced Mac Sabbath fans immediately noticed the front curtain that blocks the view during setup changed. In the past, the band has had a red and yellow striped curtain that resembled a big top pattern. Now, the curtain that stretches across the stage during setup displays the Mac Sabbath logo in large prominent letters.
After the introduction, Mac Sabbath launched into “Organic Funeral” as frontman Ronald Osbourne struggled to free himself from the straight jacket. The Employee of the Month did offer some assistance only to have the jacket shoved at him and around his neck.
The fun was just starting.
The pioneers of Drive Thru Metal continued to cruise through the set. Fans heard “Sweet Beef” and “The Lizard” before one of the newer tunes, “Grilled by Death.”
The set continued with “Drive Thru the Void” and “In Dreams,” both staples for a Mac Sabbath show.
Unfortunately early on “In Dreams,” the band’s homage to Roy Orbison, power was cut out bringing the song to a halt. It’s not quite clear what caused the outage but the loss occurred as Osbourne made his way to stage right. With a chuckle, a funny verbal bit and a look of confusion, the show moved on.
A Mac Sabbath show has remained consistent set wise over time but there have been some additions to the song list in the last year or two.
The band reached back to their new material for “Bread” sung by drummer the Cat Burglar. The percussionist is also known as Peter Criss Cut Fries so it was only fitting he sang the song.
Continuing the nod to KISS, Cat Burglar hit his hamburger snare and kicked off “Love Buns.”
The set went back to the standards with “Supersize,” “Chicken or the Slaves” and their closer “Pair-a-Buns.”
Throughout the night there was plenty of interaction with the crowd. Osbourne would replenish with water in red ketchup and yellow mustard bottles. Of course, he would share with the audience and squirt them numerous times during the set.
Other fun parts included Osbourne throwing out confetti from a bucket over the audience but the best was for last.
Standard for a Mac Sabbath show, Osbourne crowd surfs on a hamburger floatie. He relies and trusts the audience to keep him afloat during “Pair-a-Buns.” Fortunately there wasn’t a near gravity victory like their previous visit in 2022.
The Granada Theater was the ideal venue for More than Meats the Eye Tour stop in Dallas. Sections of the floor are a step up from the previous section. There’s also elevated seating in the balcony with long table tops. For those that are vertically challenged, these sections work best.
The view is unobstructed making for a pleasurable viewing experience. It’s also a great escape for those that don’t want to deal with the madness on the floor.
There’s only one negative takeaway, that’s the constant barrage and saturation of pink, red and purple lights illuminating the stage.
If Mac Sabbath tour history repeats itself in 2024, a show would be an ideal pre Thanksgiving feast of Drive Thru Metal. The band always delivers a funny, fan friendly show that is 100% age appropriate. The stories little juniors and princesses could tell to their friends at recess in Mac Sabbath swag would be priceless. If only there was technology to warp into the realm of a fly on the monkey bars just to hear the tales.
