Rest In Peace OZZY

  Hearing the sad news of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne this afternoon, really hit me, more than I had expected. Ozzy has been a part of my life since I was 13 years old hearing his solo material and Black Sabbath albums. Diary Of A Madman being my favourite solo album and then the Sabbath catalog, liked them all, but Volume 4 always hit me hard. I'm happy that Ozzy was able to pull off the Back To The Beginning show a few weeks ago.

 I'm sure every metal head and punk has an Ozzy story. Here is mine.

 My very first chance to see Ozzy in concert was June 30th, 1986 on his Ultimate Sin Tour with of all band opening Metallica. I was a huge Metallica fan and really liked the Ultimate Sin album. Actually it was the last solo album of his I really was into. Talk about an awesome double bill. But the scheduled show at Northlands Coliseum on June 30th, 1986 got canceled, talk about being bummed out.

 My next try at seeing Ozzy in concert was on June 8th,, 1996 on his Retirement Sucks Tour which was for his solo album Ozzmosis. Well at that time I found myself broke and not able to afford or get tickets. I remember it being on a Saturday and being really disappointed that I wasn't going to the show. Therefore, I spent the day drowning my sorrows and wishing I was going to the big Ozzy show. Much to my surprise, my buddy good buddy Geddy (RIP) shows up at my place around 5 in the afternoon with a pair of tickets to the show, last row on the floor, but who cared, we were going. Talk about being excited, but drunk too. Regardless, we were going to see the mighty Ozzy in concert. A few beers in my basement suite and then a few more at The Forum across the street from Northlands Coliseum. And, then we score some acid at the bar, well we didn't need that, but we did it anyways. Now we're primed for the show. Missed the opening act, which was Filter, no big deal, we were having fun at the peeler bar. But we got to our seats in time for Ozzy. I remember before Ozzy coming on they were showing clips of Ozzy on a big screen behind the stage that were hilarious and had the crowd pumped. And then the lights went down and Ozzy came on stage yelling "let's go fucking crazy!". I believe they opened with a Sabbath song, but I can't be sure. And then, I woke up at home the following morning with an Ozzy ticket stub in my pocket and no recollection of what happened. Apparently I got kicked out by the second song. Embarrassing yes, shitty yes, but an Ozzy memory nonetheless.

 It wasn't until July 6th, 1999, that I got to see Ozzy in concert again, and this time with the original Black Sabbath line up headlining Ozzfest in Vancouver at Thunderbird Stadium. What a fucking amazing show it was!

 Next time I got to see Ozzy live was  April 22nd, 2014 again with Black Sabbath in Edmonton at Rexall Place. This too was a impressive performance. here are a few pictures I took at that show.

Black Sabbath 2014.

 The Final time I saw Ozzy was March 2nd, 2016 with Black Sabbath again at Rexall Place in Edmonton. For this show I got row 2 on the floor the day of the show. Another fucking great show. Here are some pictures I took at that show.

Black Sabbath 2016.

 I am very thankful that I did get to see Ozzy a few times in concert. all three times were with Sabbath, which is cool, but kind of with I had seen him solo too, but I blew that chance. Thanks for the memories Ozzy and the music which will live on forever. You not only influenced musicians of all genres, but you also made a lasting impression on your fans. You did make a difference. Thanks Ozzy. May you Rest In Peace. 

July 20th

 My ticket stub from the Kim Mitchell and The Pursuit Of Happiness show I saw on July 20th, 1990 at Northlands Agricom in Edmonton.

July 19th

 It was on July 19th, 2012 while on holidays in Newfoundland, I was in Corner Brook visiting when I saw that the Edmonton band Slates were playing the White Horse Lounge there. Well, I wasn't going to miss that. Very cool to see an Edmonton band that I really like in a place like Corner Brook.

Modest Mouse Live in Edmonton July 3rd 2025

 Holy shit Modest Mouse in Edmonton at the Jubilee Auditorium, this was a must see show for me, as I had never seen them before. So who better to ask to go to this show with than my buddy A-Bomb who likes the weird stuff as much as myself.

 I was a big fan of Modest Mouse, especially between 2004-2007 with the two albums released in them years Good News For People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Talk about great album titles. And the music on these two albums are phenomenal. Though they have five other albums out, these are the ones I was familiar with. The weeks leading up to the show, I started checking out the others, and one I really liked was the 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica, especially the song "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes".

 We got to the venue right on time as I never saw a listing for an opening band and we didn't want to miss any of the show. Well, there did end up being an opening band. And that band was called The Vaudevillian out of Ontario, a husband and wife team. When they first hit the stage and started playing, I thought this might be interesting, kind of a jug band hillbilly kind of vibe. The lady who sang also played a washboard with bells and such on it, and the husband played acoustic guitar. They mentioned their songs were all about sex and drinking, ok, that's cool. Well, by the third song, this act got old real fast. All the songs sounded the same and her voice grated on me sounding more like a cat meowing and in heat then actual singing, and there in between song banter was stupid. This was bad and I mean real bad. I have no idea how they got on this bill, but they certainly didn't belong. This was a very long and boring half hour set.

The Vaudevillian.

 It was now time for Modest Mouse, and after the opening band, I was super excited to see the main act. Having never seen Modest Mouse before, I wasn't sure what to expect. The months leading up to the show I got reacquainted with their music. Still not good with the song titles, but man, they put together some amazing albums. very produced weird intricate kind of music.

 But when Modest Mouse came onstage, a six piece band led by founding member Isaac Brock who plays lead guitar ,sings and writes the lyrics. Opening with the song "Parting Of The Sensory" from the album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, I actually knew the title of the first song, yay for me! What caught me right off the bat was how loud and rocking the band was. And this went on through the whole show, this was the loudest show I have ever heard at the Jubilee Auditorium. And they were way more rocking then I had expected, which was cool by me. I was surprised that they played the song "Float On" so early in the set, third or fourth song. And yes they played the song I most wanted to hear "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes" and holy fuck did it rock, so good. Another song that I knew the title to was "Fly Trapped In A Jar". I recognized most of the songs but couldn't tell you the titles, but man what a great show this was. A way more rocking loud show then was expected. Good times!!!

Modest Mouse.

T-shirt front.

Back.

July 17th

  The Jeff Healey Band at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton on July 17th, 1989, so glad I got to see this show.

July 16th

  July 16th, 1999 I was in Vancouver to see Ozzfest at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. I got to see the original line-up of Black sabbath with a shit load of other bands such as Slayer, Primus, System Of A Down, Rob Zombie, Slipknot and bunch of others.

July 15th

 

  This was an awesome time. July 15th, 1995 myself a van full of buddies made our way to High River, Alberta for the traveling Tragically Hip tour called Another Roadside Attraction. And what a line-up, headlining was The Hip of course, others on the bill were Ziggy Marley, Spirit Of the West, Blues Traveler, Matthew Sweet, Rheostatics, Eric's Trip and The Inbreds. Good times!!!

July 14th

  It was on this day July 14th, 2011 that I saw The Tragically Hip headline an outdoor show on the Northlands Grounds in Edmonton with opening acts Broken Social Scene and Hey Rosetta!