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THE BAND
- Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
- Tony Iommi - Guitar
- Geezer Butler - Bass
- Bill Ward - Drums
- Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards
CONCERT PHOTOS
None received yet. If you have any, please email me about them.
TOUR REVIEWS & REMARKS
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 23:58:11 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Cline <clinema@yahoo.com>
Subject: Seattle 12 Jan
Incubus sucked and they knew it.
Pantera rocked. Phil seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the idea of being on tour with
Sabbath.
According to Phil Seattle was the 1st place to have an open floor and a pit. He, as well
as Ozzy, encouraged moshing.
No real surprises from Sabbath. No SBS, SL, nor anything at all from SBS.
The sheer energy and intensity were overwhelming IMO. The crowd was really into it. Ozzy
had us eating from his hand. After every song he wanted noise and got it.
Tony was a bit under the weather apparently but it did not show in his playing and he
smiled an awful lot. Actually it was smiles and yucks all around in abundance I thought.
Bill was spot on! He did look a bit funny in a leotard and a loin cloth with no shirt. He
smiled (and sweated profusely) the whole time. The musicanship was par excellence. Easily
a show that will never be equaled by any other.
On a side note - KISW had a pre-concert party. They gave away a set of frontrow seats to
the winner of a dogfood eating contest, a girl from Vancouver BC.
My neck hurts and I have no voice. Time for bed (and visions of BS dancing in my head)
Oh, I thought the stage looked like a funeral parlour.
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 10:36:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael James <mjames@agora.rdrop.com>
Subject: Seattle Jan 12 (I got my camera in!!)
Hey all, I'm just now getting back from the show last ngiht in Seattle, I stayed with some
relatives of mine in Olympia and just got to school now, so heres a quick review.
I snuck in my Olympus OM2S in with a 35-135mm zoom lens :) I got some really good pictures
of the show and am planning on scanning them within a few days after development. If
anyone taped the show on DAT or is planning on making CD's of it I'd be interested in
trading for a physical set of my pictures.. any takers? I'm not sure if I'm going to
copyright the pictures either, like leave a watermark in Photoshop or something... I'm not
sure if people are going to me stealing them (I generally don't care... but I'm so damn
proud of them... it was really hard sneaking the camera in, almost got caught by the metal
detectors.)
Phil Amselmo (sp?) make some crack about touring up California, I wasnt sure if it was
derogatory or not, but that's what I can infer from the crowd reaction it got, then he
said they stopped off in Portland for some beer (we have many good microbrews in Portland,
very big pub town.)
As for the show, Ozzy's voice cracked a few times during thechorus to NIB, and Bill messed
a drum fill here and there but it wasnt that noticable because the drums were very very
uneven as far as volume is concerned.
Set list:
War Pigs
Bassically/NIB
Faries Wear Boots
After Forever (My personal favorite song of the night)
Electric Funeral
Into The Void
Snowblind
Black Sabbath
Dirty Women
Iron Man
Embryo/Children Of The Grave
Paranoid (Encore)
Did I leave any out? I'm not sure... Electric Funeral was extremely heavy, Tony was tuned
down 1 1/2 steps I'm pretty sure...
It didnt seem like they played very long, maybe 70 minutes total... I was expecting more
for $6 (guess you can't really complain.)
When Ozzy introduced Tony he asked us to make him fell welcome because he's felling a bit
under the weather. (Glad I caught the Seattle show before the postponement)
If you remember on the Reunion cd all the long pauses inbetween songs where Ozzy is saying
Fuck alot and making the crowd go crazy, most likely they do that to give each other time
to cath thier breath, especially Ward, he was getting a very strenous workout.
Lots of confetti at the end, I got pocketloads of it, so if any of you fans in Europe,
South AMerica or Australia want some, send me an email with your address :)
I plan on adding the pictures to my website once thier scanned, so I'll inform you all
when I have them. For the techies out there, I said before Olympus OM2S, 35-135mm Zoom
Lens on 1600speed film, exposed at 1600... should be neat!
I'll update you all once they are developed and scanned.
Michael James
http://www.rdrop.com/~mjames/
http://www.rdrop.com/~mjames/sabbath/
Ed Note: Mike also has more here: http://www.rdrop.com/~mjames/sabbath/01-12-99.html
From: "David Rostowsky"
<davidr@pacaccess.com>
Subject: The Seattle show
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 17:57:35 -0800
Just wanted to let you know about the Seattle show that I saw last night. Incredible!
Excellent! Awesome! My ears are still ringing right now almost 24 hours later. Very loud
but clear sound. Ranks right up there as one of the best concerts Ive ever seen. Of
course, Im totally biased as Sabbath is my all time favorite band. I will say Ozzy couldnt
hit any of the high notes. He struggled with NIB and Snowblind. However, everyone was
singing so loud that he got drowned out at times. The rest of the band sounded tight and
fantastic. They basically played the Reunion album with 2 exceptions. They substituted
After Forever for Behind The Wall Of Sleep, and left out Sabbath Bloody Sabbath all
together. After Forever was very cool. Perfect duplication of the original! Too bad the
800,000 evalengists outside didnt hear those lyrics. I finally figured out why the band
always said they were better live! Ozzy had a hilarious moment when one girl exposed
herself for the jumbo video screens in between a song. Ozzy points directly at her and
says, "What the f**k is that?!!"
Anyway, great web site. Keep the news coming! For years I was in the dark as to what these
guys were up to.
Later,
Dave Rostowsky
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 21:26:53 -0800
From: Scott/Heather Curtis <shcurtis@home.net>
Subject: Seattle Jan 12
What a fabulous time. Set list as discribed by others.
I ended up with complementary tickets from the local ROCK station KISW. Thanks folks!
I went to the show with my younger sister, 28 and her fiance. We were two rows off the
floor (packed - general admission) and our view was great. Largest mosh pit I've seen
ever? The guy next to me and his brother warmed up for Sabbath in Seattle in '73 - Sweaty
Hog. They were pumped!
Ozzy had the crowd going - he is truely a showman - but, Iommi is the MAN. He had me
jumping in place a great deal of the show. I've seen lots of shows since I was 12. This is
near the top. This is history. Wow.
I wish I could quit my job and just do the tour with the band.
All who attended were satisfied. On the only downer note, I saw at least 3 people get
mobbed by security on the floor. Not sure why, very strange.
Joe, have I missed your story of how you were introduced to Sabbath? You do great work.
Cheers from the Emerald City!
Crowd goes crazy over Black Sabbath (This originally appeared
here: http://www.seattletimes.com/news/entertainment/html98/blak_011399.html
)
by Patrick MacDonald
Seattle Times staff critic
We bad! We bad! We may be middle-aged but we still bad!
Black Sabbath is like Halloween. The classic heavy-metal band conjures up all kinds of
macabre and gory images in its songs, and tries hard to shock, but still manages to be
nothing but fun, fun, fun.
"Do you realize it's been 20 years since I played with these guys?" Ozzy
Osbourne asked the crazed capacity crowd during a rare moment of sanity. "Do you
realize it's been 30 years since we started this thing?"
Thirty years on, and the reunited Sabbath can still ignite a frenzy among its fans, which
last night ranged from teenagers to bald guys with paunches. There were actually quite a
few dads with their sons (now that's scary!).
Down on the general-admission main floor, you never saw such wild slam-dancing, moshing
and crowd-surfing. I witnessed four serious fist fights, at least a dozen belligerent
people hauled off by security, and one girl go topless. And I was trying to pay attention
to the concert!
Up on stage, Osbourne looked better than he has in years. He's slimmed down considerably,
and he obviously was enjoying himself, as he urged the crowd to make noise, raise their
hands in the air and "go crazy."
But his voice sounded cracked and strained at times, which he blamed on a flu bug. He said
at the beginning of the set that guitarist Tony Iommi was "not feeling good, but your
love will help him keep going." And it apparently did, because he played his
signature solos superbly on every song. But he looked pale, moved little and kept his long
black leather coat on during thetwo-hour set.
After a film of career highlights played on the three video screens, the band emerged via
trap doors from under the smoke-filled stage and launched into "War Pigs," with
the crowd lustily trading verses with Osbourne.
The set hardly let up all night, with one pounding song after another. "N.I.B."
gave Osbourne the most trouble vocally, but he sounded better on the dirge-like
"Electric Funeral," and was his old self on an intense "Into the
Void," a multi-rhythmed "Snowblind" and a growling "Iron Man."
The band's signature tune, "Black Sabbath," opened with the usual gongs and
concluded with nine huge flaming torches and booming fireworks. "Children of the
Grave" had even more intense pyrotechnics. The encore, "Paranoid," turned
the place out, with the crowd roaring as tons of streamers and confetti blanketed the
hall.
From: Mitch Goldman <mitchgo@microsoft.com>
Subject: Reunion Tour Report
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:29:56 -0800
here's my brief review of the seattle show from 1/12/99.
Mitch
_________________
OK, first the slightly bad or disappointing news...
apparently the band have been dropping tunes from the set since the first two shows.
So, by last night, the set has gone from 20 songs in LA to 12 songs here. Apparently one
or two songs have been dropped, incrementally, at each show. So EIGHT of the tunes from
shows 1 and 2 are gone, including Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sweet Leaf.
If I had known this before the show it would have been less disappointing;the set clocks
in at exactly 90 minutes, which is fine and plenty long for me. I was just expecting some
other tunes.
now, the rest is totally great news. despite poor reviews earlier in the tour, the
performance was EXCELLENT. Ozzy sounded fine (a little strained at times but otherwise
great), Bill now sounds like a great jazz drummer, and Geezer and Tony were awesome.
I got to my great seat at 8:10 (great cause the crowd was sedate and pleasant, the seat
had a great view from Geezer's corner, and it was an isolated little box section with its
own bathrooms!). Pantera had gone on at 8. They sounded good as usual...no different from
the last time I saw them (four and a half years ago) but fine anyway. Phil has grown his
hair out again. They did two songs from Trendkill who's names escape me; Fucking Hostile;
Primal Concrete Sledge; This Love; and Cowboys from Hell to end the set, with lots of
Sabbath teases. Phil's banter was both idiotic and offensive as usual.
Sabbath's stage setup looked like a room in an ornate castle; cool ornate vases and
torches that shot flames; dragons on Bill's double bass drumheads; lights around the apron
of the stage. A HUGE setlist was taped in front of Ozzy's mic, large enough for the whole
band to read (and certainly containing tunes that weren't played, from the length of the
list).
At 9:13 the lights went down and a compilation film of Sabbath showed on the video screens
(one each side of the PA, and a big one over the stage with an ornate carved frame around
it). couple minutes later, with the
stage filled with smoke, Bill appeared behind the drums and the other three ROSE
FROM UNDERNEATH the stage on platforms. All were dressed in black ("hey Ozzy,
it's slimming!") Ozzy looked great, slim, and did his trademark leaps in the
air all set. After his first "lemme see your FUCKING HANDS" (he only said
that 1000 times!) Bill started the countoff to War Pigs....and from there I had one
big grin on my face for the next 90 minutes. Everyone played just *amazing*; Tony's
solos were perfect (he really stretched out on "Into the Void"), Geezer
sounded great and Bill transformed from a heavy drummer to a jazzy, swinging
percussionist. The crowd went nuts all night (whole place was filled to the
rafters). At the end of War Pigs, flames shot out of the vases and torches.
Ozzy ran around all night, throwing buckets of water on the crowd, exhorting us to
sing along, throwing his hands up in the air, and screaming his trademark "I
love YOU ALL!".... Ozzy really is an honest-to-god Rock Star! You can't take
your eyes off him, and his mock sinister glares (a big part of "Black Sabbath")
are belied by his sheer joy of singing these tunes.
At the end of Paranoid, huge flames shot in all directions and confetti and paper
explosions blew out over the crowd on both sides of the stage. Ozzy said "get
home safely, cause we're gonna come back later this year to KICK YOUR ASS
AGAIN!!!". All four bowed as one, arm in arm, and "Changes" played
through the sound system as the house lights went on.
A fantastic and huge performance, despite the winnowing of the setlist. I guess I'm
not overly surprised; they have to pace themselves at this age! (I think they should do
Sabbath or Sweet Leaf in place of Dirty Women, but that's a minor nitpick).
Setlist (9:13-10:45):
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
After Forever
Electric Funeral
Into the Void
Snowblind
Dirty Women
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Encore:
Paranoid
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