Never Gonna Stop...

Finally... after the weekend (and with the absence of my God-daughter who had a ticket waiting for her, but she didn't turn up): last night was Ozzy Osbourne (supported by Sevendust). Eleven years ago I missed him when he toured with Black Sabbath, which was unfortunate as I would have liked to see him at the peak of his powers. I have to admit that after seeing him in The Osbournes (on MTV) I was initially hesitant about getting a ticket. Now, however, I am very glad that I did. Met up with my friend Michelle after work, had some Japanese and Sake before heading into Acer Arena, where (having Gold Standing Tickets) got up close to Sevendust's last couple of numbers, which were surprisingly melodic and quite powerful. Means that I will be investigating them in the next week or so. No offense to Sevendust, but I was there to see the Godfather of Metal.Intermission, an Ozzy Tour T-Shirt... (WTF is with it and the prices? The cheapest T was $50!! Talk about seriously ripping people off! Something has to be done about the prices over at Acer Arena) ... I got a drink (a can of Bundy & Coke for $7.50), dashed down to the floor and after a montage of bigscreen photos, the great man hit the stage. Still a little bent over from having over a decade of (allegedly) having an incorrect prescription for his medical condition(s), his well-documented excesses in the 70's and 80's, followed by his near-fatal quad-bike crash 4 years ago (Jeez! Was it that long ago??) his smile was still infectious, his eyes still as dark and piercing as they ever were, and his voice still steadily rocks out. He's a fucking madman onstage, loves the attention, and can still belt out 'Mr. Crowley' and 'Suicide Solution' like no-one else can. Many solo numbers (remember that he has been solo for almost twice as long as he was with Sabbath) interspersed with some Sabbath numbers made the night seriously good (at times I think I have a gift for understatement). He goaded the audience into participating (Pft! like they needed any encouragement) to the extent that at one early point he simply dropped trou and mooned the multi-thousand strong roaring crowd. Of course that roaring jumped up several notches as soon as the opening beats of 'War Pigs' started. I should note again that his voice is clear and strong, frenetic as ever, and steady; and (apart from some sound issues which seemed more technical than anything else) his lyrics are still clear and still speak with that manic undercurrent of forbidden darkness. His support band was utterly amazing and his lead guitarist, a Viking guitar legend ripped out of Norse mythology by the name of Zakk Wyldd, gave Ozzy a mid-set rest as he launched into a blistering 15-20 minute lead guitar solo which sent the entire auditorium into paroxysms of stunned cheering (coupled with main-screen projections of female fans baring breasts to gain the attention of both Zakk and the rest of the heaving crowd). This man had all the Rock-God tricks of the trade, not only with the stance and the body to carry it off, he weilded his guitar like a weapon of old, even to the extent of playing it behing his neck and even melodically hitting chord progressions with his teeth. I was breathless... the girls next to me had 'melted' (I think that's the kindest word to use). The show finished up and the encore was as good as expected, and 'Paranoid' being the very Sabbath-oriented finish that we fans wanted. Unfortunately, the hoped-for second encore didn't happen... but no matter. The Prince Of Darkness had returned, graced us with his still hallowed presence and has sworn that he will not wait another 11 years to be back and bless us all again with his 'satanic' gifts.