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The actual name of this line up is Heaven & Hell as only Ozzy fronted bands can call themselves Black Sabbath…..apparently! This line up is: Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitars), Geezer Butler (bass guitar) & Vinny Appice (drums). Which last appeared on the vastly underrated De-humanizer album from 1992.
What made this show different from the recent Ozzy fronted Sabbath shows is that all the songs were selected from the 3 albums fronted by Dio, namely Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules & De-humanizer….and what a refreshing change it was.
First band up was the American power-metal outfit, Iced Earth whom I happen to think are one of the best metal bands out there…..technically very gifted with some wonderful melodic metal that come pretty close – in my opinion - to matching the mighty Maiden. Their vocalist is the outstanding Tim “Ripper” Owens who was recently with Judas Priest before Mr Halford decided to get back where the money was! The recent Iced Earth album – “Framing Armageddon – Something Wicked Part 1” (Part 2 to come in April 08) is one of the best metal releases this year – definitely a must buy for lovers of melodic metal. They were only on stage for 30 minutes, which was ridiculous, considering the band that followed.
Lamb Of God – now Death/Thrash Metal has it’s place, but it wasn’t at this show!. Whoever put this mob in this line up needs stringing up…..totally out of place. More Iced Earth would have been MUCH more preferable than this lot….loads of energy, but not much else. Most of the crowd were at the bar & merchandise stalls ‘nuff said I think!
Onto the legends….what can one say that hasn’t been said before about these guys. The show they put on was simply stunning – a great set list from the 3 Dio albums, meant they didn’t have to play Iron Man, Paranoid, Black Sabbath or War Pigs for the thousandth time. You could tell they really enjoyed playing the different material. Tony Iommi was staggering - even by his amazing standards….impossible to pick a highlight of his playing, but if pushed – his instrumental version of Die Young was god-like. Geezer Butler was rock solid as he always is plucking his bass with style! Vinny Appice was a powerhouse on the drums, even his solo wasn’t boring! The man himself Mr R.J Dio gives hope to all pensioners out there – he is at least 65 years old now, but his voice still has everything one could wish for & more. In my view only Brucie from Maiden is his superior…but Bruce is 20 years younger!!
Too many highlights to list them all here. But here are a few of my fave tracks…. Sign Of the Southern Cross, I, Mob Rules, Computer God, Falling Off The Edge Of The World, a 20 minute version of Heaven & Hell!!….and the crushingly heavy brand new track, Shadow of the Wind….the riffs literally shook the foundations of the arena – amazing stuff from Mr Iommi yet again. Finally, an honourable mention to the stage set design – the lighting effects were amazing!
Set List:
Mob Rules
Children of the Sea
I
Sign of the Southern Cross
Voodoo
Drum solo
Computer God
Falling Off the Edge of the World
Die Young (guitar instrumental & full vocal versions)
Heaven & Hell (20 minutes)
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Shadow of the Wind
Neon Nights
Summary:
The Living Legends that are Black Sabbath live on and with a new album on its way in late 2008…they show no sign of letting up. Bring it on!
Prodigal's star rating:
Black Sabbath 10/10
Iced Earth 10/10
Lamb of God 1/10 (shouldn’t have been there)
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