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THE BAND
- Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
- Tony Iommi - Guitar
- Geezer Butler - Bass
- Bill Ward - Drums
- Adam Wakeman - Keyboards
SET LIST (Sweet Leaf was
dropped)
- War Pigs
- N.I.B.
- Fairies Wear Boots
- Into the Void
- Black Sabbath
- Snowblind
- Iron Man
- Children of the Grave
- Paranoid (w/ Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath intro)
CONCERT PHOTO GALLERY
You can view the photo gallery for this concert
here.
FAN SUBMITTED TOUR REVIEWS & REMARKS
From: Steven Burg
Subject: 7/16 PNC REVIEW for site
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:46:04 EDT
I have photos and ticket stub and i will send
them later. Feel free to use this review on your site
BLACK SABBATH 7/16 REVIEW
I am not a middle aged Black Sabbath fan. I do not simply enjoy Sabbath
shows because it reminds me of the way the band was in their â??prime.â??
I am 17 years old and I go to concerts to see great shows. I have seen
virtually every recent band live, some horrible, some great. Last night
Black Sabbath surpassed them all.
The band was simply excellent. Ozzy is back and better than ever. He
looked so happy and into the music. The charisma is there. The jumping,
head banging and chants of â??I canâ??t fucking hear youâ?? so familiar to
Ozzy fans were prevalent throughout the show. Ozzy sounded great too. He
hit all the difficult notes with seeming ease such as the breakdown in nib
and the War Pigs intro. As far as flubbing lyrics not once did I notice
any mistakes. And if Ozzy was reading from the teleprompter at all it was
not noticeable (I was 8th row center so I think I would notice).
The rest of the band sounded great as well. I am not a drummer but to me
Bill Ward sounded right on the money. Geezer was maniacally thumping away
at his bass just as he always has through the years. Guitar god Tony Iommi
was incredible. He has added some variations to the songs to make them
sound heavy and fresh while still remaining true to their classic sound.
He played extended leads for many of the songs last night which was great
to hear. The man is simply awesome.
I make a plea to Sharon Osbourne to never again schedule a tour with
constant back to back dates but rather to book tours like this one with at
least a day in between each performance. Last year Ozzy was too sick to
play my Ozzfest date (the third day of back to back shows) and cancelled
his performance. Other times I have seen him on stage looking absolutely
miserable and exhausted and I never want to see him like that again,
especially knowing that if certain people would be reasonable with his
tour schedule Ozzy can still give unbelievable performances.
So that was Sabbath. I have read other reviews of this tour that say Ozzy
was off key, or the band didnâ??t sound right. Maybe the band was slightly
off at other shows or perhaps these people are simply out of their fucking
minds. All I know is that last night Sabbath was on. After all these years
the sabs are still worthy of their reign as the undisputed gods of heavy
metal.
ALL RIGHT NOW!
By Steven Burg
From: Robert Murin
Subject: ozzfest 7-16-04 holmdel nj
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:56:57 -0400
briefly--with my ears still ringing from
the sonic assault that was Sabbath last night-Tony's guitar was just so
thick and powerful-Ozzy looked,acted and sounded great-Geezer was rock
solid as always-but Bill Ward was absolutely fucking amazing-playing,
pounding, with Power and a purpose-an unforgettable performance.
From: Lady Evil
Subject: Holmdel,N.J. 7/16/04 Black Sabbath review
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 12:18:09 EDT
Holmdel,New Jersey.
Tonight's setlist (the obvious missing song is sweat leaf)
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
Into the Void
Black Sabbath
Snowblind
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath intro
Paranoid
Tonight's show started off a bit unusual,lights dimmed & the crowd began
screaming as Ozzy walked onstage covered in dark blue light's & began
revving the crowd up running back & forth across the stage,it worked as
his demands that the audience get up & go fucking crazy were politely
obliged.
Then the "Pre show montage" began,A nicely put together collage of Sabbath
press photo's,candid's,live shots, & magazine cover's were flashed on the
video screens as a soundtrack of classic Sabbath riffs fueled the audio.
Ozzy continued rousing the crowd as this video drew to a close w/scenes
from the movie Black Sabbath & a womans screams! the video screen's went
black & the band got thing's going w/an awesome version of War Pigs. The
band kicked in so hard & heavy it was inspiring! Geezers arms flailing
wildly,Ozzy running about & Bill Hitting the drums so hard it was spine
tingling,Mr.Ward even stood up for a few very fast drum fills ala Keith
Moon! & Tony Iommi just forcing the riffs from his s.g.-The video screens
were filled w/images of Viet Nam & WW 2 fighter pilots as well as Hitler &
nazi marches Etc.during the song.
At the end of War Pigs the guys put the finishing touches on a brilliant
version w/a Sabbath ending & Bill adding his "Bonham style" fills @ the
end inspiring Tony & Geezer to walk towards the drumriser smiling wildly!
And to that Impressive ending of War Pigs came a very unimpressive
begining to N.I.B. no bass solo or Geezer on the wah wah pedal just 1-2-3-
song starts! I feel this is a let down to many fans who love Geezer's
playing as much as anyone else in the band & love his classic bass solo @
the beggining of the song,most consider it a part of the song N.I.B.
myself included,during which the video screens showed a goofy 3 part image
of Ozzy surrounded by skulls.
After N.I.B. (another attention getting ending for Ward) Ozzy picked up a
large bottle of water atleast a quart,& threw it into the crowd even that
makes the crowd go nuts.
Ozzy then introduces the song "Fairies Wear Boots"which the band pulls off
flawlessly! really energetic,Bill & Geezer really hold the song down while
Tony does his odd jazz like playing over their ultra heavy rhythm
section,another awesome song pulled off w/Ozzy jumping up & down & head
banging tto this oddly timed sabbath classic.they seem to be on a roll by
this point & congrats to whoever pulled the silly video that had been
playing over video screens during this song the 1st three shows of San
Fran tranvestites during the 70's! getting in & out of cabs & posing for
the camera,really stupid,& insulting any Sabbath fan knows the song was
written about skinheads.
"Into The Void" another classic master riff unveiled for the crowd &
everyone's including ozzy's performance was great! & obscure enough to
please even the most diehard sabbth fans like me! another perfect song! &
boy heavy! "Black Sabbath" started by Ozzy simply counting 1-2-3 over &
over & getting the crowd to scream & going on about New Jersey being great
& so on & so on,then the rain thunder & tolling bell,& the majestic power
& beauty of the doom masterpiece,this one was a spine tingler w/Bill's
emotional build-ups & the power of this song when it kicks in,& the crowd
just freaks when Ozzy laughs his evil laugh in the slow part.I swore Bill
was gonna put his foot right through that bass drum as he stomped a fill
just before the song kicks new meaning to the word heavy.
As excitment died down a bit & everyone caught their breath,Ozzy returned
w/"I can't fucking hear you" several times to an ocean of ciggarette
lighters he introduced "Snowblind" which was another awesome trip to
yesteryear w/the boys belting it out like no tommorow,Tony Iommi's wah
induced solo was truley the icing on this portion of the cake,while Ozzy
seemed like he had found some "snow" running about arms in the air like we
haven't seen in quite some time.while visions of Al Pacino's snowblind
Tony from Scarface covered the video screen @ P.N.C. Center.
As Ozzy simply repeated Hey-Hey-Hey! w/the bass drum over & over we knew
it was time for "Iron Man" which as many times as we've heard it before
there is something about the original band playing that song (especially
at the end) it's still powerful & impressive a real classic! & it builds
up & up until they stop on a dime.
Afterwards Ozzy returned front & center to urge the crowd to chant "One
More Song!" & ofcourse we'll do one more if you go fucking crazy.As well
as "I can't fucking hear you" well over ten times. That segued into
"Children Of The Grave" which is still one of the best song's ever
written,so dark & unusual a "Sabbath signature" if ever there was one.&
like the song "Black Sabbath" Bill Is the only drummer who plays the song
correctly. (meaning the song retains it's original energy! it is often
dead in the water w/out Bill's rolling death march) the video screens did
flash some shots of tombstones & crosses during this song,now isn't that
impressive? after a very impressive delivery from everyone,& another
impressive ending the band took about 10 seconds before Tony Iommi
returned to the stage w/his trademark gibson s.g.(he was actually playing
the tony iommi model for most of this show,not the custom jb s.g.'s that
he has so many of)
Tony kicks in the riff intro of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" & the crowd goes
nut's,they like me want to hear this song,but as the band kicks in plays
the 1st verse it's over before it began,& here comes "Paranoid" we know
they have to right?? well they do regardless & Ozzy gets the crowd going
one last time the grand finale! A really energetic performance by a
legendary band & awesome audience a fitting end to a wonderful show.
& as a fitting visual to the bombastic ending fireworks go off if the
distance.as Ozzy says goodnight & see you next time! & we are left to
wonder next time? It was hard watching this group of childhood friends
that invented a type music knowing that a little over a month ago Mike
Borden was announced as drummer for this very tour!,& to know something
truly evil pulls @ the strings of Sabbath these days,greed & control,by a
woman that's used to being in control of every aspect of everything around
her. Geezer states in the new issue of bassplayer magazine:"Playing w/Bill
there is a natural chemistry that no amount of rehearsal can produce"
translation-no matter how many hours are spent rehearsing w/another
drummer there is only one person born to play drums in Black Sabbath &
that's Bill Ward.
but lucky for me the greed monster was staved off atleast this year & I
got to watch the original Black Sabbath... drummer & all & it was
wonderful.
Lady Evil
From: Mark Storton
Subject: Ozzfest 2004 pnc NJ review
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 12:27:15 -0400
OK, I gotta say I was blown away by sabbs.
Those of you that didnt go to the pnc gig missed an amazing evening. The
pnc is an amazing little venue and sabbs totally rocked it out.I m a huge
sabbs fan have been for years. Im from england and moved to the US in 93
to go to college here. I have seen ozzy numerous times but never the
original sabbs and so for me to see the original and best line up was a
dream come true. I have never seen the pnc so full before, even the lawn
was packed. The sound was loud clear and awesome , the set list great but
short (down to old age maybe?) and the arena was literally shaking from
the 15th row center ( i snuck in from the right front orchestra) when
black sabbath the song was playing.
Amazing
Mark Storton aka Exiled Yorkie
From: Larry Podoshen
Subject: review for 7/16 - PNC Arts Center
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:40:20 -0700 (PDT)
I was at the Ozzfest show in Jersey last
night - it was a great show. Fortunately, there wasn't any of the
Bush/Hitler stuff I read about for previous shows - just a short video
montage of random Black Sabbath pictures and album covers, ending with a
clip of the old Black Sabbath movie. The set list was the same as the
other nights - even down to the "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" encore tease.
Same for Judas Priest, who were also great.
Slayer was good too - much better than in '99. They did ten songs -
starting with God Hates Us All and ending with Raining Blood. In between
were (I don't remember the order): War Ensemble, Die By The Sword,
Payback, Mandatory Suicide, Chemical Warfare, South Of Heaven, Dead Skin
Mask, and a real fast one I'm not sure of (maybe Dittohead?).
From: Diego Pivoz
Subject: Ozzfest 2004 - PNC Holmdel NJ July 16
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:32:12 -0400
Well, that day came when I finally saw
Black Sabbath with Ozzy....I think that makes it for me, I have pretty
much seen all my heros live, but this was too sweet. I have seen Sabbath
before (with Dio in the Dehumanizer tour) and that was an AMAZING show,
but the original line up is the original line up and it is something that
cannot be explained, you must have listened to the records for years, know
every cue, nuance, riff, etc. Anyway, I went to see three bands only
(Slayer & the Priest been the other two) and wasn't lucky for Slayer (got
there too late). The Priest were great, but this is a review for the Sabbs,
so here we go. Once the Priest was done (they went down really well...) a
huge curtain with the flying devil logo of Sabbath was unveiled, covering
the stage, while the roadies were preparing everything. A friend of mine
went to the Jones Beach show and had told me about the setlist and the War
Pigs vid, but first things first. What's wrong with audiences in America?
Black Sabbath was about to start the show and everybody was still getting
drunk or too drunk to show up on their seats.....pathetic! The biggest
band in the history of Heavy Rock and it has to play for a bunch of
drunks........sad but true. Anyway, with the curtain still on, Ozzy starts
ranting on the mic, doing the usual Ozzy stuff ("Are you crazy?" "Let's go
crazy!"). Then a great video follows with bits of a lot of songs from the
Ozzy years and pics intertwined with the "Black Sabbath" movie.....great!
Then, the figures of Geezer, Ozzy and Tony are projected into the curtain
creating a great shadow effect, very well done. The intro kicks in "Supertzar"
and Ozzy plays shadow figures pretending he is jacking off with the
mike....hilarious! The curtain is revealed and they start with War Pigs.
My friend that went to Jones Beach told me about the war scenes video,
with Hitler and WWII scenes, but also Iraq bombing and apparently there
was a pic of George W and Hitler and the saying "Same shit, different
assholes".....never saw it, but I bet was there because the vid screen
went black on a number of occasions....question is why it was taken
out....Sharon? Black Sabbath being politically correct? Come on! I was
really looking forward to it. The band sounded great, Ozzy was great
(taken into consideration the accident and the obvious wear and tear from
the booze and drug fueled years....) , Tony amazing, Geezer incredible but
I want to mention my favorite which is Mr. Bill Ward. The guy was almost
not invited to play, is fat, grey hair, whatever you say: THIS GUY FUCKING
ROCKS!!!!! He destroyed the drum set, I could not take my eyes off him,
now I get it why they keep saying that the original line up has this
special thing....it is the fucking playing of these three animals!!!!
Well, I was in trance, could not believe my eyes. I have seen almost
everybody and this is in the top three or even higher. Another comment:
SWEET LEAF was taken out of the playlist. Why? I don't fucking know. I was
pissed off with that also. Finally, during the encore (Paranoid) a huge
chunk of the audience was gone....what the fuck? what is going on
America??????? Probably I will catch the end of the tour in West Palm
Beach. The Sabbs deserve it.
From: Joe Miele
Subject: Ozzfest 2004 - PNC Arts Center
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 12:48:33 -0400
 I've
been seeing Sabbath every chance I get since my first show on 5/17/82. I'm
no expert, but I've been to about a dozen shows or so and have seen
Sabbath in many different incarnations.
This was a very divided show with Tony & Geezer being brilliant, and Ozzy
& Bill struggling to keep up. All in all, it was a disappointment. It was
not as bad as the debacle at the Meadowlands when Glenn Hughes choked and
wheezed his way through a miserable show in the late 80's, but it was far
from polished.
Ozzy's accident must have really sucked the life out of him because the
only energy the poor guy could muster was to soak his head in a bucket of
water and flick back his hair, exposing a puffy, swollen face. His voice
sounded strained, as if it was taking all his energy to croak out the
songs. He was clearly laboring and putting a lot of effort into getting
his lungs to push out a little bit of air so his vocal cords would
vibrate. Ozzy needs a rest.
Bill Ward struggled from the opening moments of War Pigs, missing several
key beats where the guitars kick in after the high-hat play. For the rest
of the show, he seemed like a drummer on an audition for a band with a
higher level of musicianship. His style of play fits Sabbath like no other
drummer could, but it seems that he left his chops at home for this tour.
Geezer was brilliant. There are so many bass players who only wish that
with all their technical expertise and fret-smoking finger work they could
get a sound that comes close to what Geezer has done in his career. His
pounding behind Iommi's leads in "Into the Void" was an amazing example of
the bedrock that makes Sabbath the greatest band of all time.
Tony Iommi is the master of doom. There are others who play faster, and
others who play cleaner. But no one - no one at all - plays heavier. Tony
Iommi is the standard to which all other metal guitarists must be
measured. No one in the genre does as much with six strings as Tony does.
He simply takes all others to school when he straps on the SG.
Tony's leads cut through with a little too much top end (sort of
reminiscent of the Born Again album), but it was vintage Sabbath
nonetheless.
The set list was a major disappointment:
a.. War Pigs
a.. N.I.B.
a.. Fairies Wear Boots
a.. Into the Void
a.. Black Sabbath
a.. Snowblind
a.. Iron Man
a.. Children of the Grave
a.. Paranoid (w/ Sabbath Bloody Sabbath intro)
Not for anything, but I've heard these same songs so many times that it
would have been good for them to vary the set list a little more. I
understand that may of the non-Sabbath heads want to hear War Pigs, Iron
Man and Paranoid, but would it have been so bad to throw in Tomorrow's
Dream instead of N.I.B.? How about Symptom of the Universe in place of
Fairies Wear Boots? Never Say Die instead of Children Of The Grave? And
please, there's got to be room in there somewhere for Dirty Women. Sabbath
has such a brilliant back catalog that it would have been easy to blow us
all away by throwing in something simple like Thrill of it All.
But they played it safe and what came from their caution was a
predictable, almost routine show; it did not bomb, but neither did it
soar. Take some chances, boys. Even if it does not work out to perfection
we'll love you all the more for wanting to give us something that we have
not heard in a while. Dust off Sabotage and Technical Ecstasy. There is
some great material on those albums.
From: Ricky Woods
Subject: Ozzfest 2004 - PNC Arts Center
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 12:48:33 -0400
I would have to say Priest stole the night.
Halfords voice was in great shape and he hit about 90+ percent of the high
notes right on. The band was tight and the song selection was great.They
played everything from the July 12th show plus Green Manalishi. Slayer was
good but I've seen them better. (I've seen Slayer about 12 times over the
years) Song selection was good but not great. On to Sab: Ozzy was a bit
shaky early. He was singing War Pigs out of key the whole song. It wasn't
the old school cracking either, he was sharp consistently like the band
tuned down and he was singing in standard. N.I.B was only a bit better,
but then by Fairies he was getting back into form and was good the rest of
the night. Geezer was solid as usual and I could really hear what he was
playing, not just the bottom end rumble which happens so often at
concerts. Bill was solid as well. Tony was amazing as usual. The constant
professional player and the dignified stage presence he has is incredible.
I gota real kick during the introductions when Ozzy got down on his knees
and bowed to Tony and stated that "This is the guy who wrote all our songs
man!" It was nice to see Oz acknowledge Tony like that. Musically the band
was very tight most of the show but the set was too short. They cut Sweet
Leaf out of the set and didn't replace it with anything. Priest played a
good while and Sabbath played like 50 minutes. No rare cuts either and as
the earlier setlists have shown, nothing after Vol.4.
Take care Joe,
Ricky
www.RickyWoods.com
From: Ken Dreitlein
Subject: OZZFEST in NJ
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:34:56 -0400
I thought I'd drop a line about the show in
Holmdel NJ this past Friday. It was absolutely amazing to see and hear how
much Sabbath blew every band there that day clear off the stage. They
sounded amazing! Ozzy could really sing! I haven't heard his voice this
strong in years. Yes, he croaked 3 times in total but other than that,
perfection! Tony played a much longer solo for "Black Sabbath" that was
truly killer. Geezer pounded his bass into submission all night and I hate
to say it but Bill Ward is still grossly overweight and I can't help but
worry about his health. Sabbath proved that they are the best heavy metal
band of all time! Priest was weak but I expect them to get tighter with
another month of shows. Slayer was Slayer and Super Joint Ritual was SJR.
You knew what to expect. BLS killed and Dimmu Borgir almost stole the show
but no one could dispute Black Sabbath was the best of the day. It just
goes to prove, whatever comes first is the best and anything after is just
a waste. Like Edison made the light bulb, now what?
Love your site, keep up the great work!
From: Quad The Ranter
Subject: Concert Review
Date sent: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:33:52 EDT
This review originally appeared online
here.
I wasn’t even supposed to go to this one.
To make a long story short (because too much happened during the day), I
didn’t really want to go because I thought tickets were all sold out. Then
I went to a cool CD store that sold tickets and bought a ticket for
myself. It cost me a good 70 bucks to go. My other two friends spent much
more than I did. That would be the very last purchase I would make at that
CD store, because they moved somewhere in Jersey. Now there isn’t a good
mom and pop CD store on the island anymore (well, for my needs anyway).
INTO THE VOID
I remember getting almost no sleep the night before, mostly because I felt
like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the fat guy in red. With only 4
going on 5 hours of sleep, I went to my friends house and waited for my
friend Mike to arrive.
We got there surprisingly fast. I always thought PNC was a 2 hour drive,
but apparently not. As we approached the vicinity, we could see people
barbecuing, screaming, and drinking. Who the hell drinks at ten in the
morning? Apparently, these fans do.
WILD NIGHTS, HOT AND CRAZY DAYS
I never been to an Ozzfest before, and neither did Lauren, so we were both
surprised at everything we saw.
Just think of one of those local carnivals and fairs you go to. There were
games galore: basketball, darts, kick someone in the face with a soccer
ball, all of the classics. One game of interest was a drumming game – who
could score the most points (by bashing the shit out of the drums). Being
a drummer, Mike went up and tried it. The record for the day was 342. Mike
got 340. Talk about dissapointment, yet exciting. There were also many
stands for promotional thingies like Stacker 2 drinks and mints. These
mints were supposed to give you a burst of energy. Apparently, they
worked, because there were many instances in this 13 hour day of mine in
which I was running strictly on caffeine fumes.
They also served loads of alcohol, but I made the mistake of not bringing
my ID on me. Although looking back, it was not that big of a mistake, as
beer was 7 bucks a glass. Can you say, rip-off?
COME AND GET IT
They were selling CDs at Ozzfest for everyone: Judas Priest, Slayer, Black
Sabbath, Slipknot, etc. It was then that I noticed that certain band
members were signing CDs. Anyone from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest? …
no. Damn. Wait, Slayer was signing CDs…
Now, I am not a Slayer fan. To me, I thought Slayer goes way overboard
with their music on many levels. However, I heard very little on Slayer
and even read that they aren’t really Devil Worshippers and such. And if
listening to metal has taught me anything in the past four years, it’s to
give it a try before you judge something.
My logic was this: I have been teetering on buying Reign in Blood for
about a few weeks now. Probably the only reason why I didn’t buy it is
because of lack of funds. I did have a decent amount of money on me, so I
decided to buy it. I figured if I liked it, I would have an awesome
souvenir that was autographed, and was cheaper than a shirt. I figured if
I hated Slayer that much, I would sell the autographed CD and make a small
profit off it (Editors note: After listening to the CD, I am most likely
not selling it despite the flaws).
So now it was 1PM, and Slayer was coming at 3:30. I had absolutely nothing
to do from now til then. What’s worse, I had this CD to carry with me from
now til I left the place at 11PM.
HELL BENT FOR LEATHER
I saw a motorcycle chained near the stage. The license plate was from
Georgia. Could that be the infamous Harley that was owned by Halford? … …
probably not, but hey. Just a thought.
RAW DEAL / WHO ARE YOU?
Now, I had nothing to do for 2 hours. I bet many of you will be saying,
“Why not check out the bands?” I did. Actually, I checked out quite a few
of them. It seems to me that most bands don’t really sing anymore.
Instead, they sound like two dogs ripping each other apart while
constipated. I can’t stand bands that think they’re hardcore, that think
they are so talented when they sound like they’re taking a crap. Had it
not been for Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, I would have never come to
Ozzfest. Some of these bands are well known, and others were really Indie.
My only thoughts to them all are is that it’s quite obvious that people
don’t even know good music anymore. Most other genres are crap, and from
the looks of it, most of this new metal was crap, too.
I basically walked around, looking at the radio stations that had a tent
set up, I even slept on the grass for a few, but that was way too hot and
strenuous.
AM I GOING INSANE?
Eventually, after much waiting and ignoring all these “I’m too good to
speak coherently” bands, 3:30 finally arrived. I was happy as all hell, as
I finally going to get the finishing touches on my souvenir CD.
But problems arose: No one from Slayer was around. And thus I waited a
good hour in the blaring hot sun, getting more delirious as time went on.
That sun was hotter than hell (no pun intended). Around 4:30 only one
member from Slayer was present: Kerry King. It was good enough for me, as
I have read many things about Kerry King.
I don’t know why I said this, but as it became my turn, I asked this:
Me: How long did it take you to get good at guitar?
Kerry King: I’m still working on it.
He smiled and gave me my autograph. Again, I don’t have a real idea why I
said that, but I think I was getting delirious and felt the need to ask
something. I kept writing the future rant in my head over and over and
felt the need to ask something. I think I asked because I myself am trying
to get better at guitar, and what better way to get that question answered
from a famous guitarist. Ironic that King was friendly as hell to me (no
pun intended, either).
Now as this was going along, my friends were at the second stage listening
to Slipknot. I wanted to listen to them, but I only heard dribs and drabs
of them because I was waiting on line for an hour. Fortunately, the line
wasn’t far from the second stage, so I did have an opportunity to listen
to them. I also listened to them on the way over (as Mike and Lauren love
them). I can’t say I like them, to be honest, mostly because of the
vocals. Moreover, the two drummers is a bit overkill, and the lyrics (when
I could understand them) were so angsty they were probably written by 12
year old kids screaming at their mommy and daddy as to why they couldn’t
see Slipknot in the first place.
After getting a much needed real drink (and not any of those shots of
stacker 2), I noticed that people were heading towards the main stage.
Curious, I decided to take a look.
DON’T START (TOO LATE)
Black Label Society was playing apparently, and they really didn’t sound
bad at all. Their music was the best music I heard all day thus far.
Sadly, I only saw them for two songs. Crap.
Thus, the next band came on, named Superjoint Ritual. A familiar name from
Pantera, Phil Anselmo, was doing vocals… horribly. He sounded pretty much
like every other band I heard thus far. I liked how he goes, “Anyone who
doesn’t like us is a pussy!!!” Guess being a pussy means liking bands that
have someone singing and not taking a shit onstage. Needless to say, I
decided to walk around a bit.
INSERT BAD GEORGE W BUSH JOKES HERE.
I’ll leave that to Whoopi Goldberg.
Walking around, something cool happened.
A bush went on fire. What was weird was a guy that was 3 feet away was
asleep. He wasn’t moving at all. Guards were slapping him but he wouldn’t
budge. Some people thought to be brave and poured their drink on the fire.
Thank God beer isn’t too flammable, or the park would have went down in
flames, and I wouldn’t have seen Black Sabbath live and thus, I’d be
really pissed off.
Doesn’t have much to do with the music, but hey; cool things happen all
the time. You just need to know where to look.
THE THRILL OF IT ALL
Speaking of knowing where to look, have you ever had something in the
corner of your eye that you find hard to believe, but when you look
closer, you’re seeing something amazing? I had a similar experience. I was
on the top of the field, where I was looking over the gate. And then
something caught my eye.
That “Something” was Zakk Wylde. In the flesh. Drinking Beer with people
by the gate.
I literally dropped my ridiculously expensive soda and ran down there as
fast as I could. I got there in time. I was now THREE FUCKING INCHES FROM
ZAKK WYLDE.
“I gotta share a beer with this guy!” a random person in the crowd got a
beer and both the guy and Zakk shared the beer. I kept screaming for an
autograph but a guard pushed me out of the way. Zakk left without signing
my ticket stub. “He’ll come back,” the guard said, but I immediately knew
that was bullshit. As I saw him walking away out of the parking lot, I
just shrugged it off saying, “You can’t get them all.” Besides, Slayer,
Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath were coming up.
SLAYER: CRIMINALLY INSANE
I always thought the crowds for Linkin Park were some of the worst crowds.
I knew that would change very shortly.
When Slayer came on, I expected a mosh pit. There wasn’t one mosh pit.
There weren’t two, either. There were THREE mosh pits, and the stage area
wasn’t as big as other stadiums I have been to. People were going fucking
crazy. I wisely decided not to brave the mosh pits in Slayer, because I
knew I probably wouldn’t have came back alive to write this rant. Even
though I stayed away, people around me were still violent. This one dude
was punching the air while violently headbanging, and if he went any
crazier, I probably would have reached the receiving end of it.
As for the music itself, it did sound like most other bands (in terms of
speed), but with one major difference: Tom Araya didn’t sound like he was
taking a dump onstage. There were guitar solos. It was actually heavy
metal. The sheer speed made me realize that metal needs a band like this.
Even if they are twisted and violent. We need a band that goes to the
extreme on every regard. I am not talking about extreme as in all those
bands that seem extreme with skateboarding and teenage angst. I am talking
about the real deal here. Are you reading this, Metallica?
While I am not an avid Slayer fan, I do not think they are bad either, as
they were better than any other band before it (except Black Label
Society).
But of course, the two most important bands in metal were ready to take
the stage. Behold them in all their glory.
JUDAS PRIEST: METAL GODS
I quickly ran like hell to find a bathroom, as I didn’t want my bladder to
attack me in the middle of Rob Halford kicking my ass. Afterwards, I went
back to the front of the field, where I had a good side view of the entire
stage.
The lights dimmed in the middle of AC/DC’s Back in Black. This was it. I
was about to see one of the greatest front men ever.
SETLIST: (No Particular Order)
The Hellion/ Electric Eye
Metal Gods
A Touch of Evil
The Sentinel
Painkiller
Living After Midnight
Breaking the Law
Victim of Changes
Hell Bent for Leather
The Green Manalishi
Beyond the Realms of Death
You Got Another Thing Coming
The first song played was The Hellion/Electric Eye, and that is EXACTLY
how I envisioned Judas Priest starting out. It was also the first song
that pulled me into Judas Priest in the first place.
Rob Halford was really amazing. Halford reminded me a lot like Dio and
Bruce Dickinson; their voices rarely ever changed and sounded worse as
they got older. The only song Halford didn’t sound so great on was
(surprise) Painkiller. Then again, I heard that he doesn’t do well with
that song period. Methinks that song had touched up vocals on the album.
The set list, however, does have some flaws. Most of the songs on here
were to be expected (IE: Hell Bent for Leather). Now, Judas Priest came on
after Slayer, so you would think that they would play some of their faster
songs. Not really. Victim of Changes, Metal Gods, and especially a Touch
of Evil should have not been played. Even though they are good songs,
faster songs would have made the crowd even more excited, especially when
a lightning fast metal band came on before it. Songs like Metal Meltdown,
Screaming for Vengeance, Eat Me Alive, Freewheel Burning, Rapid Fire,
Exciter, Turbo Lover, Nightcrawler, Diamonds and Rust, and Devil’s Child
would have been much better replacements. On Painkiller, the only songs
played were A touch of Evil and Painkiller. That album is really fast and
heavy, so why did they choose the slowest song on Painkiller? A touch of
evil is the reason why I didn’t give Painkiller a 10; because it brought
the overall speed down a notch or two.
Of course, the Harley was there. I couldn’t really tell if that was the
Harley I saw before. It probably was. Either way, it was amazing to see
him riding the motorcycle onstage, mostly because it occurred as an
encore. Long Live the metal god!
Halford promised there would be another studio album, and I was ultimately
pleased. The original Priest doing another album. Life couldn’t get
better.
Oh wait. I forgot. There was a band getting ready to play that was bigger
than Judas Priest (if that's possible): Black Sabbath.
BLACK SABBATH: LORD OF THIS WORLD
No kidding.
I was talking to this kid, and he said he saw Ozzfest a few days earlier
and said that Ozzy was really in bad shape. I joked saying they could
always get Kelly Osbourne to do it. He said to "not even fucking joke
about that." He was really pissed at the remake of changes, too. You gotta
love the real metal fans.
A big purple sheet with the Black Sabbath logo was put up; so I couldn’t
see the band set up. Then a few minutes later, I hear a voice: “GO FUCKING
CRAZY!” Guess who it was. Come on. I’ll give you 10 guesses, and the first
9 don’t count.
After Ozzy was making the crowd whistle and scream, everything went dead.
What the hell was going on? A good 10 minutes later, Ozzy was starting in
again, only the sheet was starting to move.
This was it. I was waiting for this moment for a good three and a half
years.
SETLIST: (in Order)
War Pigs
NIB
Faeries Wear Boots
Into the Void
Black Sabbath
Snowblind
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
(Sabbath Bloody Sabbath)/Paranoid
The reason why Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is in parenthesis was because it was
technically not played; just the beginning of it.
As for the set list, I have two words for you: No surprises.
I expected the usual Paranoid/War Pigs/ Iron Man routine. It wouldn’t be a
Black Sabbath show without it. However, I am a little upset that they
didn’t do anything beyond Volume 4. I am a lot less upset than I am
letting on, mostly because this is the first time I ever saw Black Sabbath
live, and to hear these songs live in concert was a pleasure. Had this
been my second time, I would have been a little peeved. Thing is, Black
Sabbath had so many hits, and many of them were on Sabotage and on Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath. Why were these albums ignored? I know this is a reunion of
sorts but still; don’t ignore the best material. I wasn’t expecting Ozzy
to sing stuff like Neon Knights and Heaven and Hell, but come on. Go
beyond the first four albums. Every song on that list I gave full credit
to in my music reviews. They were all awesome live.
As for overall performances? I am surprised myself.
Almost everything was flawless. The only part that was slightly flawed was
when some songs were tuned down slightly in tone. On the whole though,
each band member, unlike on their Reunion CD, performed flawlessly. For
Tony and Geezer, that is nothing new. For Ozzy and Bill, that is, because
they are both declining musicians physically.
Bill played everything virtually perfect and sounded a hell of a lot
better than he did on Reunion; a CD that was made a good 7 years ago.
Ozzy, however, was the biggest surprise. Ozzy sounded like he gave up his
last ounce of strength to sing his ass off. Oh yeah, he sang his ass off
alright, because apparently, his pants “accidentally” fell down. Ozzy
didn’t forget the words. He didn’t sound like he was struggling. He acted
as if he were hypnotized and sang perfectly.
There is something I always saw in Ozzy during his shows that I
experienced on hand for the first time: I wanted to be at Ozzfest, and
apparently, so did Ozzy. Ozzy was probably one of the only front men I
have seen that looked truly excited to be singing. I have to give Ozzy
tremendous credit; I can see why Black Sabbath did so well with him: he
was a hell of a showman. Ozzy just loved getting the people to react and
laugh. That’s how it should be. I have a new found respect for Ozzy
because of the performance.
AFTER FOREVER
I knew the last song was going to be Paranoid. You just know it. Seeing
similarities to the set list of the show and Reunion, I knew when it was
time to leave. Thus, as it was being played, I got ready to bail. Not
because I didn’t want to hear it, but because getting out of the concert
was going to be hell; and for the last time, no pun intended.
As I waited for my friends to show up (because at this point we were
separated for a good 8 hours), they were both surprisingly silent. Few
words were spoken between us, especially me. At this point, my neck was
sore from the massive headbanging (I messed up my neck during Faeries Wear
Boots), and I could barely talk due to the massive screaming and inhaling
2nd hand tobacco and pot smoke. Lauren did have some negative comments for
Judas Priest, which sort of upset me. She said that all the screaming gave
her a headache. She does have a point to an extent (Halford wailed like a
banshee on several songs), but coming from someone who enjoys the likes of
Slipknot, I am not buying it. Mike enjoyed Priest though. Neither of them
had comments on Black Sabbath, and I didn’t want to know because I didn’t
want either to bash Sabbath. It was bad enough to hear how much she hated
Judas Priest.
I was going to type my thoughts the second I came home, but I was so
physically weakened I couldn’t do anything for a good 48 hours.
EVERYDAY COMES AND GOES
Looking back at the concert, It probably one of the best concerts of my
life, and probably one of the best moments of my life, too. I always felt
a little alienated because of the music I listen to. I am the only person
I know that enjoys Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio, Ozzy,
Kiss, Rainbow, etc. And to be surrounded by people that lived, eat, and
breathed all of this stuff was quite a pleasure.
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