Black Sabbath Online: Concert Reviews

Sean W. Davis

from James Rolfe <thecinemassacre@yahoo.com>
to siegler@black-sabbath.com
date May 13, 2007 11:51 PM
subject Heaven and Hell Philadelphia review

Hi, love your site and always come for my Sabbath fix.

I got a review, I hope you'll post. Here it goes:

Being a Sabbath fan and attending many Ozzfests, it eventually became tiring to hear the same setlist of classic ozzy/sabbath tracks hashed out year after year. I love Ozzy as we all do, but I always wished he would sing some of the Dio/Sabbath songs. Not happening. No way. So by hearing the news on your site, I was shocked and delighted to hear that they would be reuniting once again with Ronnie James Dio. This meant 3 things that would be a real treat.

1) They would play the underrated but not forgotten Dio/Sabbath tracks.
2) They would play for more than just an hour long!
3) They would play at traditional arena venues rather than the outdoor Ozzfests. Every year, I would admire the band by a distance from video screens while standing out in a field. But NOW I would finally be able to get close and see Toni Iommi's genius fingers at work.

The dream sounded too good to be true, but it was in fact, better than one could even imagine. It was almost like a completely different band, a fresh, much faster and more ass-kicking Black Sabbath than seen during the monotonous Ozzfest performances. The songs sounded beyond amazing, they matched the perfection of the album recordings, but also had some nice surprises. Songs like After All and Mob Rules had brief extended instrumental sections. (An extra measure or two of the main riff repeated). and long instrumental jam sessions during Voodoo and Heaven and Hell.

Iommi's presence was just a strong and cool as ever, nodding and smirking to the crowd. It was wonderful seeing him up close, a chance I never would have had if Ozzy was there. Dio was phenomenal. I know his voice has been praised many many times and nobody could deny its greatness, but it can not be stressed enough, witnessing it first hand, I must say he was absolutley fucking FANTASTIC! His vocal ability was even greater than what could be appreciated from listening to on a CD and his stage moves and posture made me unable to keep my eyes off him. I have seen many great rock singers such as Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford live, but I think its possible Dio may be the best!

Even the theatrics were awesome. The whole stage was set up like a castle with a gothic gate, glowing lanterns, giant doors on each side and stained glass windows. There were also huge video projections of skeletons and psychedelic light shows on the back wall. Occassionally, there were also smoke towers coming out of the floor. It was everything Black Sabbath was meant to be.

Whether or not you call the band HEAVEN AND HELL, what I witnessed, I felt, was BLACK SABBATH by true nature of the name. Even the singer of Machine Head said "It's an honor to share the stage with Black Sabbath." Even the names on the T-shirts said "BLACK SABBATH" with "DIO" underneath. And on top: "The Heaven and Hell Tour 2007." So its my belief that the tour itself was the Heaven and Hell tour, though the band is STILL Black Sabbath. Whatever the case, I respect the decision that the name on the ticket says Heaven and Hell to separate the notion that Black Sabbath implies "Ozzy" and that disappointed fans would be expecting to hear War Pigs, Iron Man, Paranoid...etc.

I also want to point out that Dio had a mini-speech about how Philadelphia was his favorite place to play. I'm quite honored, but did he make the same speech in any other city???

I never listened to Machine Head, but they were good and Megadeth was just incredible!

One interesting story I have to tell is that I had a scary experience. Toward the end of Sabbath' s set, I got very dehydrated and became horribly sick. I got extremely dizzy, lost my breath and was about to collapse. I started to go blind which was surreal staring at the castle set. I almost wondered if the redness I was seeing was part of the show, it was like a swarm of fire flies engulfed my face. The fact was my eyeballs were rolling back inside my head and I felt like I was about to die. Ironically, the song being performed was "Die Young." My body was all dry and I needed something to drink. I didn't want to give away my spot near the front of the stage, but I didn't want to wake in the hospital either. That's happened to me in the past, and its not fun. So I walked away and looked for a vendor. I needed a beer, a drink of water, ANYTHING, but there wasn't a god damn thing open at this time. I circled the stadium trying to find something, but there wasn't shit. I saw a water fountain, but it looked like somebody puked in it. regardless, I tried to take a sip, but the water would not spout any higher than the faucet, making it impossible not to put my face into the vomit. So I decided to pass. There was a vending machine which only had chocolate milk. It wasn't what I expected, but it was the ONLY option, so I paid the 3 bucks (What a rip off) and quenched my thirst, making me feel 100% better. Never did I think I'd be at a metal concert chugging down a Nestle Quik chocolate milk.

The show was fantastic, check them out if you can.

Setlist (from memory)

After All (The Dead)
The Mob Rules
Children of the Sea
Lady Evil
I
The Sign of the Southern Cross
Voodoo
The Devil Cried
(Drum solo)
Computer God
Falling off the Edge of the World
Shadow of the Wind
Die Young
Heaven and Hell
Neon Knights

from Charles Koegler <thecrusherrulz1119@yahoo.com>
to siegler@black-sabbath.com
date May 14, 2007 5:00 PM
subject May 10th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Show

This show was very special to me. I love the Dio era and never thought they would get back together with him, and now they did with new tracks!! Awesome.

Machine Head was very very good. Extremely heavy, but they didn't miss a beat. They were very gracious and seemed genuinely happy to be there. They got a lot of mosh pits in the general admission area. After one of their songs, they thanked the crowd for making them feel so welcome which prompted all of us to chant MACHINE FUCKING HEAD! MACHINE FUCKING HEAD! and they thanked the crowd again. They also said that "those fuckers" (the guys moshing) were crazy which just prompted them to mosh more. They were amazing. They played Aesthetics of Hate, Now I Lay Thee Down and finished with Davidian. Also, they played one other song but I can't remember.

The crowd was kinda loud for Machine Head but as soon as Dave Mustaine walked out everyone went insane!! A lot of people have been complaining that their sound has been too treble-driven but tonight it sounded like they got it right. Glenn Drover and Dave both did some sick solos and James LoMenzo and Shaun Drover held it together with a tight rhythm section. They are one of my favorite bands also and they didn't disappoint! I can't remember their whole set but I remember they played:
Sleepwalker
Wake Up Dead
Kick the Chair
Hangar 18
Washington is Next
Tornado of Souls
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
*Encore* Holy Wars...The Punishment Due

Then Sabbath came on. A half full arena was suddenly packed and everyone was standing up! They were absolutely unbelievable. It's amazing that they have been around so long and are getting on in years but are better than everyone else out there! They have been playing in D tuning and E5150 was in D, which means either they prerecorded it in D or they actually played it, seemed like the second one judging by the sound and the fact that it was a bit different. As soon as they started After All, everyone was going nuts.

Ronnie James Dio-Dio was amazing! His presence was unbelievable and he was perfectly clear and in range. He did some pretty crazy stuff! At the beginning of Mob Rules he did this unbelievably high scream that could rival that of Halford. It was also cool when he was doing the "black shape" part during Heaven and Hell and when he said "Desire" he really growled it and the lights turned red around him which was amazing. This guy really hasn't lost it at all and was just an unbelievable singer, probably the best around. At one point during the show I think before Voodoo, he said "Here's the reason we haven't been together for so long." He brought Tony over to Geezer and said "Geez meet Tony, Tony-Geez" it was pretty funny.

Geezer Butler- Geezer shows why he's one of the best bass players out there. His sound was loud, he was definitely shaking the arena. He really shone in Southern Cross and Computer God. He had great presence and unbelievable tone. And man he is fast!

Tony Iommi-Tony's playing was absolutely unbelievable. He is my favorite guitar player and he was really on. His solos were nothing short of incredible. His tone was perfect and loud. The highlight for me was when he did his own solo before Die Young. He proved he is the best in the metal genre. He moved around a bit though I didn't see him use his new white SG- he was using the black one (Gibson Iommi) and the old boy.

Vinny Appice-Vinny was amazing, pounding and his sound was incredible. HIs solo was really cool and amazing. I didn't think I was gonna like his solo but he really showed that he is one of the masters in the industry.

The stage was amazing, the lights and the screens went together so well. Highlights for me were Southern Cross (SO HEAVY), Vinny's solo/Computer God, Tony's solo/Die Young, Heaven and Hell and Neon Knights but every song was perfect and amazing. I really hope they come to the east coast in the fall because this show was the greatest one I have seen in my whole life, and one of the best moments of my life. Hail Sabbath!

-Charles Koegler