“It’s my final encore,” Ozzy Osbourne said in the run-up to the Black Sabbath Back To The Beginning show. “It’s my chance to say thank you to my fans for always supporting me and being there for me. I couldn’t have done my final show anywhere else. I had to go back to the beginning.”
War Pigs, NIB, Iron Man and Paranoid was the end of the homecoming show in an emotional reunion of the original Black Sabbath lineup—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward.
The sold-out event in front of 40,000 Metalheads saw the closure of a part of history plus a revolving stage. Online, there was a peak of 5.8m on the accompanying livestream.
“I hope they feel appreciated for how much they mean to me,” Ozzy said before the show when asked what he hoped fans would take from Back To The Beginning.
A star-studded supporting cast for Black Sabbath made for a legendary lineup. “It means everything,” Ozzy said. “I am forever in their debt for showing up for me and the fans. I can’t quite put it into words, but I feel very emotional and blessed.”
With press passes all but unavailable, MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings enjoyed the show from the comfort of his house. Here are his thoughts this morning.
The Morning after the night that was the Back To The Beginning. Or something!
I’ll admit it. When Back To The Beginning was first announced, I was sceptical. Sceptical about many elements of it. But, having sat glued to it for over nine hours yesterday, it’s time to give credit where credit is due. It was incredible.
Given the state of my bladder, knees and back these days, watching it from my living room was the right idea, and I have immense admiration for the hardy souls who spent 12 hours on the barrier. I couldn’t last more than an hour before I’d need to pee.
Naturally, the heart’s desire to have been there, in the moment, was still strong. It’s what we Metalheads do. Live music is what we live for. But my head won the day, and getting up today having drunk nothing heavier than a cuppa builders makes it a win.
The ‘live’ stream, despite the frustration of being two hours behind and seriously lagging towards the end with way too much filler, was incredible.
To run that across the globe with sound and picture blows my mind. It was worth every penny. I’ve already watched the Black Sabbath set again this morning.
Emotions were held in check right until Ozzy started singing Mama, I’m Coming Home. Like many of you, something got in my eye at that point.
Hugely poignant, it was then that you realised just how important this man is to Heavy Metal. Strip back the circus around him, and you still have the working-class lad who still can’t believe his luck.
And then the Sabs, complete with Bill for one more time. I was transported back to the 11-year-old Hutch, discovering Masters Of Reality and Paranoid for the first time, when my dear Dad brought copies home from the record shop in Pontypridd after he finished work.
Amongst the most important albums in my life, to see the band crashing through War Pigs one more time was sublime.
We also learnt that not everything that glitters is gold. Few bands can do a good cover of a Sabbath song, although kudos to Metallica for giving Johnny Blade a good go.
Shouts to Tool, Slayer and Alice in Chains, too. And to the crowd for booing Draiman. Well done.
It may be Ozzy who is hanging up the microphone, but there should be a queue of others behind him as well. Corgan, Hagar and Rose win bronze, silver and gold medals for their abysmal vocals – we just hail Satan that Vince Neil didn’t get the invite.
We also learnt that Jason Moma likes to pit, but then, so would I if I had his physique, that Nuno Bettencourt was the shining guitarist of the day (closely followed by Zack Wylde for his work on the Ozzy solo stuff), that Steven Tyler has no right to look like that at 77, and that no matter how you sell tickets, Slayer will always conjure up multiple circle pits.
It was an amazing day, with several message threads running for hours. Conversations that made the event more real, more enjoyable, and more thankful for those involved. It’s unlikely that we will ever see this again, so being in the moment was important.
Thank you, Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill. And to all involved, a huge thank you for letting the world be part of this Black Sabbath event. Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll.
“My memories of Villa Park when I was growing up were every Saturday when there was a match, I would go out with my friends and stand outside the Villa asking people for a shilling to watch their car,” Ozzy said.
“It’s a goodbye as far as my live performances go,” Ozzy said. “What a way to go out.”
