Back To The Beginning – The Good & The Bad

Back To The Beginning – The Good & The Bad

By Shane Pinnegar

What a privilege it was to see the final (supposedly) show from Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath. We couldn’t afford to fly to England, much less buy tickets even if we were lucky enough to get to the sales page before they sold out, but even from Australia we could settle in just eight hours after the show finished and watch the Video On Demand stream of the show.

Which, advertised at AUD$45, became $54 after BS fees. Not a cheap option, really – and one which came with several glitches, and we’ll get to that shortly.

The entire show was an outpouring of love and respect for Heavy Metal’s progenitors, an absolute lovefest which showed the enormous regard the heavy metal community has for Sabbath and for Ozzy. During their careers – both coupled and un – they ploughed new ground for heavy rock and metal, laying the foundations for metal, doom, sludge, stoner and more sub-genres, not to mention gave fantastic opportunities to many bands as their support acts, and later as part of Ozzy & Sharon’s OzzFest.

The format was basically a succession of bands playing one or two of their songs, and a Sabbath cover. Some of the bigger bands got more time (for better or worse) and there were a couple of Supergroup sets as well. There were echoes of the formatting of 1985’s Live Aid, and of 1991’s Freddie Mercury Tribute Show, but Back To The Beginning followed neither of them to the letter.

For one thing, diversity wasn’t given much consideration. All the bands and guest artists appearing were heavy rock or metal, with a few rare exceptions – notably Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, both of whom kicked up some noise in the spirit of the occasion. Whilst on the subject of diversity, it was an unmitigated sausage party with Lizzy Hale the only female playing all day long, which is a missed opportunity given the number of hard rocking women out there.

We were also assailed with the news in the leadup to the show that Sharon Osbourne had ‘disinvited’ one act because their manager had tried to extract a fee for their appearance. Several of the acts stressed after the event that no artist was paid for their appearance – every one donated their time, but was reimbursed for travel expenses, according to the event’s Wikipedia page. Whether Sharon – as presumed CEO of the show – took a wage, we simply don’t know.

Time will tell how much of the proceeds from the 45,000 ticket sales, the (very expensive) merch and the 5.8 million live stream sales will end up with charities Acorn’s Children’s Hospice, Brimingham Children’s Hospital and Cure Parkinson’s, though the event’s Wikipedia page is currently citing £140 million which is an undeniably amazing result.

What we do know is that Wolfgang Van Halen’s WVH Mammoth were initially announced as part of the show, but pulled out a week or two ahead of the event citing a scheduling snafu. Soundgarden and Korn’s Jonathan Davis were part of the original announcement but did not perform, the latter offering only a short video tribute. Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were initially said to be appearing but that also came to nothing. Judas Priest were invited but were unavailable and released a cover of War Pigs as a tribute ahead of the show. Sharon may well spill the beans on who the offender was at some point.

As with any such event some of the performances were better than others, though it’s important we note that many on the bill are no spring chickens, and in Ozzy’s case especially – battling with Parkinsons and unable to walk for the past five years – are not at their peak.

So, what worked, and what didn’t?

The great news is that there were few, if any, disasters.

However, the Video On Demand stream was problematic – fast forward and rewind didn’t work properly, we were kicked off the stream twice, losing audio before we were logged off both times, so we missed a few songs and couldn’t work out how to get back to them. I stress this was NOT the live stream, but the VOD.

Mastodon were epic and crushingly heavy, though drummer Brann Dailor’s vocals for their third song, Sabbath cover Supernaut, were inaudible until three quarters through the song. A percussion breakdown featuring Tool’s Danny Carey, ex-Sepultura current Slipknot drummer Eloy Casagrande, Gojira’s Mario Duplantier just about made up for the missing singing.

Rival Sons were as Zeptastic as always, and ensured their Sabbath tribute, Electric Funeral, was passionate and undeniable.

Anthrax’s set was surprisingly short – just their own Indians and Sabbath’s Into The Void, though both were great.

Halestorm ripped through a couple of tracks and finished with Ozzy’s Perry Mason. All well and good but it’s a song about a TV character from the 50’s and it never sat well with me in Osbourne’s repertoire. Lizzy Hale owned it as best she could, regardless. Let’s also give kudos again to her being literally the only female performer for the entire day. What’s with that?

Lamb Of God were crazily heavy, and their Children Of The Grave crushed, with frontman Randy Blythe a force of nature throughout, crowd surfing like a maniac at one point.

Supergroup A was up next, with Lizzy Hale singing a decent Ultimate Sin, Jake E Lee, Nuno Bettencourt, Dave Ellefson, Mike Bordin & Adam Wakeman backing up. It’s mostly brilliant to hear Lee. Shot In The Dark is next, one of Osbourne’s catchiest songs and biggest hits, with the same band plus David Draiman singing. The frontman cops BOOs as he takes the stage, presumably for his vocal pro-Israel/anti-Palestine social media stance, but regardless of his dubious Zionist leanings his voice is strong.

Draiman continues, tackling Sweet Leaf with Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Nuno Bettencourt, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin and Adam Wakeman, then Ugly kid Joe’s Whitfield Crane takes the mic for Ozzy’s Believer, Frank Bello swapping in for Ellefson.

Unexpectedly, best of all so far is Yungblud fronting Changes with Bettencourt, Bello, Wakeman and Sleep Token’s bizarrely be-masked drummer II.

A video of Jack Black performing Mr Crowley is next, sort of revisiting his School Of Rock film by featuring a band of teenagers – who are all amazing, especially their guitarist who almost outshines their famous frontman. Hardly surprisingly when they feature guitarist Roman Morello (son of Tom), Revel Ian (son of Scott), Yoyoka Soma and Hugo Weiss.

Alice In Chains are intense, though our stream failed at this point (thanks Sharon) so we can’t talk to their Sabbath homage Fairies Wear Boots, but up until that point frontman William Duvall seemed to be having the time of his life.

Gojira bring Frenchy intensity to the proceedings, tearing through their own Stranded and Silvera before tackling the traditional Mea Culpa with operatic accompaniment from Marina Viotti echoing their Olympics appearance, before finishing with Sabbath’s Under The Sun.

A drum-off is next featuring Blink 182’s Travis Barker, Will Ferrell-alike Chad Smith and Tool’s Danny Carey playing Symptom Of The Universe with Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt and Rudy Sarzo on board for the ride. As drum offs go it was redundant, but the song is always welcome.

Supergroup B – Tom Morello’s All Stars – fire through a succession of classics, Breaking The Law and Snowblind with Carey, Sarzo, Adam Jones, K K Downing and Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan is a bizarre cassock of sorts; Flying High Again (Sammy Hagar, Bettencourt, Sarvo, Adam Wakeman, Chad Smith & Living Colour’s Vernon Reid); Rock Candy (Reid off, Morello on); Bark At The Moon (Ghost’s Papa Y Perpetua, Reid, Bettencourt, Sarzo, Barker, Wakeman – it would have been fantastic to hear Lee tear this one up but he said later in an interview that a combination of chronic arthritis and the after-effects of being shot multiple times in October 2024 made that impossible for him); Train Kept A-Rollin’ (Steven Tyler & Ron Wood leading Bettencourt, Morello, Andrew Watt, Sarzo and Barker through the vintage blues rock staple); finishing with Aerosmith’s Walk This Way and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love (Tyler with Bettencourt, Morello, Watt, Sarzo & Smith in fantastic style).

We’re getting down to the serious end of business now, and Pantera destroyed the stage, even prompting MC Jason Momoa to join the moshpit for Cowboys From Hell, a monstrous Walk, then Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan and Electric Funeral.

Tool’s set was a highlight, Maynard Keenan’s sheer charisma and vocal might stunning through Forty Six & 2, Hand Of Doom and Ænima.

Slayer were not to be outdone, delivering a massive set including War Ensemble, Sabbath’s Wicked World, South Of Heaven, Raining Blood and Angel of Death.

If there was to be a disappointment, it was Guns n’ Roses, whose Axl Rose was not in fine voice at all. To be fair his vocals did warm up after a few songs but it was a lack lustre set, Slash & Duff appearing disinterested and going through the motions from where we sat. Sabbath’s Never Say Die was great to hear, though a snippet of It’s Alright and Junior’s Eyes less so. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath didn’t seem to suit Rose’s register at all, though Welcome To The Jungle and Paradise City were far better.

Metallica were commanding throughout, beginning with Sabbath’s Hole In The Sky, before rousing the crowd with Creeping Death and For Whom The Bell Tolls, the quirky Johnny Blade from Sabbath, then Battery and Master Of Puppets showing how to do it.

It had been a long and loud day by this point, but the highlight was always to see Ozzy Osbourne and then Black Sabbath play their (alleged) last shows. The Prince of Darkness ascends to the strains of Carl Orff’s O Fortuna in a bat-festooned throne and it’s immediately obvious that he is shakey and twitchy, clearly in decline as a result of the Parkinsons. As soon as he starts singing, though, his voice is clear and stronger than expected, and that old fire still burns in his eyes.

Backed by the man mountain (physically and musically) Zakk Wylde, the band were amazing through I Don’t Know, Mr Crowley, Suicide Solution, an intensely emotional Mama I’m Coming Home, and signature song Crazy Train. Utterly magical.

Finally, the other reason we were all tuned in around the globe – 45,000 people in person, 5.8 million streams to who can guess how many fans of heavy rock and metal, and in particular these undeniable legends.

Black Sabbath.

Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and – at long last returned to his rightful place on the drums after being shunned and ousted for the band’s previous final tour in 2013 – Bill Ward.

There’s a potted video history of the band screened first, then they take the stage and it’s Bill we first notice – placed directly behind Ozzy’s throne and mostly obscured. Sadly, we wouldn’t put it past Sharon to have done that deliberately – she has a long memory when she doesn’t get her way. They tease the intro to their titular track then launch into a mighty War Pigs and N.I.B., then Ward hilariously tears his shirt off – a 77-year-old man a little overweight sitting topless in an English night with absolutely zero fucks to give. Whether that was a middle finger to Sharon or not we can only guess, but maximum respect to the man.

Iron Man is next, the entire crowd – and many, many homes around the world including our – going off like collective frogs in socks, before one of the greatest bands of all time play their last song, their most recognisable song, their signature song – Paranoid.

As fireworks crackle and bang, lighting up the Birmingham night sky, the roars from the crowd were relentless. For heavy metal fans this may have been the ultimate show of all time, proving the bands – especially the headliners – undeniable forces of nature, loved and respected by so many.

The VOD stream cut off abruptly about there, some viewers complaining about the band walking off leaving Ozzy abandoned in his throne unable to move, but it didn’t go that way in real life – there are YouTube videos showing that Iommi came to have a friendly word with Ozzy and hold his hand briefly, and Butler fetched a cake from offstage and gave it to Ozzy still seated in his throne.

Afterwards, social media was ablaze with outpourings of emotion thanking the organisers and the bands for such an amazing gig. Practically every act who appeared commented publicly about how privileged and honoured they were to have been invited, and how much it meant to them to be there.

No doubt there will be a BluRay document of the event, which will make yet more money for charity, and I for one will be buying it and watching it again. And again.

 

 

Category: Live Reviews