Wednesday night I was off to see Black Sabbath play here in Edmonton. This was my third concert in six days, and all the bands I saw were British bands. This was my third time seeing the Ozzy led Black Sabbath in concert. This date was the make-up date for the show that was cancelled a few hours before show time at the end of January, when Ozzy was diagnosed with sinusitis. Didn't take long for them to reschedule, thank goodness. As this is the last time Black Sabbath will be touring, hence why the name of this tour is called The End. I was really stoked about this show as I scored row 2 on the floor for this show a week before the show. I haven't had a good seat for a big rock n' roll concert in a long time.
Opening the show was Long Beach, California band Rival Sons. I had never heard the band before this show, and have to say I thought they were quite good. Lead singer Jay Buchanan can scream like no other. Their sound is a mix of heavy heavy Led Zeppelin and a heavy Alice In Chains, kind of a classic rock sound but refreshing. I'm not too sure about the crowd reaction, as it's hard to tell when your in row 2 and would have to turn around to see what's going on. But I know the people around me seemed to be getting off on them. Before they started the stands weren't very full but by the time they were done they had filled up quite a bit. Their guitar player Scott Holiday had a cool stage presence and was very good on the guitar. All and all a pretty decent half hour opening set from Rival Sons.
Rival Sons at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
After a short break it was time for the mighty Black Sabbath. Again on this tour The End it was three original members Ozzy, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler but sadly no Bill Ward, filling in for him was Tommy Clufetos who plays in Ozzy's solo band.
The show started with the song Black Sabbath which was fucking awesome, Ozzy looked like he was still battling some illness, as between verses he would cough and head to the bucket by the drums and spit in the bucket and drink some tea and water. He did ths a few times during the first two songs. Could have just been an itch in his throat because as the show went on he seemed to come around and wasn't coughing. I thought Ozzy sounded pretty damn good on vocals. But who really stole the show was Tony Iommi, but then maybe it was just because for an hour and a half he stood no more then ten feet away from me playing all the classic metal riffs that I grew up on, just amazing to be that close and watch him play. Geezer on bass held it together as he always does, some of them bass riffs are so intricate and heavy.
I really liked the setlist for this years tour more then the last time I saw them less then two years ago. Playing half a dozen songs from the classic 1970 Sabbath album Paranoid. They didn't do any songs from their last release 13, which was fine by me as all I really wanted to hear were the classics, I we definitely got that. The song Snowblind was a favorite for me, but there really wasn't a bad song in the set. Also it was cool to see that the band looked to be having fun on stage, as during the song War Pigs, Ozzy fucked up a bit with the words and you could see Tony and Ozzy looking at each other smiling and laughing. So nice to see a band just being human, fuck up and all, just a band fucking jamming it out. No super fancy light show, they did have a huge screen behind them, but other then that just a great heavy metal show. They closed out the show this time with the encore of Paranoid. An awesome show and worth every penny. Good times!!!
One more thing, to the asshole behind me somewhere on the floor, are you fucking stupid. You throwing your 50 dollar Sabbath lithograph poster that came in a hard shell cardboard tube could have been very dangerous. Luckily it only hit me in the shoulder and deflected off me and hit the guy next to me in the face. Thankfully no damage done, but it could have been a whole lot worse. What made me laugh was when the tube did hit the floor in front of me, the guy that picked it up and opened it and saw that the poster was still in it, turned around and held it in the air and thanked the asshole for the free poster. When the show was done, who shows up but the guy that the poster belonged to, asking for it back. Buddy that had the tube now, a fairly big guy, told the asshole to fucking beat it. I thought something might breakout, but nothing happened, buddy just walked away grumbling.
Black Sabbath setlist for the Edmonton show.
Black Sabbath at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
T-shirt front.
T-shirt back.
Limited Edition CD only available at the show, featuring for live songs and four songs from the 13 album sessions.
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