Close call on this one, made the mistake of not getting a ticket in advance, so it was wander the street to see what the price was going to be. 40 quid, see you, 30, forget it, luckily, some kindly soul whose girlfriend hadn't turned up sold me a ticket for 15. £1 over the price, but not bad I guess.
So, first up Fear Factory. Well, only got the Demanufacure album, so couldn't tell you what the other tracks were that they played, but tonight Demanufacture, Self Bias Resistor (classic in the making), Replica, Dog Day Sunrise and other sound pretty crushing. I was surprised at the pit activity, and that noone made it onstage, maybe it's because Ozzy attracts more, ahem, mature, people, but that frenzied action at the front did seem to be missing. Neve mind, when the headline Rock City themselves the missing link should slot into place. By the way, the drummer cannot be human, it is impossible to play that fast and tight surely?
And so to the Oz. Lost count of the number of bands I've seen over the years, but this was the first time that I've managed to see Ozzy. Despite the fact that he has a new album out "Ozzmosis", there was no new material played tonight. Just classic after classic Ozzy and Sabbath. I mean, how many other bands can open with something like Paranoid, and not go downhill afterwards. Well, that was followed by the first bucket of water for the crowd and I Don't Know from the seminal Blizzard of Ozz album. The band also plucked out Suicide Solution, Goodbye to Romance and (yes!) Mr. Crowley (yep, I like that one :-) ). Flying High Again represented the Diary of a Madman album, whilst No More Tears (yeah, he played it Paul), Mama I'm Coming Home and another I can't remeber showed off the No More Tears album.
Nothing from the Shot in the Dark album, and I don't think there was anything from the No Rest for the Wicked album (but I don't have that one so I wouldn't know anyway). Iron Man, War Pigs, the excellent Children of the Grave and possibly Sweetleaf (I think it may have been, but can't really remember) represented the Sabbath era, and the night was finished off with Bark at the Moon.
Ozzy truly looks as if he's enjoying himself up on stage, and that comes across to the crowd, so even if you do get splash in the face by one of the countless buckets of water, you don't mind. Having said that, it's a relief in Rock City, why is the place so goddam hot?
Geezer played like, well a bass player really, the new guitarist, Joe Holmes, was cool, played the stuff as it should be with no extras, and, thank god, all other bands please take, note NO SOLO'S.
One downer, how come Rock City have the audacity to put a bottle of Newcastle Brown up from their price of £2.10 to £2.60 just for this gig. They didn't for the Wildhearts. Just trying to rip people off hey.
Overall Dave Verdict: Worth the extra quid to get in. Great double bill, the Ozz ain't dead yet, and extreme metal has its future in safe hands with Fear Factory.
When I get my CD back off Kev, I'll place the link to the official Ozzy home page here.
Got it, so here it is.