Back to the Beginning

Promoted as the final show of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, Back to the Beginning did not disappoint. It showed it should also be the final outing for many artists as sad as that is to say.

• Mastodon
• Rival Sons
• Anthrax
• Halestorm
• Lamb of God
• Supergroup A
• Alice in Chains
• Gojira
• Drum off
• Supergroup B
• Pantera
• Tool
• Slayer
• GnR
• Metallica
• Ozzy
• Black Sabbath

One major cut off is anyone singing about sex now sounds massively inappropriate.

Mastodon were not a bad starter, Rival Sons I had never heard of but were fine and Antrax was surprisingly good but also rather aged. Halestorm was ok but didn't manage to really nail it. Ditto with Lamb of God.

Supergroup A was where things started looking really aged. Sammy Hagar looked like he was going to have a stroke and later one Steven Tyler's crotch grabbing antics look wildly out of place on an almost eighty year old man.

One bright spot was Nuno Bettencourt who was absolutely spot on epic. I had no idea who he was and am astounded that he is actually the guitarist for Extreme because this guy can play seriously well. 

Alice in Chains were OK, as were Gojira. The drum off was a drum off and Supergroup B was a reminder that many of these artists are getting seriously old.

Then things got better. Pantera was good although Zakk Wylde, who was on lead, seemed a little off for some reason. He played later on in the Ozzy set and he seemed of there as well. 

Tool was super tight but Slayer were fantastic. There was a moment there were I thought there was going to be some sort of Queen at Live Aid comeback but with Slayer instead of Queen. Really, really good.

Guns n Roses unfortunately destroyed the illusion before coming back and doing a half decent set. Singing about sex is one weakness of aging bands but another is how important front men are. Axel has a fantastically distinctive voice and not only was it not in sight but before he warmed up he could barely sing. Guitarists and bassists have it so much easier.

Metallica were tight and did a good set but, and I don't know if other people have noticed this, when many bands stop the drugs they seem to loose something in their playing as well.

And then came Ozzy and he can't walk. He is confined to his throne on stage and while he can still sing...just, it is really apparent that this is not only his last show but that it is very near the end of him as well.

I wondered if that was why Zakk Wylde had seemed a little off before. Because he was sad. A lot of people were. The camera would show the audience and there were people crying because of the obvious finality of it. It was the end of an era and a glimpse of mortality for the audience in the same way people have when their parents die and they realize they are next. Our youth is gone and we can no longer pretend.

After that was Black Sabbath and then the end.

Epilogue

I have listened to Black Sabbath since I found their first album with a song called the wizard on it. It looked interesting, I put it on the record player. It was raining outside. I wondered where the bell was coming from and then I nearly jumped out of my skin when the first song started. 

I have had all their albums at one point or another, in vinyl, tape and CD. I still do as flac files. I have listened to them after Ozzy left, with Dio, Tony Martin, Ian Gillan and more. Ozzy was the best and their best album is still their first. On the inside cover of which is this.

Still falls the rain, the veils of darkness shroud the blackened trees, which contorted by some unseen violence, shed their tired leaves, and bend their boughs towards a grey earth of severed bird wings. among the grasses, poppies bleed before a gesticulating death, and young rabbits, born dead in traps, stand motionless, as though guarding the silence that surrounds and threatens to engulf all those that would listen. Mute birds, tired of repeating yesterdays terrors, huddle together in the recesses of dark corners, heads turned from the dead, black swan that floats upturned in a small pool in the hollow. there emerges from this pool a faint sensual mist, that traces its way upwards to caress the chipped feet of the headless martyr's statue, whose only achievement was to die to soon, and who couldn't wait to lose. the cataract of darkness form fully, the long black night begins, yet still, by the lake a young girl waits, unseeing she believes herself unseen, she smiles, faintly at the distant tolling bell, and the still falling rain.

The sort of album that inspires angsty teens to write bad songs in an effort to copy them. Which I did.

Still falls the rain,
Clouds shed their pain.
Trees bend toward a grey earth.
 
Tired, shed your leaves.
Victim of disease.
Bend your bough toward a grey earth.
 
Can you hear that sound.?
Deep from underground.
Can you feel your heart stop beating?
 
Tired, shed your leaves.
Victim of disease.
Bend your bough toward a grey earth.

Goodbye, Black Sabbath.