“Let the madness begin!” bellowed a mischievous Ozzy Osbourne from his bat-and-skull encrusted throne in front of a sold-out Villa Park in Birmingham, England. The Prince of Darkness had finally taken to the stage after a marathon of legendary metal bands paid homage to his life and work throughout the day for his and Black Sabbath‘s Back to the Beginning concert on Saturday, July 5.
The Summer of Sabbath had been in full flow in Birmingham for weeks now, though. The proud home city of heavy metal rolled out the purple carpet for its most famous sons’ homecoming. Boozers were decked with purple balloons and flags; murals were everywhere you looked; people donned Ozzy outfits, flooding the streets with battered T-shirts and denim jackets. It felt like a World Cup final for the metal fans who flooded in from every corner of the planet.
That carnival atmosphere hit the moment you stepped out of New Street Station, where fans gathered around the nearby Black Sabbath Bridge mural, which Osbourne and the band duly signed earlier in the week. We met one fan from London, who said he was on a Sabbath pilgrimage before the gates opened later in the day. “I’m going around the city doing all of the sites like The Crown where they played their first ever show, the various exhibitions and Ozzy the Bull!”
This of course was before you even made your way to Villa Park, the historic football ground housed in the working class suburb which was once home to the band’s four members.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by rumbles of distortion and a giant inflatable Ozzy who watched over his parish. Heading into the stadium, Cody Holl, a fan who traveled from Pennsylvania, was in a state of giddy delirium. “It’s Black Sabbath’s last Sabbath,” Holl said. “I’ve never seen them before and I told myself after that 2017 tour, I’m going no matter what, I just had to be here.”
The heavy metal royalty who graced the stage throughout the day were clearly struck by a similar sense of awe, that’s perhaps because Black Sabbath have shaped and influenced each and every one of them, from openers Mastadon right through to thrash veterans Anthrax and Lamb of God. The latter delivered an early standout moment with a cover of “Children of the Grave,” which drew a gaping circle pit that formed on the pitch.
The day was packed with such moments: For those lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold-out bash, the main challenge presented was bottling it all up.
Even on this star-studded lineup though, there was always room for surprise as Yungblud joined the day’s first supergroup set for a cover of “Changes.” Stomping onstage with spit and venom, he dedicated the band’s most heartfelt song to the late Liverpool striker Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash. “We’d all collectively like to dedicate this next song to Diogo Jota. God bless Black Sabbath and God bless Ozzy Osbourne,” he declared before a heartfelt rendition that stopped the stadium in its tracks.
Amid the palpable emotion there was also scope for the ridiculous as Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Chad Smith, and Tool’s Danny Carey indulged in a drum-off fronted by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. That was before Billy Corgan and Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing entered the fray and tore into “Breaking the Law.”
The extravaganza rolled on with more legends including Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, and Tool, who all seized their respective 30-minute sets. As the sun dipped under the clouds, Slayer took to the stage and produced the day’s biggest moshpit so far, the kind that felt like dicing with death when entering as they shredded through genre-defining epics like “Reign in Blood” and “Angel of Death.”
Guns N’ Roses teed up the home stretch towards Metallica, Osbourne, and Sabbath. Having headlined this very venue themselves but a week prior, the rock giants were clearly loving life as they covered “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” before the iconic guitar intro of “Welcome to the Jungle.”
One of the most profound tributes to Sabbath came from Metallica’s James Hetfield as he surveyed the thousands ahead of him. “Without Sabbath there would be no Metallica, thank you boys for giving us a purpose in life,” he said before unleashing a career-spanning run of the band’s biggest anthems.
After a strobing montage of his glory days, Osbourne took to the stage and shot straight from the hip. “It’s so good to be on this fucking stage you have no idea,” he said before questioning, “Have you had a good day today?” before the ominous organ intro of “Mr. Crowley.”
Osbourne was trembling with emotion as he sang the ballad “Mama I’m Coming Home,” and the sense of meaning was almost unprecedented as he was back where it all began over 50 years ago.
After a riotous rendition of “Crazy Train,” he departed and returned for a condensed set with Black Sabbath, who arrived to the rain and church bell tolls of “War Pigs.” It was pure theater as Osbourne clutched the microphone stand with OZZY tattooed upon his knuckles and sang that opening line that still speaks to the world today: “Generals gathered in their masses…”
Though confined to his chair, Osbourne writhed and wriggled like a man summoning every last inch of the hell-raising spirit still in him as he bowed out with “Iron Man” and “Paranoid.” “Go fucking crazy, it’s the last song,” he said before the latter and boy did the masses oblige.
For all the false farewells and goodbyes in his career, there was something so final about this one that added a crushing poignancy to the night.
The great tragedy is that so often such legends die before celebrations on this level can take place, yet by some great miracle or divine intervention Ozzy Osbourne was here to take his final bow with his own tribe.
Ozzy Osbourne Set List
“I Don’t Know”
“Mr. Crowley”
“Suicide Solution”
“Mama, I’m Coming Home”
“Crazy Train”
Black Sabbath Set List
“War Pigs”
“N.I.B.”
“Iron Man”
“Paranoid”
This story was originally published on Rolling Stone UK.