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THE BAND
- Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
- Tony Iommi - Guitar
- Geezer Butler - Bass
- Bill Ward - Drums
- Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards
CONCERT PHOTOS
None available - if you have any, let me know.
TOUR REVIEWS & REMARKS
The following two images are scans of a Dayton newspaper
article about this concert. Click on either of them for a larger image. Thanks
to Eric Vysther.
From: "Eric Vysther"
<nightwing81@hotmail.com>
Subject: Dayton, Ohio - February 12, 1999
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 10:56:48 PST
Hey gang;
Well, Sabbath has come and gone...and I got a few extra surprises in the deal as well!
My friends Don, Andy & I had arrived at Wright State's Nutter Center a few hours early
- Don is a computer reworks technician and knows the layout of the area very well - not to
mention he has ID, so we could wander about for a while.
Arriving at the building we saw Vinny Appice with his assistant heading for who knows
where...we kept our cool, though - yelling out "VINNY!" at the top of our lungs
would've blown our cover right there!
We spent a good half hour watching the crew set up the stage from an ariel view, and it
was pretty interesting - I am always amazed at how the armies of people can set this rigs
up and knock them back down with almost clockwork precision. UNFORTUNATELY, the security
got annoyed at us and shooed us off, but we didn't mind - we got to see a lot more than a
lot of people ever do...
Taking off the elevator, we nearly run into Tony Iommi & Geoff Nicholls - they are
hurrying off to the stage for soundcheck I suppose, but I do notice him and my friend Andy
notices my jaw drop...rats! That would've been the THIRD time I'd have met him, but you
can't have everything I suppose....
The security finally picks up on what we are up to and promptly throws us out - actually,
the guards really didn't seem to care, but one woman in particular wanted to be a twit and
got another guard, and so on and so on....
After standing in line for a half hour in the bitter cold - the doors opened at 6 PM, but
we still had to stand in line, and adding insult to injury, the wind picked up and it
started to snow! COLD! (This would be pretty typical for mid-February but for two things -
the day before it had been like 75 degrees, and I was wrestling with a nasty case of the
Singapore flu - not good!) I had to laugh when some of the people i was talking with kept
chanting things like "THIS YEAR!" "IT'S SNOWING IN HERE! LET US IN!"
and "BUM RUSH THE SECURITY!" - actually, *I* said that, but never mind....
After getting in - FINALLY! - and getting our seats, Don & I start wandering around,
checking out the seats and souvenirs - $30 FOR A T-SHIRT!?!?! - I pick up 2 tour programs
- $15 a pop - and as we are making our way back to our seats, lo and behold, here comes
Geoff Nicholls!!!
Don & I stopped him and actually get a decent 10/15 minute conversation out of him. (I
had met geoff twice before on the Cross Purposes and Forbidden tours - and, surprise,
surprise! - he recognized me!) he was willing to chat, so I popped him the question of
whether or not Sabbath comes to an end here...his response was that the managers are the
problem not the band - you get 4 managers together and you have all kinds of problems. I
did ask about Tony & Ozzy's relationship as well, and he said that being older now
they can appreciate each other more, 'cos when you're young you want things NOW, etc. He
also said that the press tends to pick your fights for you in these situations...
Don asked him what he does when Sabbath aren't on the road, and he mentioned that he has
done some music on his own and written a few film scripts (!!!!) and the
like..."gotta keep going" as he put it.
I asked him about the mess involved with "The Eternal Idol" and he said that Ray
Gillen essentially felt he could've got a better deal with Blue Murder (w/Cozy, BTW) and
split in the middle of it - then John Sykes found out that Gillen couldn't write and
promptly booted him out! By then, Tony Martin had come into the picture and that was
that...
We let him go after that, though - don't want to be rude. very polite Englishman, as ever.
The show in and of itself:
THE DEFTONES - what rock did they crawl out from under and would they please crawl back
under it? Jeez, they were AWFUL! Like a bad mix of grunge, the Grateful Dead and a bit of
Jimi Hendrix thrown in to make an ugly mess of it - these guys were clueless!
PANTERA - I've see them twice before, and this was definitely the worst of the three - the
band was tight, true, and tunes like "Walk", "A New Level" and
"Becoming" still get my heart pumping - the problem comes down to Phil Anselmo -
this guy needs to shut his mouth, plain and simple - the band could've squeezed in at
least two more songs had they cut this idiot's rambling short. "Eat p*ssy 'til your
jaw breaks" - oh, COME ON! You MORON! His vocals have degenerated into shrieks and
extended shouts and his "macho shithead" stance wore thing VERY quickly...the
only redeemable act he did was to lead the crowd in a chant of "BLACK SAB-BATH! BLACK
SAB-BATH!" with Dimebag Darrell doing a nice take on Iommi's cemetery groan
"Iron Man" intro... Overall, get a new singer, or get Anselmo some therapy!
In between Pantera and Sabbath, a local Dayton radio station, WTUE 104.7 FM, had a
somewhat amusing promo gag happen - a couple were married before the Sabs hit the stage,
and we're brought together by a tattoo artist/pastor who married them by the power vested
in me by "the state of Ohio, WTUE and Black Sabbath..." (oh jeez!) What was
really funny here was that when the Pastor asked if there was anyone who objected to the
wedding, etc. the whole auditorium ROARED! Now, THAT was funny! Bunch of party poopers!
BLACK SABBATH Sabbath's stage set was sparse, but quite gothic, with a huge video screen
dominating the proceedings. The band came on to a brief "history of Sabbath"
video which they used at '97's OzzFest, but bore more weight here as Bill Ward was now in
the band. As the dry ice swirled across the stage, Geezer, Ozzy and Tony rose from under
the floor to a roar of 12,000 fans and erupted into "War Pigs" to the delight of
myself in particular! We all know the set list, so I won't repeat it here...very tight
performance, almost TOO tight - why do people bitch about Bill Ward? The guy was
EXCELLENT, he POUNDED that kit! Ozzy was in fine form as well, his voice strong, jumping
around like a maniac with his infamous leapfrogs and extorting the crowd to "GO
FUCKING CRAZY!" at every opportunity. Tony & Geezer? The Living legends were
flawless, tight and precise - which once again, is my only beef with the show - they are
running like a well oiled machine now, but I happen to like a glitch here and there, just
to let you know that you are watching a band, not a tape machine.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the highlights for me were as follows: "Electric Funeral" was
MASSIVE, just an obliterating wall of sound, AWESOME - "Into the Void", a wall
of guitars, drums and bass that just screamed of their musical power and authority -
"Snowblind" - slow, haunting, melodic with Geoff Nicholl's keyboards adding just
the right icy touch..."Black Sabbath" - the band's signature, as dark and eerie
as ever, tikki torches on stage and all..."NIB", with an awesome frantic solo
from Mr. Butler - the audience actually clapped in time to his offering, by the way, and
he went ever more frantic for it...and of course, the 1-2-3 punch of "Iron Man",
"Children of the Grave" and encore "Paranoid" brought the set to a
great finish.
A couple of points worth mentioning: although it was great to hear "After
Forever" - came off VERY well - and I don't care WHAT the diehards say, "Dirty
Women" SUCKS! - both songs got a negative reaction from the crowd - kind of a
"huh?" look arose on the faces around me. Overall, thought, a very well-timed
crowd pleaser set. After the show, Don, Andy & I managed to slip past security again
and get another arieal view of the stage, and I caught a glimpse of the set list -
"Spiral Architect", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "Lord of this
World" are still on there - hhhmmmmmmmm, wonder who;ll get lucky to hear those again?
Mid set, Ozzy dropped his drawers -LOOK! A FULL MOON! (sic.)- and we got a nice close up
of it on the screen. Actually, he kept his drawers down for a good minute - I laughed so
hard, my glasses fell off of my nose! I've seen Ozzy's butt - my life is complete! (sic)!
Ozzy seemed a bit ill at ease with the Dayton, Ohio crowd - we weren't as loud as say LA
or Chicago, and I got the feeling he felt that they hadn't done their jobs (no complaints
here) - Ozzy also kept reassuring the crowd that they were a great audience as well.
(NOTE: Did the original Sabbath ever play Dayton in their hey-day?If anyone could find
this out I would be grateful!)
Tony played as flawlessly as ever, pacing about, and all smiles, smiles, smiles - he was
genuinely digging this. Geezer was his usual frantic self as well - head swinging like a
Neanderthal, bass licks flying from his fingers. And Bill? Solid as a rock, nothing else
need be said.
Ozzy spent a lot of time clowning around with Tony and Geezer during the show - ESPECAILLY
Geezer - I had no idea what he was doing up there, but Ozzy kept sending Geezer into
hysterical laughing fits!
The video screen was a nice touch - we were in the nosebleed section, but the camera work
was excellent and we could see everything they were all doing - Ozzy is realy good at
making faces for the mood of the song, I'll say that much!
I'll give the show an 8 - I thought it was TOO professional - just TOO damn clean cut! -
and a few songs were missing("Symptom"/"Sabbath Bloody..." in
particular!) but overall, it was great.
Hope I haven't rambled on here too much, but some of this I
just jad to write about...
Later all!
God Bless;
Eric Vysther
"The Man In Black"
Nightwing81@Hotmail.com - TonyIommi32@Yahoo.com TonyIommiJr@Netscape.net
From: "The Brown Family"
<kbrownfamily@home.com>
Subject: Reunion Tour Report
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 10:39:53 -0500
This Being the first Sabbath concert I had been to I was glad to see it lived up to my
expectations. With Pantera (also one of my fav bands) opening, the night was killer.
Sabbath came onto stage dressed in all black like usual, and rose up from underneath the
stage as they blasted into the opening from "War Pigs". The show just got better
from there, Ozzy's voice sounded great even at 50. The entire group never missed a beat.
You know, Ozzy may not be the greatest singer but he's probably the best showman in metal
today, always screaming "I can't hear you" in between songs making sure the
fever pitch in the crowd never died down. During "Black Sabbath" the band had
little lamps lit on fire which added a very eery image to a great song. Then they blasted
to possibly the 3 greatest songs in rock hisory, "Iron Man", "Children Of
The Grave", and "Paranoid". The show was excellent and I should tell anyone
who likes heavy music to go see this show. Gord
SET LIST
War Pigs
Bassically\NIB
Fairies Wear Boots
Electric Funeral
Sweet Leaf
After Forever
Into The Void
Snowblind
Dirty Women
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
Children Of The Grave
Paranoid
( From Joe: Not sure what show this is supposed to be for -
you didn't say! )
From: "SHAWN & DONNA VON DERAU"
<vonderau@bright.net>
Subject: Reunion Tour Report
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 17:37:23 -0500
went to dayton, ohio concert nutter center i am 40 plus so i tolerated def tones and
pantera. many of the younger crowd enjoyed them more than sabbath, guess it just shows
they have no taste. sabbath came on at 10 and played until 11:40. followed the set list as
listed on the other reports. first1/4 of set was good sound quality but not the usual
sabbath intensity. thereafter it did nothing but build to its usual crescendo. ozzy's
voice held up great except for a few measures on children of the grave. rest of the band
played at the quality we have all come to expect from them. comaradere among band members
seemed good. we even got a moon shot from ozzy. hope to catch them next year
vonderau@bright.net
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 10:46:11 -0500
From: mattp <mattp@eastky.net>
Subject: Reunion Tour Report
Friday February 12, 1999. Black Sabbath was in Dayton, Ohio!! The weather was awful, but
proud to announce that an attendance record was set!!!First band was the Deftones(wasn't
there)!! I was there or Pantera fury filled set. Beginning with Domination!!I was 15 feet
from the stage on the left side!!I would say that Pantera rocked, but could have played
more songs if Phil hadn't talked so much about Dope!!!Anyway Around 9:15 They Godfathers
graced the stage being uplifted to the stage(Fucking Awesome).The stage was
amazing,reminding me of an old Cathedral!! The stage was set with the sing along hit
"War Pigs"! Bill ward was on the drums thank God!!!The next tune was the Geezer
Butler highlight of N.I.B. !!Then moved to Faires Wear Boot's !! I was amazed how great
they wear sounding and how well they seemed to be getting along!!Ozzy was (of course)the
ring leader of the laughter on stage!!!They were so to say everything I hoped for in a
live performance!!Considering the fact that I was on the road 7 hours to see this show
!!With no guarentee of tickets!!We were able to get those seats unscalped amazing isn't
it!! Anyway back to the show.I can't remember the whole set in order so here is a list of
the tunes( All not in order)
1. War pigs
2. N.I.B
3. Fairies Wear Boots
4. After Forever
5. Sweet Leaf
6. Electric Funeral
7. Into the Void
8. Dirty Women
9. Snowblind
10. Iron Man
11. Black Sabbath
12. Children of the Grave
Encore
13. PARANOID
This was the best show I have ever been to in my life(so far). Sabbath proved to the world
that they are still the masters of metal!!!! Considering that I am musician, I would like
to tell about each member'sperformance!!!
OZZY
I would have to say that was the best Ozzy has sounded in a long while!! His voice didn't
crack as much as the usual!! And as I said earlier ,he was the ring leader of the stage
jokes!!! Especially towards Geezer!! Overall All I can say is that Ozzy dominated the
show!!
Tony
I have always had respect for Tony Iommi , but it is Deeper now!!! Despite the fact that
he is the Tree of the group!!He made up for it by delivering The riffs from Hell, and
laying those awesome leads!! He was phenomanal!! He was really on top of his game!!!!
Geezer
This was the man I came to see!!You see I am a bass player as well and Love his playing so
just imagine( I was sitting on his side of the stage) Literally laid some of the Fattest
bass licks I have ever heard in my life!!! Rocked his solo before N.I.B. His bass lines
were so thunderous it was jiggling my nuts!!Honest to god,especially during Black
Sabbath!! He was everything I imagined and more!!
Bill
I was praying before the show it was him instead of Vinnie Appice!!! Bill come on stage
and was fucking great , he shocked the hell out of me! After having his promblem and all,
and still played like that!!! I was very proud of Bill Ward for having the courage to play
!! God bless the Mighty Bill ward!!!
Overall
This was the best concert I have ever been to in my Life!! Just amazing! Sabbath was worth
the seven hour trip!! I am proud to say that I seen the Godfathers of what we call Heavy
Metal!!! They were actually getting along !! Tony and Ozzy were laughing together!!! I was
happyier than ever to see that!! The night will Forever be in my mind From Pantera to the
wedding in between and Black fucking Sabbath being what they will always be The Godfathers
Of Metal !!!!!!!!!
Jeremy Chaney
From: "Jessica Singleton"
<gjsingleton@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Reunion Tour Report
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 00:43:29 -0500
Hello. Went to the concert on Feb 12th at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. Let me tell
you, that was THE BEST concert I've been to yet, and I've seen my fair share of bands that
range from Neil Young to White Zombie. I've been to every Ozzfest that came through the
Star Lake Amp. in Pittsburgh, and seen the No More Tours and Retirement Sucks tours also.
Compared to all the other times I had the pleasure to see Ozzy/Black Sabbath in concert,
this one was the best! I've never seen Ozzy put on a show like this. The bandmates were
great also, smiling and laughing with Ozzy. And let me tell you the man has a great ass!
He mooned the crowd and I couldn't believe he had a nice looking ass. Ozzy is wonderful
and I hope to see him until he really is ready to retire. It was a great feeling to see
how many dedicated fans are out there. I don't think anyone was sitting in the entire
arena. 20 Just wanted to share the experience with you. Your page is great.
Jessica Singleton
From: Clhorst@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 21:51:19 EST
Subject: Dayton Show & Tour Program
Saw the show at the Nutter Center in Dayton on 2/12. Won't spend a lot of time repeating
what everyone else says but I have to say this was one of the best shows I have seen
in 15 years. I also must mention that when they performed Black Sabbath words are not able
to describe the magic I felt at that moment. Now a question. We sat in the 3rd row
(believe me, I'm not complaining) and between all the beer & shots Pantera threw plus
the buckets of water Ozzy threw my tour program was trashed by the end of the show. Of
course none were available after the show. If anyone can tell me how to obtain a new one I
would be very appreciative as I really wanted one as a souveneir and even though I did
keep the one I got, it was not in good condition.
Long Live Black Sabbath!
Calvin H÷rst
From: JScha89019@aol.com
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 18:56:05 EST
Subject: Reunion%20Tour%20Report
The show at Dayton Ohio's Nutter Center was phenominal. I had been waiting for just such a
reunion for 19 years. it was real cool seeing the Sabs having a good time together. It was
also cool seeing the younger crowd blown away by a bunch of old fuckers. I don't think
they knew what was coming. there were probably only a few songs i would have loved to seen
them play---it seems they missed Never Say Die, Sabotage, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
altogether---but i can't complain, they did songs i've always wanted to hear live and they
did them all well.
regards
joe
From: E2112Rush@aol.com
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 01:15:00 EST
Subject: Reunion Tour Report Dayton, Ohio Show
The band looked and sound great in Dayton!!!! The only thing I saw was Bill drinking water
after every song, but it was hot as hell in the Nutter Center. I was close enough to see
everyone was playing or singing! NO FAKING OR BACK UP HELP! If you are in one of the
cities postponed again, HOLD ON TO YOUR TICKETS, YOU WON'T BE SORRY!!!! THE SHOW KICKED
ASS!!!! I watched Ozzy singing closely, no straining and he hit the high notes as well as
the low notes. After the first shows were postponed, I was wondering how his voice would
be. Tony looked great, also! The band was having fun and so was the crowd. 13 songs, 2
hours. My favorite song "SWEET LEAF", crowds "BLACK SABBATH".
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