Anderson’s Paramount Theater features vintage hard rock with Thunderstruck: America’s AC/DC Tribute and Sabbath – The Complete Black Sabbath Experience
By: Kevin Vickery
I made my way back to downtown Anderson to the historic Paramount Theater last week to see two tribute acts that perform the music of a couple of my favorite bands growing up. To be honest, I am not typically a big fan of tribute bands, especially when I’ve seen the actual band before and even more so when the original version still currently exists and performs. However, I had heard very good things about Thunderstruck: America’s AC/DC Tribute from their first performance at The Paramount around a year ago so I decided I should check them out.
I’m glad I did.
These guys look and sound exactly like AC/DC, particularly Bobby Lee in the role of Singer Brian Johnson and Kyle LaPato as Angus Young on lead guitar. The rest of the band including Kevin Feller on rhythm guitar, Chris Jones on bass, and fill-in-drummer, Cole Minor all sounded great as well and rounded out the signature sound of AC/DC.
Lee was a dead ringer for Brian Johnson, not in just his vocal style but he also covered every element of Johnson’s signature look. The tweed paper-boy-hat, shoulder length black hair, black muscle shirt, tight blue jeans and even the fist pumping and bent-knee-stance were all in full effect while he screamed his way through the classics like, “Back in Black”, “Dirty Deeds”, “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long”. If you ever watched the AC/DC music videos on MTV from the ‘80s, Thunderstruck’s show was like watching them brought to life.
The real star of their show is 27-year old, Kyle LaPato on lead guitar. If you’re a fan of AC/DC, you know lead guitarist, Angus Young has plenty of signature elements to his on-stage persona and this guy nails them all. He starts the show in the schoolboy uniform, complete with loose tie, shorts, white socks and boots. By mid-show he, in true Angus form is shirtless while perfectly scoot-trotting across the stage, emulating Angus’ signature jumps, and head movements while playing a Gibson SG, matching every guitar solo note for note. The crowd went crazy as he ran through the aisles and up to the balcony during his extended guitar solo during, “Let There Be Rock”. He’s quite the showman and his high-energy performance alone is worth the price of admission.
The show opened with Sabbath – The Complete Black Sabbath Experience whose dedication to replicating the sound and style of heavy-metal pioneers, Black Sabbath was equally accurate. Frontman, Michael Duncan has the voice and look to match Ozzy Osborne to a T. The stutter-step, peace-signs pumping in the air, long, dark hair and round, purple glasses along with his strong vocal performance left me feeling like I was actually watching Ozzy on stage… and I’ve seen the real Ozzy several times.
It also wasn’t lost on me how much guitarist Steve Chrismer matched the look and sound of Black Sabbath’s founding member, Tony Iommi. Bassist, Gregg St Charles and drummer, Les Sharp held down the rhythm section well in their roles of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward respectively.
The crowd stood and jammed along to classics like, “Iron Man” “Snow-blind”, and “Paranoid”. I was impressed that they even took on a couple songs like, “Heaven and Hell” and, “Mob Rules” from the era when Ronnie James Dio was lead vocalist for the band.
Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is one of my favorite songs of all time and the tribute version didn’t disappoint. It’s ironic that the song’s lyrics are as relevant today as they were when it was released in 1970:
“Politicians hide themselves away,
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor.
Time will tell on their power minds.
Making war just for fun,
Treating people just like pawns in chess.
Wait ’till their judgment day comes, yeah!”
All in all, I enjoyed the show very much and would recommend seeing either of these tribute bands if you get a chance. Thunderstruck will be in Indianapolis at Hi-Fi Indy on July 12th with tickets for $15-$20.
Meanwhile, if you want to see the real AC/DC they’re hitting the road this Summer as well but the closest shows are in Nashville TN on May 20th and Chicago, IL on May 24th. Ticket prices range from $125 to well into the thousands.
Sabbath – The Complete Black Sabbath Experience has dates scheduled in around the mid-west throughout 2025 so check their website if you’re going to be traveling and maybe you can catch a show. The actual Black Sabbath will reunite for the first time in twenty years to make their farewell performance at what is said to be Ozzy’s final appearance on stage due to his health issues. The show entitled, “Back to the Beginning” will be held on July 5th at Villa Park in Ashton, Birmingham, England where the band first got their start. The event which is a fundraiser for Parkinson’s research and Birmingham Children’s Hospitals will also feature big name metal acts like Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains and many others. I haven’t seen anything about tickets or prices but admittedly I didn’t look too hard since I don’t suspect I’ll be in England this July.
I spoke with Logan Carpenter from Anderson and got his thoughts on the Sabbath tribute band. “I was totally blown away – they look like Black Sabbath, and the vocalist sounds just like Ozzy. The music and vocals were both great!”
Logan who has seen at least twelve shows at The Paramount Theater added, “It’s a great venue – The sound is superior to other venues this size – I’ve never caught a bad show here”.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Paramount, it sits at 1124 Meridian Street in downtown Anderson. The theater has a rich history since its opening in 1929 and has a beautiful interior appearance that was designed as what is known as an “atmospheric theater” and made to resemble a Spanish Courtyard at night. It has gone through serious renovation throughout the years to keep it alive and thriving and it has most certainly been well worth the effort.
Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working many events there in various capacities including performing there a few times. It’s a super-cool venue and this hard rock tribute show offered a great experience for all metal-heads in attendance.
For more information about events at the Paramount Theater you can check out their facebook page or their official website at: andersonparamount.org
To keep up with Sabbath – The Complete Black Sabbath Experience find them on Facebook or at
reverberation.com/artist/sabbath6
You can also find Thunderstruck: America’s AC/DC Tribute on all social media platforms or visit their official website at:
thunderstruckus.com
Make Some Noise 