By Andrew Bansal
October 30th 2015, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Los Angeles boasts of a plethora of great tribute acts that justify the legacy of their respective original bands. But while in some cases a gimmick or twist in style and presentation is appreciable, in other cases a simple approach true to the original form makes more sense, specially when it comes to a band like Black Sabbath. Gimmick-based Sabbath tribute bands, and those led by guitarists replacing every note with a pinch harmonic, have gone about ruining the magic of this legendary music with their gigs in the Los Angeles area in recent times. True Sabbath worshippers that were exruciated and tortured by these so-called tribute acts were in need of a straightforward, authentic, true-to-form rendition. Bands like Electric Funeral have been worthy flag-bearers in Orange County, but Los Angeles has been bone dry. Enter all-girl Sabbath tribute band Black Sabbitch.
Black Sabbitch have been actively performing for the last two years or so, and my first experience of this band was at La Cita Bar in downtown Los Angeles in June 2014 with their previous singer, but it did not meet expectations and was far from an accurate representation of their abilities. But with a major lineup change soon after, Black Sabbitch rectified themselves significantly, with the introduction of Aimee Echo as the new frontwoman. Last Friday October 30th 2015, the band headlined a pre-Halloween event at the Viper Room, and I finally got a chance to see them with the new singer.
Aimee Echo’s fierce singing voice and on-stage personality was evident right from the outset, as the curtains drew apart at around 11:45 after a long wait, and the band started righteously with ‘Black Sabbath’, the song. The lighting tech at the Viper Room made excellent use of the strobe on stage, showering Echo with bursts of it at opportune moments. The singer’s Halloween facial makeup and costume further amplified her presence, and her band mates were also in makeup/costume in keeping with the theme of the event. Several interesting costumes were seen in the audience as well, and it was a festive atmosphere with a large turnout rocking out to Black Sabbitch. The quartet was doing full justice to each song they chose to play, in this set of all-classic, all-killer Sabbath tunes. They started later than scheduled, but stayed late and rocked till the end. This was certainly an infinitely better performance than the one at La Cita, but one feels that it could still reach higher altitudes, and I’ll hope to be able to witness another show soon enough, to see whether that happens.
For true Black Sabbath fans in the Los Angeles area, there is no tribute band truer than Black Sabbitch.
Set List:
01. Black Sabbath
02. Symptom Of The Universe
03. NIB
04. Hand Of Doom
05. Electric Funeral
06. War Pigs
07. Fairies Wear Boots
08. Children Of The Grave
09. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
10. Killing Yourself To Live
11. Into The Void
Encore:
12. Sabbra Cadabra
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