Black Sabbitch at the Camden Assembly: A Masterclass in Sabbath’s Legacy

August 10, 2024 rocknews

Two sets of vintage Black Sabbath awaited us at this intimate venue in North West London, and the upstairs room of the fabulous Camden Assembly was filling up nicely with die-hard Sabbath fans by the time we arrived.

Black Sabbitch – the all-female Sabbath ‘tribute’ band have spent the past decade making a name for themselves on the rock circuit, and they’ve gathered some high profile fans along the way, including Dave Grohl, Paul Stanley and none other than the Prince of Darkness himself (they were hand-picked by Sharon and Ozzy to open the first Ozzfiesta).

Tonight was the first of two gigs at the Assembly, and we were in for some deep cuts and more well-known material from the first three Sabbath albums (1970’s ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Master of Reality’ from 1971). The following night they played tunes from ‘Vol.4’, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ and ‘Sabotage’.

Arriving on stage a few minutes later than billed, drummer Angie Scarpa, bassist Melanie Makaiwi and guitarist Emily J Burton began playing the familiar, atmospheric opening bars of ‘War Pigs’, much to the delight of the crowd. Alice Austin joined them just in time to sing those familiar words…. “Generals gathered in their masseeeeees……” And we were off!

‘Electric Funeral’ followed before Alice Austin got to flex her harmonica skills on The Wizard. The crowd were really getting into hearing these songs, and quite rightly. We would like to have seen a bit more interaction with the audience to fill the gaps between songs (it was almost 45 minutes before Angie Scarpa spoke to the crowd) but the music spoke for itself.

‘Paranoid’ took us into the final three of Set 1 and had everyone singing along, hands in the air before ‘Lord of this World’ and ‘Into the Void’ – both from ‘Master of Reality’ closed the first half.

In true DIY nature, Alice Austin ran the merch stand during the interval where they did a roaring trade in t-shirts.

Set 2 began with a bang, as the classic ‘Black Sabbath’ got the Sabbitch treatment. Highlights of this nine-song set were ‘NIB’ where every musician shone, and ‘Fairies Wear Boots’. It was also great to hear ‘Wicked World’ and ‘Behind the Wall of Sleep’ from the first album, reminding us how much early Sabbath was influenced by the blues, and demonstrating the musicianship of Black Sabbitch.

Before we knew it we were back to ‘Master of Reality’ as ‘Children of the Grave’ finished the set to loud cheers – loud enough for an encore. The band reappeared for a rendition of the classic ‘Never Say Die’, which sent the happy crowd out into the Camden night.

Black Sabbitch are superb musicians, and their renditions of these songs are note perfect, but with enough of a twist to give them something extra. Melanie Makaiwi especially looked to be having the time of her life, as did the audience.

Black Sabbitch continue their tour of the UK until August 18th.