Setlist:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Fairies Wear Boots
3. After Forever
4. Into The Void
5. Snowblind
6. War Pigs
7. Behind The Wall of Sleep
8. N.I.B.
9. Hand of Doom
10 Rat Salad (with drum solo)
11. Iron Man
12. Dirty Women
13. Children of the Grave
Encore:
14. Paranoid
The Review:
After
spending the first half of 2016 in a depressed state due to the fact that I
wouldn't be going to see Black Sabbath on
their 'The End' tour, I was given a
last-minute chance to do so at this weekend's Download Festival. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance and
prepared myself for what would turn out to be the muddiest Donnington festival
in history (I know it's been called Download
for almost twenty years, but let's be honest. It's the Donnington Monsters of Rock Festival in all but name, and always
will be!).
I
spent the daylight hours of Saturday trudging through lukewarm mud while
managing to not fall over, catching glimpses of bands I'd never heard of (with
notable exception of Megadeth, who were actually quite good) and
grudgingly spending five pound plus a pint on beer. It took the edge off the
mud and wet weather, though, and several pints later, I was ready for the main
event. Please welcome live on stage: BLACK SABBATH!
Black
Sabbath's
set began, appropriately enough, with 'Black
Sabbath,' the now legendary dirge that opens their iconic first album. This
was my first ever Black Sabbath show, and looks like it could be
my last. I was determined not to miss a second. With that in mind, I stood in
the pouring rain, a pint in each hand, and paid my respects to godfathers of
doom metal.
With
the opening track out of the way, it was on to the “Paranoid” album
with 'Fairies Wear Boots.' Both Tony
Iommi and Geezer Bulter were in perfect sync with drummer Tommy Clufetos, who
has played live with the band since 2012, despite not appearing on their last
album “13.” He's not Bill Ward, as it would be impossible to
replace him, but he manages to do a solid job of replicating Ward's classic
grooves on this track, and throughout the set. He hits harder than Bill did on
the original tracks, but retains enough of his jazz swing to sound authentic. I
was impressed.
Next
came two tracks from the band's classic third album “Master of Reality”:
'After Forever' and 'Into The Void.' Both were executed
flawlessly by the band, with Ozzy turning in a surprisingly solid performance,
only missing a few of the higher notes on these songs, which I expected him to
do. He hasn't really hit the high notes live for some years now, although he
carried off the mid section of 'Into The Void' in grand
style, and if you weren't looking, he could pass for a much younger version of
himself.
A
blazing rendition of 'Snowblind' from the “Volume
4” album followed, with Ozzy making quite a show of shouting 'Cocaine' on the choruses. In fact he
sounded very enthusiastic indeed and left me wondering if he ever stopped
partaking of it. Whatever he's on, it's working, and he sounded great on this
classic track which was topped off by a spot-on solo from Iommi, who wisely
went for the album version on this song (as he did throughout the set), rather
than improvising and wasting precious time.
'War Pigs' marked the rough halfway
point in the set, which lived up to expectations, again minus the odd vocal
weakness here and there from Ozzy. To be honest, most of the audience (myself
included) were just grateful that he was alive and well and able to perform!
We'd spent so long waiting for Sabbath
to play, we were just happy to see and hear them at this point!
By
now it was raining for real, with Ozzy comically asking “why does it always have to
fucking piss it down?” The band played two tracks from the first album,
'Behind The Wall of Sleep' and 'N.I.B.' (complete with Geezer's iconic
bass solo intro). This was a real treat for me. I expected the usual “War Pigs” and “Snowblind”, but to hear these early tracks live at such an
emotional point in the band's career was a privilege, and they did not
disappoint. Clufetos recreated Bill Ward's original mid-paced groove on 'Behind The Wall of Sleep' perfectly, locking
in seamlessly with Geezer's bass.
Then
came a return to the “Paranoid” album with 'Hand of Doom', another test for Ozzy's
ageing voice. He warmed up by the mid-section and pulled of a performance every
bit as satisfying as the 1970 original. This was followed by the instrumental 'Rat Salad,' with an extended drum solo
which gave Iommi, Butler
'Dirty Women' was a nice surprise, and
the only song from the band's late '70's period. The band handled the tempo
changes with ease and it sounded convincing and solid. It was nice to hear
something from the “Technical Ecstasy” album,
a period which was overlooked in the rest of the set, as were “Sabotage”
(no 'Symptom of the Universe!' -
a criminal oversight!) and “Never Say Die”.
“Children
of The Grave”
was the last song it the main set. While the song itself lived up to
expectations with all original members turning in solid, convincing
performances, Iommi made an almost unforgivable mistake in omitting the 'Embryo' intro. He just played a couple
of notes then shrugged his shoulders and smiled before the band went into the
song proper. It just looked like he couldn't be bothered, and I think it's fair
to say that a band of their stature could have afforded to make the effort.
Don't get me wrong, they are legends by any stretch of the imagination, but
come on Tony! We love this music and all you had to do was add a minute to the
set. I don't think he realised how offended some of us were by this move. As a
fellow musician, I was, at least, and I'm sure others would have been too,
especially the guitarists in the audience.
The
show was rounded off by a short pause, which gave room for the soaked but happy
crowd to chant and cheer for more, before the band returned to the stage to
belt out 'Paranoid.' This song never
sounds that good live, but it benefited from being played by Geezer and Tony
instead of the versions from Ozzy's band that I've heard in the past.
Gas-powered
fireballs (which were surprisingly hot, even from a few rows back!) were the
icing on the cake production-wise before the closing firework display above the
stage, which is a Donnington staple, and came as no surprise.
Minor
criticisms and slight flaws aside, Black Sabbath lived up to their reputation as
a classic band, and arguably the most important in heavy metal history,
especially for us doomsters. I was honoured to witness them live, and I will be
sad to see them go, even though their farewell tour has been extended into some
expensive indoor dates next year. Heavy metal being what it is, this could be
The End, or it could just be their 1998 Reunion
all over again. They may well be back, you never know. Never say die!
