We never joined a band to become lawyers or fucking accountants, and that’s how it ended up. And they had years on us, and we’d been fighting this lawsuit with our old manager for fucking years, and I was just fucking tired of fighting. "When a band goes on stage before you and goes down better than you, you either say, 'Right, we’re going to go out there and fucking show them how to do it,' or you just fold up. "I remember being in a hotel room in San Diego with Geezer and one of the reps from the record company," says Osbourne, "and we’d had a few drinks, and one of us said to this guy, 'Be honest, you’re only using us on this tour to promote Van Halen, aren’t you?' And he said, 'You’re right.' And if you’re with a record company that won’t back you. When the Never Say Die! album came out, we went to a reception for it at Warner Brothers, and they were playing Bob Marley’s album and they didn’t know who we were! Our sales had dipped, and I guess they were on the verge of dropping us." "They already thought we were old-hat and over the hill, so Van Halen were getting all the star treatment from the record company, and we were getting nothing. "The record company was all over Van Halen," recalls Geezer Butler. There will also be a raffle with music gear prizes from BC Rich, EMG, Dunlop and Ernie Ball, with proceeds benefiting the Strides For Life Colon Cancer Foundation and American Cancer Society. Tickets are $15 advance and $20 day of show and can be purchased at bit.ly/sweetleaf-23. 9, at Barrel Proof Lounge, 501 Mendocino Ave. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 8pm. Sharing the bill with Sweet Leaf is Head Rush (a tribute to Rush) and Age Against the Machine (a tribute to Rage Against The Machine). At our very first rehearsal three years later, just a little over a month ago, we played an hour and a half without any hiccups. When the pandemic hit, we stopped playing for like three years. As for Ozzy, it would be Diary of a Madman, Bark At The Moon and No More Tears.īohemian: How many practices do you need to shake off the cobwebs? Ozanix: My top three records for Black Sabbath are Born Again, Master Of Reality and Never Say Die. As for Black Sabbath songs, “War Pigs” is a fan fave, and the audience gets to sing long and loud.īohemian: What are your favorite Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne albums? Ha! We are a once-in-awhile band.īohemian: Do you like playing Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath songs more than the others? Ozanix: Just one in Sacramento at On The Y. The rest is history.īohemian: Aside from the Santa Rosa show, how many total Christmas shows this year? By 1994, my current band members just left and did their own thing, so I brought the idea to Steve Smyth and Steve Hoffman (who was already involved), and the team meshed pretty well. In 1992, we had our first tribute show at Uncle Charlie’s (now defunct club in Corte Madera) with Long Gone Bon (AC/DC tribute), and the show went over very well. There were no tribute bands around at that time. People would say I look like Ozzy, and we tried doing a few Sabbath songs, and it fit well. Lance Ozanix: Sweet Leaf started in 1989 with the idea of being a Black Sabbath tribute. Longtime bassist Dave D’Elicio will play their Sacramento Christmas show one week later.īohemian: How many years has Sweet Leaf been around, and how did the project get started? The ultra-talented bassist, Steven Hoffman, from the defunct Esseness Project, rounded out the group. He also teaches guitar to budding students across the globe.ĭrummer Chris Newman played with Intense, one of the largest drawing speed/thrash metal bands in Sonoma County during the late ’80s. He has done countless national and international tours, playing with the likes of Testament, Nevermore, Vicious Rumors, Forbidden, One Machine and Dragonlord. Guitarist Steve Smyth plays in the recently reunited Forbidden. Singer Lance Ozanix still leads Skitzo, one of the first thrash metal acts in the world-the band was formed in 1981-and the very first from Sonoma County. Sweet Leaf features a veritable who’s who of the local metal scene.
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