Having bought tickets back in November ’12, it seemed like a long wait. But finally, May 1 rolled around and it was time to rock out with the Sabbs! We headed to Rod Laver Arena from all points, and rendezvoused as the support act (Shihad) were taking the stage. We took our seats and watched the support for a bit. it’s hard to get excited about a band you know nothing about, but it was filling till the main event.
Once they finished, the house lights came on, and a thin curtain was drawn across the stage. Soon, red lights started flashing, air raid sirens went off, and Ozzy’s silhouetted figure could be seen, cackling maniacally, as the Sabbs launched into their opening number, War Pigs! This was performed as a response, Ozzy would sing the first line, then the audience would respond with the second line...and so on. It was grouse, and a good way to get the crowd going.
The experience was awesome, as the band pumped out song after song from their back catalogue.....Into The Void, Snow-blind, Under The Sun, Iron man, Electric Funeral, Dirty Women and so on. A few tracks off the new album were infused into the song list, but admittedly they didn't really hit the mark as very few people have heard any of the new stuff!
The stage show was great. A big screen behind the stage showed close ups of the band, and during some songs, displayed bizarre, ‘drug infected’ images that were interesting to say the least! Plenty of lighting effects kept the stage looking wild all night.
Much of this concert focused on Ozzy, and how he would perform. To be honest, the fact that this 64-year-old, front man can still take the stage, defies logic! Given the amount of pharmaceuticals that have entered his (and the others) body, it’s surprising that he can actually stand! That said, Ozzy was brilliant! He held all his notes and didn't miss a line, although he was reading from an auto-que. His ‘old-man’ shuffle across the stage was amusing (if not a little sad), and his infrequent ‘cuckoo’ calls between songs kept us amused. Almost every song was punctuated with a “I can’t f@#%ing hear you!” to which the crowd responded every time. He has maintained his unearthly wail after all these years, and I was stoked to see and hear him live.
But what is Black Sabbath without guitarist Tony Iommi, the man responsible for so many classic, epic riffs? Tony is truly awesome, and in my opinion, the epitome of cool! He doesn't strut around, there’s no high jumps or theatrics, just a man with a battle-scarred Gibson SG, pounding out riff after riff after riff. On the other side of the stage was bassist Geezer Butler, hammering away on the tracks he wrote, and providing Ozzy with most of the eerie lyrics he got to sing.
Half way into the set, ring-in drummer Tommy Clufetos (Rage Against The Machine) unleashed a brilliant drum solo, to give the veterans a chance for a quick cuppa and a lie down. I’m not normally a big fan of drum solos, but this was good, damn good.
A few more songs and the band made their usual exit from the stage, with mock “good-byes” and “we love you alls”. Everyone, except Ozzy that is. He stayed in the back corner, microphone in hand, chanting “one more song, one more song” until the crowd took it up and the boys came back. Instruments back in hand, they started the opening riff into Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, however the quickly changed into Paranoid and the house went off! Arguably the best known Sabbath song brought the whole crowd to their feet, head-banging in unison to the classic, metal anthem. It was Heaven (or Hell)!
So, to sum it up, I had a ball. Made even better by the fact that I got to share it with good friends and my daughter, whose education is now complete! I was lucky enough to see Black Sabbath mk2 (Iommi, Butler, Dio, Appice) a few years ago and now I’ve seen (almost) the original line up. Bill Ward didn’t play for contractual/managerial reasons, which was really sad, but that’s rock and roll. Anyway, I can now die a happy man!
