Black Sabbath: The end
After a slow start to 2016, business has picked up. Tonight was my first concert of the year. Before we get to beginning of the end, we’re going back to the end of the beginning.
The first exposure to Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne came on one particular day. My classmate Stavros was bugging me in that moment. He said to me: “Ozzie, can you say Black Sabbath ?”. I didn’t know what he was talking and I took it too seriously as I can’t take a joke. This moment must have happened during the Osbournes run on MTV. It slowly began to make sense and I began to know who Ozzy is as the Prince of Darkness and frontman for Black Sabbath. It wouldn’t be until college when their album Paranoid would become part of my DNA. It also didn’t hurt to have my name be known for something other than the last name of JFK’s assassin. I was happy to have the positive association.
It took a while to get to tonight. In April 2014, Black Sabbath’s 13 tour was in town at the Barclays Center. There was a problem, the Brit Floyd show at the Beacon Theater and the Dave Hause show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn were all in the same week on every other day. The Dave Hause show was crossed off the list as it was the same night of a friend’s birthday party. That left the other two choices. I really don’t like having to pick between concerts and in a perfect world, I’d attend all of them. The tiebreaker was left to Ticketmaster. I looked up both shows and Brit Floyd has the closest seats left and still be under $100. I didn’t think I would have another chance at it.
Then came September of 2015. I found out that The End tour was happening and jumped at the chance to get a ticket for the only date at the time. Naturally, I had a beaming smile on my face after making the purchase. Time would pass and the tour began. But as the date got closer, three dates were postponed and I worried that the dates at MSG were next to fall. Then about a week or so ago, I was invited by my friend Erin Hall to see her group, Erin & Her Cello at Rockwood Music Hall. There was a major clash as both shows were on the same night. I hated having to say no to her as I hadn’t seen her since her wedding day in October. I l’ll tell you a secret: as much fun as I have on my own, it’s a lonely existence as it pales in comparison to the shared moments with friends and family.
But one of the shows must go on. After dinner and a drink, I arrived at MSG. Next time, I’m stopping by the house and dropping off my bag to get through security faster. The opening act was the band Rival Sons from Long Beach, CA. An apt description of their sound is of a heavier version of The Cult.
At 8:45PM, the introductory video would give way to the opening bells of the song, “Black Sabbath”. The set list as a whole would heavily lean on the first three Sabbath albums as “Children of the Grave” ended the thirteen song set with the biggest hit for the encore in “Paranoid ” amidst a sea of confetti and pyrotechnics. The show was as good as you’d expect without original drummer Bill Ward. The sum of Ozzy’s enthusiasm, Tony and Geezer’s rythymns and Tommy’s pounding on the drums, especially on the instrumental “Rat Salad” that bled into “Iron Man” drove myself and the crowd to rapturous applause. There was a moment to restore my faith in humanity as the young kid sitting next to me was air drumming through most of the show.
The first of five concerts this year is in the history books. I needed something to smile about this and I got that tonight. There won’t be much time for the let down to sink in. This time next week, The Who Hits 50 will be next!
