MAC SABBATH, OKILLY DOKILLY, PLAYBOY MANBABY – Austin, Texas, U.S.A. 2019

“American Cheese Tour 2019”: MAC SABBATH, OKILLY DOKILLY, PLAYBOY MANBABY – Barracuda – Austin, Texas, August 11, 2019

The American Cheese Tour 2019 perfectly describes not only a MAC SABBATH concert but the tour lineup that landed in Austin, Texas. MAC SABBATH is cheesy on literal and figurative levels. The band is a mash-up of BLACK SABBATH and McDonalds. Tour mates OKILLY DOKILLY are not so much a parody band as the headliner, but use pop culture, Ned Flanders a character from “The Simpsons” television show, as the theme to their act. PLAYBOY MANBABY didn’t need pop culture and parody to get their nerdy point across.

PLAYBOY MANBABY kicked off the night in a goofy fashion. The band said it was great to be in the country of Texas, again. They came from the country of the United States (Arizona). They also said they play swing music, but a couple of minutes into their swing routine, the band switched to heavy rock and punk. The band was more than capable of warming up the crowd. Singer Robbie Pfeffer really knew how to work the crowd. He stepped off the stage to tell stories and allowed the crowd to participate in the show. Pfeffer told a story about playing quarterback for his middle school’s football team, and did an ode to sports, only to tell the crowd he never played football. He didn’t have the athletic build, but I thought maybe he did in high school. Stylistically, I probably wouldn’t buy an album, but their live show was something to behold.

OKILLY DOKILLY dressed like Homer Simpson’s neighbor (roony), Ned Flanders. The group wore green sweaters, glasses, dress pants, and dress shoes as if every day was a chance to gain acceptance from the Good Lord above. Every member bore a “Ned” name–Shred Ned, Zed Ned, Bed Ned; however, each member had something different about him. Dread Ned wore dreads and cut out the sleeves of his sweater. Head Ned scolded Dread Ned for losing his glasses. This seemed like the Superman disguise in that people will think he’s not a Ned without his glasses. Head Ned looked and spoke exactly like “The Simpsons” character. He was quite adept with the Ned puns.

OKILLY DOKILLY were a fun band that brought the audience into their act. They performed songs related to the show such as “Donut Hell,” which they pulled out a giant, inflatable donut to pass around the crowd before it popped and landed on me when I wasn’t looking. Head Ned dedicated “Godspeed Little Doodle” to their tour van, “Ned Vanders,” which they had to replace. He also fired t-shirts at the crowd out of a t-shirt cannon marked “R.I.P. Maude,” a reference to Flanders’ late wife. Although the band worked on a gimmick, their musicianship was solid. They played a mix of punk, metal, and rock that was infectious. Bed Ned’s bass sound and grooves were something akin to hearing HELMET, and elicited bodies to move. Head Ned mentioned their song “White Wine Spritzer” is going to be featured on the credits at the end of a Simpsons episode, so be on the lookout for that.

MAC SABBATH brought quite the production to Barracuda’s small club. The band set up the stage clandestinely to keep the crowd in the dark. The show landed on a Sunday, which can produce a dismal headcount, but the club was packed. The number of bodies coupled with a 100-degree night made the hall hotter than a McDonald’s kitchen. One of the stagehands dressed like a 1950s McDonald’s employee with a white uniform and paper hat. The band recreated their own version of the Mickey D’s kitchen with a fake fryer and fake hamburgers billowing smoke-like dry ice.

The band’s fast food and metal mash-up was funny but also dark. There were scary, giant clown props with glowing red eyes in the corners of the stage. Ronald Osbourne entered the stage, as he always, in a straight jacket. He certainly fit the psychotic clown look. The rest of the band were a sight to behold: a cross between the Hamburlgar and a cat—the Cat Burglar on drums, a man in a giant, purple Grimace-like outfit on bass called Grimalice, and a Tony Iommi/Mayor McCheese/MOTӦRHEAD Snaggletooth creature known as Slayer Mac Cheeze, all members became this way as the result of Monsanto GMO mutations.

Ronald psyched out the crowd when he squirted it with mustard and ketchup bottles that were really just an Ozzy-themed water splashing. He also dumped a bucket on the crowd. The crowd braced itself for an Ozzy water drenching, but all that spilled out were plastic squares. The band played Dick Dale’s surf rock classic from “Pulp Fiction” and encouraged crowd surfing. I only saw one crowd surfer, but Ronald rode a wave of hands. They utilized a fake bat inside a cheeseburger, I believe during “Frying Pan,” which Ronald bit the head off and then mumbled something while eating it. Hilarious.

Ground-beef renditions of BLACK SABBATH songs were hilarious in the truthfulness of their depictions. The band knows how to spin a pun and do it as well as the king, “Weird Al” Yankovic. There is dark humor inherit in how McDonald’s products affect our health. “Sweet Leaf” was rendered “Sweet Beef,” “Paranoid” became “Para-a-Buns,” and a mutated lizard man played the harmonica on “The Lizard” (no explanation needed). Near the end of their set, the band began to play “Crazy Train,” and Ronald sang “FRIES, FRIES, FRIES,” but this was another psych out and the band stopped before kicking off the verse.

Metal is mostly a serious music endeavor, but there are jokey bands like GWAR and GREEN JELLY that metalheads enjoy. These bands also fit in the realm of comedy. There were plenty of laughs to be had tonight, and the whole experience was fun. Just looking at the costumes MAC SABBATH wore was an enjoyable experience, putting them on display with BLACK SABBATH’s music (mostly) was quite a memorable experience without the runs of fast food.