Zakk Sabbath returned to New York for a Saturday evening show at The Paramount in Huntington, New York on January 4. 2025. The sold-out Long Island concert event was part of the 2024-2024 King of the Monstours, during which the trio of iconic guitarist and vocalist Zakk Wylde, bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson, and drummer Joey Castillo were joined by The Iron Maidens and Led Zeppelin tribute band Zoso. The approximately 1,500 fans in attendance enjoyed nearly four hours of live music by three talented groups sharing their passion for the timeless music of three legendary bands.
The Maidens – the world’s first all-female Iron Maiden tribute band – opened the evening with tremendous renditions of five Maiden classics – “Aces High,” “Wasted Years,” “The Trooper,” “Number of the Beast,” and “Run to the Hills” – along with deep cut “Flash of the Blade” (a song Iron Maiden never performed live).
The five-piece is fronted by vocalist Kristen Rosenberg, with a rhythm section of long-time bassist extraordinaire Wanda Ortiz and veteran drummer Linda McDonald (whose drums sounded phenomenal) and the dual guitar pairing of Nikki Stringfield and Alyssa Day. The Maidens are renown for their note-for-note rendition of Iron Maiden classics, and faithfully performed them during their second performance on the Island and first since 2018. TIM also re-created the visual presentation of the band that inspired them, with Rosenberg donning the same pilot cap worn by Bruce Dickinson when performing "Aces" live and British cavalry uniform inspired by Dickinson's stage attire during "The Trooper." The band even brought out the Somewhere in Time cyborg "Eddie" during "Wasted." Yet again, The Iron Maidens showcased why they are among the best tribute bands in the world, paying homage to one of the best and most influential heavy metal bands of all time.
Zoso looked and sounded the part of The Zeps, opening with the rousing “Rock and Roll” into “Good Times Bad Times.” During the band’s thirty years celebrating the music of their rock heroes and global icons, frontman Matt Jernigan and bassist Adam Sandling have been the mainstays, with the current touring lineup including guitarist Scott Hathaway and drummer Bevan Davies. Most of the capacity crowd never saw Zeppelin, but Zoso admirably represents the unmistakable Zepp sound. The band closed with a pair of Houses of the Holy songs “The Ocean” and “Over the Hills and Far Away” to the delight of the audience. Arguably the highlight of their nine-song set was the incredible "Immigrant Song."
After Black Sabbath’s final tour ended in 2017, the hope of seeing Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward take the stage together remain slim, though several of these heavy metal titans have spoken about a desire to take the stage together once more. Until then, seeing Ozzy’s longest-tenured guitarist Wylde handle the lead vocal and guitar responsibilities in his Sabbath tribute outfit is a worthy endeavor. Zakk Sabbath exclusively performed songs from the first four Sabs albums, opening with four consecutive Vol. 4 cuts – “Supernaut,” “Snowblind,” “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes,” and “Tomorrow’s Dream.”
The focus then shifted to the first three records, which included inspired performances of “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Into the Void,” “Children of the Grave,” and the underrated “Lord of This World.” The crushing “N.I.B.” was the penultimate song before an epic rendition of “War Pigs” with Wylde leaving the stage to perform a five minute solo in the midst of the awe-inspired general admission crowd. During their 100 minutes on stage, Zakk and his cohorts frequently jammed through lengthy solos that went far beyond those written by axe god Iommi but dutifully honored the metal pioneers.
After concluding the North American run in mid-January, Zakk Sabbath will head to Europe for most of March. The Maidens have several California shows lined up at the conclusion of their run, while Zoso will be performing across the United States throughout 2025. Each of these bands is stellar in its own right, and seeing the three of them take the stage during the same evening was a highly recommended experience.