The founding members of Black Sabbath are generally accepted as the creators of the heavy metal genre. Ozzy Osbourne, easily the most notorious of these men, has often been called the godfather of the genre.
So, naturally, the news that he would be making appearance at ScotiaBank Place Nov. 25 caught the attention of and excited heavy metal fans in all corners of the city, myself included.
I initially feared Ozzy would concentrate solely on the new album over his classic material. My fears could not have been more unwarranted. Of the 17 songs performed, only one was from his latest album, Scream, this being the pseudo-title track “Let Me Hear You Scream” — one of the best tracks on the record.
With all the extra space on the set list that was not spent on Scream songs, he managed to bring an impressive number of fan favourites to bear, notable examples including “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” “Crazy Train,” “Paranoid” and one that is rarely seen live, “Killer of Giants.”
To go with the awesome set list, the concert featured incredible showmanship. Ozzy demonstrated that he still has a great deal of mastery over the madman character with his insane looks, spraying foam into the crowd, dumping a bucket of water on a security guard and his rambling commentary between songs.
He also helped the crowd get into the rhythm of things, having them chant the mantra, “The crazier you get, the louder we play!”
On top of Ozzy’s showmanship, his new guitarist Gus G provided a very entertaining stage presence with a large rotary fan perpetually blowing up at him to keep his hair billowing. One notable moment saw Gus shredding an impressive five minute solo while Ozzy cleaned some foam out of his hair.
Special effects and pyrotechnics were also very well applied; special mention goes to the drum solo where drummer Tommy Clufetos was lifted on a rising platform with jets of smoke shooting out of the bottom to make it look like a rocket.
That all being said, the concert was harmed by the lack of a mosh pit. Mosh pits have become an expectation in heavy metal, and on this note the concert did not deliver.
Also, some of the crowd-involvement exercises were a little overused. The clapping over the head and arm waving got particularly tired, while its counterpart — synchronized headbanging — was underutilized.
But aside from these few relatively small problems, the show was an awesome experience and a treat to myself and my fellow heavy metal fans.