Black Sabbath The End Concert Review

For as long as I can remember I've listened to Black Sabbath, I remember clearly the first time I heard Paranoid was on Guitar Hero 3 and since that moment I've been hooked. I started fanatically researching the band getting as much info as I could, and that was my first step in going over to the dark side of the music world. When I saw that this would be Black Sabbaths last tour I jumped on my computer and immediately bought a ticket to see the fathers of heavy metal. The show was a beautiful array of everything I thought a Sabbath show would be. From the very first second that the church bells dinged It was an evil journey through the twisted minds of the men who are credited with starting the genre that we all love.

The first song that opened up was "Black Sabbath" which in my opinion is the perfect opener for the band, the slow and evil song had everyone in the audience singing along. Within the first few moments Black Sabbath had established their eery presence, for a band that is mostly in their late sixties they put on a performance that would put most modern metal bands to shame. Ozzy's voice was as clear as ever and the amazingly talented Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler shredded their guitars. The opening few minutes of the concert reminded everyone in the audience why these men are the rock gods that they are.

After which Ozzy introduced the band members to the sound of thunderous applause and yelled out God bless you all which seemed a little odd after hearing such a dark song. None the less the masses yelled out our love and approval for these monsters of rock. Then "Fairies Wear Boots" began and Ozzy through his trench coat to the side and started to full body head bang. This was when everything kicked off as Tony played the intro to this song with ease and perfection and the entire crowd moved as one as the savage drum fills made our teeth chatter.

The next song I'm going to highlight is "War Pigs" which is one of Black Sabbaths most famous hits, I dont think a single person in the crowd wasn't shrieking the words to this song at the top of their lungs. The opening verse of this song is easily my favourite song chant and apparently everyone else in the amphitheatre thought so as well. As nearly 30 000 voices became one and yelled out the all to iconic "Generals gathered in their Masses, Just like witches at Black Masses" and even the seasoned veterans on stage couldn't hold back their smiles as we all joined together in our love for Sabbath.

Then Sabbath made their way into "N.I.B." which for those of you unfamiliar with the track is about the devil professing his love for a woman. It also happens to have the grooviest bass riff I think I've ever heard. Although the track is lesser known then some of the bigger hits Sabbath has released this is in no way a reflection of how awesome this song is. The lyrics are pure evil and beautiful and combine that with the expert musical beats and riffs and you have the perfect song both live and studio versions are exceptional. however something about the way that the gods of metal play this song live cause an extra chill in the air as the music really has an extra element of evil to it.

Of course we have to mention one of the most iconic songs ever "Iron Man" which is one of the few Sabbath songs that pretty well everyone knows. Theres not much to say about this song other then it was perfectly played as can be expected, Ozzy's voice was dead on and it sounded as though it was straight out of the studio.

For the encore we were given the gift of one of the biggest rock songs of all time "Paranoid" which is hands down the biggest hit Sabbath ever released as pretty well everyone on earth recognizes that signature opening riff. I dont think I've ever screamed a song louder then in that moment, as the near 15 years of being a Black Sabbath fan surfaced and I was eight years old again screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs with a stupid smile plastered on my face. I couldn't believe how phenomenal this song sounded live in an age of auto tune and bands sounding nothing like their studio albums it was refreshing to see a band doing it right. The voice, riffs and drums were perfect and as the final notes of that concert ran out and the band said their good byes. I couldn't help feel a touch of sadness as I realized that this possibly was the first and last time I will ever see one of the greatest Rock bands ever to walk this earth. Needless to say I was deaf and had that dumb smile on my faxe for the next week or so as I thought back to one of the best concerts I had attended.

Headbangers Heaven Productions.
Eric Snelling.
2016 All Rights Reserved.