I gathered a few friends to see Ozzy Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath yesterday at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine. When asked to describe the experience, the following comes to mind:
burned trashbins, burned t-shirts, skyrocket
fireworks launched from the crowd, water bottles flying around here and there,
moshpits, one dude being restrained, another dude throwing up and then laying out
in the back, and a sprinkling of a few more bodies passed out afterwards on the lawn. This was an experience!...to say the least.
The Production:
This was my first time at the Verizon Amphitheater and let me just say that the parking is pretty bad and the exiting of the venue after the concert is very poorly planned. The lawn area is definitely where you want to be if you're open to some shenanigans, which for a Black Sabbath concert, is part of the experience. The sound
system was adequate but the lighting and the design of the stage was extremely well done.
The Performance: Black Sabbath has been around for more than 40 years and Ozzy's relationship with the band has pretty much been on and off since 1977, when he first quit the band. At 64 years of age, I was impressed with Ozzy's stamina, as he performed for approximately two hours without an intermission, all while consistently engaging with the crowd. At times, he'd even dunk his head into a water bucket and then throw buckets of water into the crowd. Not as crazy as biting the head off a live bat, but enough to rile up his followers. His only rest came when drummer Bill Ward rocked the crowd with the best drum solo I've ever seen. What made the drum solo more impressive was the fact that it came after one solid hour of performing with Ward showing no signs of fatigue. What made the drum solo more electrifying was the strobe lighting effect that accompanied the most rapid parts of the set. I'm not sure if I can say the same for Osbourne, but Bill Ward has apparently been sober for approximately 30 years and is still quite vigorous the drums.
Despite Ozzy's energy onstage, his voice isn't what it used to be, and it became increasingly apparent towards the end of the show. But what Black Sabbath provides still, is an atmosphere of lost inhibitions and a certain degree of aggression. Ozzy finished the concert with "Crazy Train", at that point, leaving his fans with a solid concert and a great deal of entertainment.
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