Mac Sabbath
Metalachi
Okilly Dokilly
Mockstrosity Tour 2017
The Waiting Room Lounge
Omaha, Nebraska
March 8th, 2017
I honestly had no idea what to expect from the Mockstrosity Tour. I’ve never been a huge fan of “parody bands”. As a child of the 80’s, I grew up hearing Weird Al Yankovic on the radio and seeing his videos on MTV. In the past decade I’ve seen Psychostick live numerous times. Steel Panther played main stage at Rockfest in Kansas City a few years ago. Their music felt more like a novelty to me though. While each of those bands and musicians were entertaining to watch, I always felt like they never took themselves very serious, so why should I? Well, I’ll tell you why; because they deserve our respect. No matter what genre of music we’re listening too, music is a reprieve from our everyday lives. Concerts give us a chance to forget about all the crap going on in the world, and give us an excuse to be true selves, if even for just a few hours. If we can sing along, dance and laugh during that time, then those bands are doing their job, and that’s exactly how the Mockstrosity Tour is.
I love it when a tour’s first stop is in my adoptive town. I’ve traveled the country for concerts, and no other city has the passion for music like Omaha does. We live for concerts, and our excitement inspires the musicians who play here. It’s especially encouraging when bands who’ve never played Omaha before can sell out a venue, and exceptionally amazing when that sold out venue is The Waiting Room.
Say Howdilly doodilly, Stevarinos, Okilly Dokilly are ready to take the stage.
Arizona natives Okilly Dokilly would be opening tonight show. Sadly I missed the first half of the band’s set. Thankfully I caught the last half though. Okilly Dokilly classify themselves as “Nedal Music” and if their name hasn’t already given it away, they draw their look and musical inspiration from The Simpson’s neighbor, Ned Flanders. Okilly Dokilly’s music is a combination of original lyrics and quotes from Flanders. Don’t let the cartoonish outfits and lyrics fool you though; these guys fucking rock. Not only do these guys rock, they know how to have fun on stage. Towards the end of their set, vocalist Head Ned asked for crowd participation as keyboardist Red Ned threw an inflatable donut, similar to the type Homer Simpson eats, into the crowd and instructed the crowd to destroy it. Okilly Dokilly puts on a serious show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This became evident as the band played their last song, Nothing At All, Head Ned stripped off his outer layer of clothes, and revealed the red and blue ski suit that Flanders wore during a ski trip. Head Ned then proceeded to wiggle his ass and sing “It feels like I’m wearing nothing at all. Nothing at all.” Stupid sexy Flanders.
Put all your reservations aside. Okilly Dokilly are a fantastic live band. Hopefully this will not be the last time I see them in concert.
Also making their Omaha debut, Metalachi were up next. Described as the world’s first and only Heavy Metal Meriachi band, Metalachi had humble beginnings. “On a hot summer night in Veracruz Mexico circa 1982, Consuela Espinoza stumbled out of her dilapidated shanty and into Rock N Roll history. What began as an innocent night of snorting horse tranquilizers in a hotel room with seven members of the village jai alai team went on to produce a great metal band. Unhampered by a steady regime of tequila and ill-advised sumo lessons, nine months later five bastard children were born. Unable to care for her hungry offspring and concerned that motherhood would seriously interfere with her Tuesday night Karaoke league, Consuela hastily packed the babies into the saddlebags of a burro and sent her children off to America in search of a better life.
Against all odds, 14 years later, and nearly dead from dehydration, the burro knelt down to drink from the stagnant waters of the Rio Grande just outside of Juarez Mexico –mere yards from the U.S. border. With one fleeting burst of energy the brothers Espinoza cinco climbed from their leather restraints and scampered the vast reach of the river, collapsing onto the sweet amber hue of American soil. As if by destiny, lodged in the sand beneath their tanned faces was a record sleeve upon which were the words “Paranoid” and “Black Sabbath.” For many years to follow, this definitive black metal album served not only as a teacher and a mentor, but also as a friend. From these bleak and humble beginnings grew the seed that would eventually be the band we know today as Metalachi.”
During the afternoon, Metalachi walked up and down Maple Street outside of The Waiting Room performing traditional Meriachi music. That’s how much Metalachi love performing music.
The band hammered through almost an hour on stage, and smashed through covers by AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Van Halen, Dio, Journey, Extreme, and most importantly Metallica. Classic songs that nearly every person inside the venue sang along with, even if it was just the better known choruses. The band even brought one lucky woman onstage during Extreme’s More Than Words to dance and overtly gyrate on.
These guys, and beautiful lady, put on a great show. With tonight’s performance, Metalachi has finally given me definitive proof that Mariachi Heavy Metal is a thing. I wasn’t expecting to see several hundred people bouncing around and singing but The Waiting Room was hopping. Metalachi knows how to work a crowd into a frenzy.
Metalachi’s exit from the stage meant that Mac Sabbath would soon be arriving, and honestly no one knew what to expect. Mac Sabbath, who’ve never played Omaha before, were a curiosity. A parody heavy meal band. The music that they parody? Black Sabbath. Its members? Vocalist Ronald Osbourne, guitarist Slayer McCheeze, bassist Grimalice and drummer Catburgler.
Ronald Osbourne cautiously walked on stage wearing a straight jacket as the excessively tusked Slayer McCheeze shredded on stage right. Catburgler spent his time on stage flailing about like a lunatic caged behind his drumkit. Grimalice, the twisted faced purple blob would lean into the crowd, enticing an even more thunderous response from the fans. In between songs, Osbourne would take chugs out of vintage style mustard and ketchup bottles and the demonic Mickey D clowns jeered from both sides of the stage.
Mac Sabbath are without a doubt the weirdest, most bizarrely awesome band I have ever seen. Even under all the clown make-up and over-the-top styrofoam costumes, Mac Sabbath put on one helluva stage show. This band is truly talented, and, parody band or not, are totally legitimate. As a Black Sabbath tribute band, these guys are tight. As the band thrashed through parodies like Sweet Beef, Lord of the Swirl and Chicken For the Slaves, the crowd went from curious looks, to exciting bounces.
For the opening night of the Mockstrosity Tour, Mac Sabbath slammed the sold-out crowd with their elaborate, super-sized stage presence. Osbourne’s vocals sizzled like two all beef patties on a grill. Forget the empty calories of other tribute bands, Mac Sabbath are all thriller and no filler. It also helps that these guys are actually very good!
