Photos and Review by Stephen Bloch

It’s often easy to overlook musical talent when there are calculated distractions put in place to raise the entertainment value.  This could be in the form of over the top light shows, stage design, visuals, or decor.  On Monday night, the simple confines of Milwaukee’s Turner Hall Ballroom played host to two thoroughly entertaining and skilled bands, Mac Sabbath and The Cybertronic Spree (Playboy Manbaby was the first opener) who ALSO have a value added components-ridiculous costumes.

The former are Satanic McDonalds characters and the latter as Transformers.  Ronald Osbourn, Slayer MacCheeze, Grimalice and the  Catburglar all have the chops to pull off hilarious parodies of Black Sabbath tunes while Hotrod, Arcee, Rumble, Unicron, Soundwave, Bumblebee and Shockwave play a mix of campy originals as well as some in-your-face covers (“The Immigrant Song” and “Barracuda” made the setlist).  These are formidable musicians that are seriously amusing. The crowd was equally as amusing, with some people in Halloween costumes (presumably), metal t-shirts, and McDonalds drive-through attire. Eclectic doesn’t even begin to describe this crowd.