Black Sabbath Online: Concert Reviews


	Black Sabbath Concert Reviews March 16, 2007 Brandt Centre Regina, SK Canada

from greg & carrie <pelvan@sasktel.net>
to siegler@black-sabbath.com
date Mar 17, 2007 4:46 AM
subject Concert review - Regina, SK: March 16th

Much to my dismay, (and numerous fans to say the least) I arrived at the Brandt Centre in Regina to posters spread throughout the building reading:

What a bummer. It appears as though Phil Anselmo had some sort of voice ailment which prevented DOWN from performing. A 7:00pm slated start to the concert was delayed, and Megadeth eventually took the stage at approximately 7:35pm.

The void of DOWN on the playbill allowed Megadeth to insert more songs into their set: "My Darkest Hour", "Hangar 18", and "Mechanix" were all added to the mix of a non-stop, driving, solid set by Dave Mustaine and his entourage. Mustaine was in fine form, and the reports of poor sound quality coming out of the Vancouver concert were non-existent here. The sound was great, and Mustaine had the majority of the stadium on its feet throughout the performance.

The band seemed genuinely impressed by the crowd's enthusiasm, and they ripped through a powerful performance of Holy Wars for their encore.

The crowd was pretty pumped up again by the time "Heaven and Hell" took to the stage, however, the set did have its lulls.

A majority of the fans were really into the performance throughout the playing of "After All", "The Mob Rules" and "Children of the Sea", however, by the time "Lady Evil" was playing many fans sat in their seats and seemed to mellow out (maybe because the beer vendors closed shop???).

Ronnie James Dio never missed a beat and was impressive with both his range and power. Geezer and Vinny were tight, and Tony was Tony - the master. The standout performances in my opinion were "After All", "Sign of the Southern Cross", "The Devil Cried" and "Heaven and Hell" - where Ronnie seemed like a man possessed in his singing of the Sabbath staple.

I was quite disappointed by the overall fan reaction (or lack of it) to the Heaven and Hell set; but I have a theory to this:

A sizable portion of the audience seemed very young - between the 12-18 age range. I'm not quite sure whether a lot of the fans here are/were versed in "Sabbath lore". It seemed that 3 out of every 4 people were wearing a Megadeth shirt. Essentially, I just think that many of the fans who came to Regina for the show were coming to see Megadeth - and they were not disappointed.

This is not to say that Heaven and Hell did not perform well - I thought they were great. But in terms of generating an overall energy and enthusiasm to the evening, Megadeth rose to the occasion on this night.

- Several jackassses were belting out the lyrics to Metallica's "The Four Horsemen" during Megadeth's playing of "Mechanix"......pissed me off.

- A couple songs into the Heaven and Hell set, Dio told the audience that "Dave Mustaine told me backstage that you are the best audience he's played for in a long time"......... (I'm guessing Ronnie couldn't say the same after all was said and done - the crowd was ho-hum for most of the second half of the H&H set).

- A fat, bald-headed moron snuck behind security and got onto the stage from the rear during the playing of "Sign of the Southern Cross". He scampered across the front of the stage, and Ronnie James confronted him and brushed the guy to the side. A security guard roughly grabbed the idiot and exited him to the side of the stage. Ronnie looked pissed off (I would be too), but he went on performing the song as if nothing happened - a true professional.

- Too many young punks were at this concert: More interested in getting attention by being totally blitzed, or "body surfing" instead of appreciating the music. (Am I getting old?)

- A few beer cups, clothing items, and water bottles were tossed on stage during the H&H set - but it didn't phase the guys - again showing their professionalism.

Personally I thought it was a good show. I'm quite miffed however that I didn't get to see DOWN. I've seen Megadeth before as well as other versions of "Sabbath", however, I've been a big fan of DOWN since their inception and was really looking forward to them kicking my ass to start the concert with LYSERGIK FUNERAL PROCESSION.

Oh well, I can't complain about spending an evening listening to some living legends. There won't be many more opportunities to see the likes of Tony, Geezer, Ronnie and Dave Mustaine all in one venue any more! So I'm glad I caught them when I did.