Santa Rosa heavy metal concert raises funds for cancer research

About 200 metal heads packed Barrel Proof Lounge in downtown Santa Rosa on Dec. 9 to ring in the holidays and support groups fighting cancer at longtime local Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne tribute band Sweet Leaf’s annual Christmas concert.

The show marked the nearly 30-year-old band’s first live show since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It raised $1,500 that will equally benefit Bay Area-based Strides For Life Colon Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society, according to Sweet Leaf guitarist and guitar teacher Steve Smyth.

For Smyth, the cause was a deeply personal one. His wife of 15 years, Niki, died in December 2022 after a three-year battle with a rare form of colon cancer.

“It felt really appropriate to give back a little bit to folks going through similar things my wife did,” Smyth said.

Sweet Leaf played alongside friends and fellow tribute rockers Head Rush, a Rush tribute band, and Age Against the Machine, who cover Rage Against the Machine’s catalog.

In addition to rocking out, the enthusiastic crowd at the show also participated in a raffle for high-end music gear from companies and local businesses, including Jackson Guitars, which donated a Rhoads flying-V guitar named after Osbourne’s guitarist Randy Rhoads.

Santa Rosa’s D’Argenzio Winery — co-owned by Rhoads’ sister, Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio — also donated bottles of its Randy Rhoads tribute cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc.

Tickets to the show were $15 to $20. Raffle tickets went for $1, or 20 tickets for $25.

Sweet Leaf’s annual Christmas concert, which began in 2010, started raising funds for local causes, including wildfire and homelessness relief, in 2017.

Smyth said he ultimately wants to start his own cancer-research foundation in Niki’s name.

For more information, go to stevesmyth.com.