Sabbat concert review

[phlemmy]

No, not (Black) Sabbath. Sabbat.

A relatively little known band that was a on a relatively big label in the 80s. They were very unique musically and lyrically. Production hurt them in some respects as well but I always loved them. I became a big fan of Skyclad as well after Martin left Sabbat.

So Friday morning I get up, clean house, pack and do some other things around the house before flying to Raleigh to meet up with one of my best friends (since 1983). As I am walking out the door and getting in my car, I realize I don't have the tickets on me. D'oh. OK, got 'em. On the road to the airport.

Perfect weather, no flight delays, smooth 3 hour flight to Raleigh. My friend picks me up. I haven't seen him since right before I moved to Austin, although we talk weekly. We head to his house where I see his wife and kids. His oldest son was about 2 or 3 the last time I saw him; he's 7 now. The youngest is 4 and his wife was preggo with him last time I saw her. Those kids are a trip. Good kids overall.

So after we get settled in, we went to go grab some grub. Their church was having a BBQ. Now, Carolina style BBQ is different, but it's great and I hadn't had it in a few years. This was good stuff. I was a happy guy. Back to his house, kids put to bed and we stay up late just talking smack, as always.

Next morning we get up and have to take the oldest boy to his soccer game. So there I am with my friend...the soccer dad. I'm just sitting there in a chair with a Judas Priest shirt on watching the game. It was fun.

OK, back to the house to drop off the kid. We pack the car and we're off to Virginia. Five hours. It was like 1986 all over again as we were riding up there. Malmsteen, Overkill, Obsession, etc etc. All classics.

I called Smacks on the way up as he said he wanted to meet for dinner but never heard back from him. Oh well. Next time.

We got to the hotel and decided to go eat before the show. Door opened at 730 and luckily there were only 2 opening acts...which is unheard of at Jaxx. Usually there's a ton of ****** local bands opening. Anyhoo, we find a Chinese place to eat and it was ok. Some weird stuff on the menu though. Lots of stuff with duck blood in the name. No thanks. off to the club.

It's 8PM, the doors aren't open yet and there's only about 20 people in line including a guy from my hometown that I hadn't seen in a few years. We hang out, talk smack some more and go in. The crowd just wasn't flocking in. Someone said 100 advanced tickets were sold and it looked like about 20-25 walk-ins on top of that. Weak showing. We sit in the bar area while the 2 openers were on. Boring bands. As the second opener was finishing, we walked down to the floor and walked right up to the railing in front of the stage. Really? Damn. So, quick soundcheck by the roadies and boom, showtime. They came out and did as expected. Martin was great, the whole band was great. Andy Sneap was shredding as was the other guitarist. They played a good set. Martin was very personable between songs and delivered his usual rants against racial prejudice and against Christianity. But he does it in an intelligent way. He's obviously a very smart guy as noted in his lyrics and in his chatter. Impressive.

Everyone but the bassist had been on at least one Sabbat album or another. The bassist was a guy named Graham "Giz" Butt...formerly of The English Dogs.

After the show, they went backstage for a few then came out to have some beers with the fans. The turnout for the US Tour (4 shows) was awful. NYC - 150-200, Chicago - 40, LA - 50, VA - 125. But whatever, they played hard and were appreciative of the folks who came out to see them.

Per usual, I show up as the total fanboy with about 20 CD covers (Sabbat, Skyclad, Priest Tribute etc) and "the book". All of those guys loved the book as most bands who are in it do. Gizz was especially ecstatic over it and wrote a long thing in it about some of the early stuff that Sneap had produced. You had to be there but I have a photo of him writing all over his page and me laughing. After some other folks hung out with Martin, I approached him for a quick chat and to get my stuff signed. He said, "Fuckin' 'ell, lots of CDs covers, mate." I told him it didn;t matter to me if he signed one or all as I was just happy to see them. "You took the time to buy all of these, I'll take the time to sign them all." Very cool. So we chatted for a bit. He eplained to Chris and I that most of the Sabbat lyrics were written when he was just 16. Impressive. Dude's only 2 years older than me. I thought he was much older. So after some hellos, goodbyes and such, we head back to the hotel. I flip on the TV and see that VH-1 Classic was doing Metal Mania all night. the first 2 vids we saw were Loudness Lightning Strikes and Anthrax's Madhouse. It was all downhill from there. Fun to see some of those old lame *** vids.

Sleep.

Next morning it's raining heavily and we head out. Lots of wrecks on I-95. More classic metal for the ride home with the last one being Powerslave. A perfect ending to a great weekend. He dropped me fof at the airport and I had plenty of time to kill. So, off to the bar! Ended up sitting next to a guy who went to a rival high school and we had lots of old friends in common. Pretty funny. Got home late. Great Trip.

Behind the Crooked Cross