A drummer who looks like a cross between Peter Criss in Kiss and the Hamburglar—a guitarist with a huge, cartoon-looking burger head featuring long, silver tusks—a bassist, quite literally, in a gigantic, slightly terrifying Grimace costume, and a singer sporting a yellow and red striped jumpsuit featuring long strips of fabric hanging from the arms, bright red hair, and a clown makeup look with an uncanny resemblance to Ozzy Osbourne. That’s the summary of what you’d see walking into Jergel’s on April 29 during Mac Sabbath’s show.

To explain Mac Sabbath, you need to know a little about this extraordinary band’s backstory. I spoke with Mike the Manager, the manager for this fast-food-themed act, who took the band from performing in restaurant basements to stages at festivals around the world. He gave us a bit of insight into where the group came from and how their relationship came to be.

After a period of owning an oddities shop, Mike was used to receiving strange phone calls requesting him to come see something that would change his life. When he got another one of these calls, which required him to meet at a local burger franchise (which shall remain anonymous), he would’ve never expected that statement would actually be true.

“It was like a fight club sort of secret situation where all these people from this organization were there and weren’t supposed to be there. They were all against the organization, even though they worked for it. Everybody was waiting for this red and yellow curtain, stuffed between packages of hamburger buns and boxes of condiments. Then, the curtain drops, and it’s these mutated mascots doing these Black Sabbath riffs and screaming about MSG and GMOs. It was like radical performance art.”

So, after years of playing small shows, the band went on to open for bands like Kiss and Mötley Crüe and even meet Ozzy, the Prince of Darkness, himself. If you’ve ever seen anything online about the band, you probably know their silly antics, but their live show is really beyond what you would expect. Rather than just presenting a concert, Mac Sabbath aims to create an experience that leaves you pondering the intentions of the government.

“It’s something you really have to experience live because it’s more like a play. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s an entire arc that you cannot appreciate by watching videos. There’s comedy, there’s magic, and then there’s also a social message. It’s very important for Ronald to keep it family-friendly to get the message to the kids because when a country is specifically poisoning its people on purpose, it starts with the children’s food. So everything Mac Sabbath does is tangible and appeals to the child in us all.”

And appeal to the child in us all they do. Like many others, I thought I knew what I was in for when arriving at the Mac Sabbath concert in Warrendale, PA. I figured I’d see a few “Fast Food” inspired characters making up Black Sabbath parodies much like Weird Al. Well, boy, was I wrong.

With two laser eyes, Ronald heads adorning each side of that red and yellow curtain Mike mentioned earlier, a crowd suddenly packs against the stage. What’s most interesting to me is I’ve never seen a crowd get so excited over a curtain drop. Immediately their vision clung to the stage as if they were children watching a cartoon show. And no wonder why; you’d be in a trance too if four fast-food mascot-looking musicians took the stage with ketchup and mustard bottles, flaming frying pans, chicken nuggets, larger-than-life straws, and a wacky cast of guest characters.

If you want to throw yourself into this adventure with Ronald Osbourne, the Catburglar, Grimalice, Slayer MacCheeze, think of the show as an alternate universe. This is an alternate universe where Ozzy Osbourne has a passion for the toxins of fast food and joins a cast of mascots to bring the man down from the inside. There is no Black Sabbath; there is only Mac Sabbath. And honestly? After hearing songs like Sweet Beef (Sweet Leaf), where ketchup and mustard (water) are squirted into the crowd’s mouth, or More Ribs (War Pigs), where a bucket of beer turns into confetti, I’m pretty okay with that universe.

Needless to say, if you want to understand this review in totality, you need to go to a Mac Sabbath show yourself. Between the characters and the music that’s familiar yet completely new, there are a lot of reasons to press full-send and buy that ticket. Even Ozzy’s seen Mac Sabbath, so why haven’t you?

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Kylie Thomas

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LA GUNS CAME BACK INTO BALTIMORE AREA TO ROCK AND ROLL

LA Guns with Red Reign rocked the house down in Annapolis at Rams Head on the Stage. Red Reign opened up and got the crowd ready for the night of some good rock and roll. If you haven’t had the chance to check out Red Reign, you should.

LA GUNS came out, and the packed venue was ready to get our faces melted with some sick guitar solos from Tracii Guns. The setlist was perfect with a mix of old and new and all the songs that you know that LA Guns is going to play. It’s so great, as always, to see Phil and Tracii together and adding into the mix Ace Von Johnson and Johnny Martin.

The band sounded amazing and kicked some serious ass tonight. Fans got a super awesome treat as well after the show when Tracii and the band were taking photos and signing autographs. It was a great night. If LA Guns are playing in your area and you love LA Guns as much as I do, I say go see them live and watch such a great and fun show.

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Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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To put it simply, I love a supergroup. There’s nothing like bringing together some of the best musicians to walk this Earth. And, in the case of L.S. Dunes, this supergroup exemplifies the standard every time they step onto the stage.

In the small venue of A&R Music Bar in Columbus, Ohio, a sold-out show leaves the room packed from wall to wall, front to back. Even as the second opener hits the middle of the set, there’s already no room to move. But that’s what happens whenever you put singer Anthony Green of Circa Survive, guitarist Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance, drummer Tucker Rule of Thursday, and bassist Tim Payne on the bill. These four, along with guitarist Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria, who was absent from this show, create the punk-rock group L.S. Dunes.

This tour follows the release of their 2025 album, “Violet,” which blends familiar sounds from the depths of punk-rock with new, unique melodies and variations to create such a memorial album. The band chose to open with the same song that opens this album, “Like Magick.” It’s the perfect ambiance setter that starts with the pure, isolated vocals of Green before transitioning into heavy riffs that bring such a deeper meaning to the lyrics. From there, it’s all uphill as the band treks through songs new and old that range from energetic-screamo-rage to heartbreaking-yearning.

I’ve had the opportunity to see L.S. Dunes before, actually in a larger venue too, and the intimacy of A&R Music Bar was truly made for bands like these. The atmosphere that bleeds into the set is unmatchable as you see fans jump and scream together and the band uses the whole small stage to their advantage. Nearly two years from the first time I saw this group, they’ve only matured in the best way possible. The vocals and instruments both take new risks that succeed and the lyrical content is one that’s meant for these modern times.

Whenever the entire world feels like it’s crumbling, it’s bands like L.S. Dunes that keep bringing together people from all walks of life. Watching the crowd complete the bigger picture for L.S. Dunes leaves you feeling in your heart and soul even after leaving the show. This is one of those bands that’s going to stick around for a long time, far past their days of touring, for the pure memorableness of each and every performance.

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Kylie Thomas

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