Sure, both the audience and the Black Sabbath roster -- comprising current Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, alongside former members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice -- have aged. (For whatever reasons -- legal, personal or otherwise -- the foursome, sans legendary Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, are billing themselves as Heaven and Hell on this tour, not Black Sabbath.) Whatever you call them, the heavy metal icons can still get the crowd going, albeit with epic banger riffs rather than bloody theatrics.
For diehard Ozzy fans, the set surely came as a disappointment, with no Iron Man, War Pigs, Snowblind or Paranoid to feed on. But post-Ozzy classics -- Mob Rules, Voodoo, Die Young and I (from Dio's reunion with the group for the Dehumanizer tour) -- went off without a hitch. Awash in purple, green and white lights and smoke, against a gothic set of angel-and-death imagery, the reunited Sabbath vets cared little about the theatrics and focused instead on getting the music right -- which they did with technical precision.
The musicianship was focused and Dio's vocals, the flawless centrepiece of the reunion, and Iommi's wailing solos. A mid-set drum solo from Appice was entertaining, but came off as strained. There were three new songs in the set -- Ear In The Wall, The Devil Cried and Shadow Of The Wind, all of which paled in comparison to the classics.
Highlights included Lady Evil, a perfect showcase for Butler's bass skills, the slower, dramatic The Sign Of The Southern Cross and the epic Children Of The Sea, about which Dio beamed, "This is the song that started it all for us. It was the very first song we ever wrote all those years ago." Despite the cheesy spinning digital crosses and smoke machines, the Heaven And Hell set was markedly stocked with sincerity -- something that was glaringly lacking in the opening set from California bangers Megadeth.
Fronted by Dave Mustaine and rounded out by guitarist Glen Drover, bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Shawn Drover, the thrash metal-heads would be much better served to leave their jam where it belongs -- in the '80s. That way, we could all throw them some devil horns for their contribution to the hair-metal scene and pretend they're not about to release a new album. (They are: United Abominations is due in stores May 8).
Granted, Megadeth's set went over well with the old-school banger crowd, and served as an acceptible justification for the kids buying Megadeth T-shirts in droves. But it was Heaven And Hell's night, and although they never actually said "Sabbath," the black magic Sabbath spirit was alive and kicking. Apparently, Dio felt it too, shouting to the crowd, with arms raised, "If I had longer arms, I'd touch you all.
News RSS