Allphones Arena, Sydney
Saturday April 27, 2013 :
Back in 2007, Heaven and Hell, aka Dio era Black Sabbath, toured Australia, followed by an Ozzy Osbourne solo tour in 2008. Having witnessed both shows, I was left with the feeling that these would be the closest I would ever get to seeing an Ozzy fronted Sabbath.
Late 2011, my hopes were raised with the word that the original members of Sabbath (Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward), were reforming to record a new album and tour. With Ward ultimately pulling out of the project, and Iommi being diagnosed with lymphoma early 2012, I was surprised yet overjoyed when the band announced an Australian tour for 2013. The possibility was at hand to witness the band that bred my love of Metal.
The night began with my first real senile moment – arriving at the wrong venue. My wife and I had a lovely dinner at Dixon House in Chinatown, and wandered over to Sydney Entertainment Centre to pick up the tickets and get ready to shoot support band Shihad. It was 6.30 pm, and the venue was in darkness. Talk about being thrown into a panic. Following a mad dash down Parramatta Road, we arrived at Allphones Arena with moments to spare.
The arena lights dimmed, the black stage curtain rose, ‘War Pigs’ erupted, and I was a teenager again. As a teenager though, I was dropping a needle on Paranoid in my bedroom. Tonight I am in the photo pit with a camera in my hand.
Being this close to the performance with a job to do, it is a very blinkered experience, and you have very little idea of what songs are being played. What you do witness is the direct interaction between the performers. It was clear that Ozzy and Tony were loving being on stage together, with Ozzy pulling faces at the guitarist at regular occasions.
The set list was a Sabbath fans wet dream, with the Paranoid and debut self-titled album being heavily featured. ‘Iron Man’, ‘N.I.B.’, ‘Snowblind’ and ‘Black Sabbath’ were monstrous, and the encore of ‘Paranoid’ was a fitting way close the night. All Sabbath albums that Ozzy appeared on were picked through bar Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Never Say Die which was the only disappointment for this reviewer as it was these albums that were my introduction to the band. One of the first vinyls I ever purchased was Never Say Die, and I still consider ‘Johnny Blade’, ‘Junior’s Eyes’ and the title track as wonderful Sabbath cuts. To be honest though, if tonight’s setlist was to cover everyone’s wish list, the guys would have had to play for four hours rather than the sizeable two hours tonight.
A couple of cuts from the soon to be release, 13, were also featured, with ‘End of the Beginning’ and its ‘Black Sabbath’ overtones, and the lengthy and brutal ‘God Is Dead’ both slipping into the set seamlessly. The inclusion of Technical Ecstasy’s ‘Dirty Women’ was an unexpected surprise, though the “titty videos” being played behind the band were not. This is Rock n Roll after all.
There was very little to fault with the performance of these 60+ year old guys, and even though I did miss seeing Bill Ward behind the kit, youngster Tommy Clufetos was certainly up to the task. In fact, his drum solo was one of the best I have seen. Staging was very simple – no smoke machines, no pyro, no lasers, just pure and simple Heavy Metal.
Over the past 30 years I have seen thousands of bands walk on stage, and I consider a gig as being truly special if I would travel a couple of hours the next night to see it all again. With Sabbath, I would have camped overnight to get front of stage.
Reviewer and Photographer: Kevin Bull
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