After so many years of abandonment, "The Prince of Darkness" was finally coming back to the island. I had never been able to see Ozzy in his solo act or during his Black Sabbath days, so I was excited. And the excitement was evident from the crowd as it gathered for the "pre-game". Everyone had come to the same conclusion even before the night of music and mayhem had begun... it was going to be a night to remember. We got there a little bit on the late side, (*shakes fist at Fefi*) and as we were standing in line, a guy with a megaphone announced that there would be no opening act. That should have been a sign of things to come, but we were still on a high. Chiko argued with me that no opening band meant no Adam Zoom (another story for another day), and while I tend to agree, an opening band would help to raise the anticipation for what was to come even more. So, after buying our Ozzy 'Scream Tour' shirts ('True Fuckin' Metal'), we went to our seats.
Then the opening video began to play. The video was pretty funny, putting Ozzy as different characters of pop culture happenings like 'Jersey Shore', 'Avatar', a Lady Gaga music video, etc. The problem was that the sound was pretty bad and thus we couldn't really understand most of what Ozzy says. It was pretty funny to see Ozzy as Edward from 'Twilight'. Before the show started outright though, I have to mention that the production values on this show were pretty much nil. Two crappy screens and the barest stage I have seen in a while. After seeing Iron Maiden and Metallica, this was incredibly disappointing.
The set-list in my eyes was a pretty mixed bag. While there were some Ozzy classics like 'Bark at the Moon', 'Shot in the Dark', 'Suicide Solution' and 'Crazy Train' and some Black Sabbath musts like 'Paranoid', 'Iron Man' and 'War Pigs'. There were some awesome songs that were completely left out and could have probably substituted some stuff like 'Faeries Wear Boots' and 'I Don't Know'. Songs like 'Mama, I'm Coming Home', 'Perry Mason', 'Miracle Man' etc. were conspicuous by their absence.
Now, credit where credit is due. Ozzy (or Sharon) has an amazing eye for talented musicians. "Blasko" Nicholson (bass) and Tommy Clufetos (drums) were pretty damned good and you could tell that they are in tune with one listen. They used to play together with Rob Zombie. Adam Wakeman (keyboards, rhythm guitar) also deserves a mention. But one of the men that people were looking forward to seeing live is the Greek ace Gus G. The guy can play fast. There is no doubt about it, but at times it seems like he is too robotic. Definitely still prefer Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde and Jake E. Lee over Gus G.
The biggest problem with the show was probably its length. It was way too short. It was so short that a friend of mine bought a burger and some fries and he had to eat them on the way out. I think it was lame how it ended and I think that our money was stolen. Chiko and I kept thinking that there was something wrong with Ozzy because his voice faltered quite a few times.
Now unto the score for the concert. I can't possibly give this concert a high score. While it was exciting to see Ozzy, but its like a friend of ours said... "Ozzy gave us musical blue balls".
4 out of 10.
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