Back to the roots with Ozzy: Black Sabbath live at BST Hyde Park review
Black Sabbath day at Hyde Park kicked off with rock legends Motorhead and went on with heavy bangers Faith No More and Soundgarden, all in splendid shape to be honest. Not only it might have been Black Sabbath’s last concert ever with Ozzy Osbourne, it was also his wedding anniversary to the woman “who saved my a… too many times“, as he himself yelled from the stage to over 55,000 adoring fans.
Whether you were in the VIPSlashPressSlashToPayingFans area close to the stage or the far too distant zone behind the barriers on July 4th 2014, you witnessed and joined a topic moment in music history. The frail image of an old Ozzy showed on The Osbournes TV Show completely disappeared on stage and we were given back the howling rockstar we’ve come to love. Even though he’s obviously mellowed down and his “I can’t f.cking hear you” yells at the crowd couldn’t have scared a fly, his vocal performance was outstanding along with the – needless to say – musically perfect skills flaunted by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and touring drummer Tommy Clufetos.
Opening with War Pigs soon set the stage for a powerful political statement… too bad most of the fans who were behind the barriers in the far zone were too drunk and focused on acting “rebellious” trying to jump over the barriers and fighting with the security guards instead of enjoying the chance to see and hear one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music.
Another epic moment was when the time for Black Sabbath came: darkness on stage, the black rain displayed on the mega-screens, the sound of the bells and Ozzy’s lament changed the atmosphere on the entire park, like a gloomy spell that preceded actual rain only of a couple of minutes. The epic second part of the song presented the attendees one of the best moments live rock music could ask for: an extended display of pure music talent by Tony Iommi who never really chases to amaze when he’s playing the guitar.
Seeing Black Sabbath live once again reminded me that real rough rock ‘n roll is not dead, at least until such legends keep on walking on stage… but such legends are not immortal, so, with a couple of exceptions, what the future is going to hold for rock ‘n roll will only look like a pale memory of glory days.
Complete Set List:
War Pigs
Into the Void
Snowblind
Age of Reason
Black Sabbath
Behind the Wall of Sleep
N.I.B. (Preceded by “Bassically” Geezer Butler Solo)
Fairies Wear Boots
Rat Salad (with Drum Solo)
Iron Man
God Is Dead?
Children of the Grave
Paranoid (with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath intro)
Zeitgeist
