First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Tinley Park (Chicago), IL
[ Official Band Facebook Page for Gig ]
THE BAND
- Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals
- Tony Iommi – Guitar
- Geezer Butler – Bass
- Tommy Clufetos – Drums
- Adam Wakeman – Keyboards
OPENER
SET LIST
- THIS IS THE PRESUMED SET LIST
- War Pigs
- Into the Void
- Under the Sun
- Snowblind
- Age of Reason
- Black Sabbath
- Behind the Wall of Sleep
- NIB
- End of the Beginning
- Fairies Wear Boots
- Methademic
- Rat Salad / Drum Solo
- Iron Man
- God is Dead?
- Dirty Women
- Children of the Grave
- Paranoid
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO
- None available yet
It was a great time, really enjoyed the show.
An Evening with BLACK SABBATH in Tinley Park
By Joel Roza
THE STORY
My brother-in-law Jimmy and I arrived at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre around 6:15 pm and sat in the parking lot for a bit, pre-gaming with beers from home and Sabbath blaring through the speakers. I did take this opportunity to introduce him to a song I consider to be the single-worst slice of music since Bill H. Music invented music, that being “The Illusion of Power” from Sabbath’s 1995 album, Forbidden. He’d never heard it, so I figured I’d take this momentous occasion to show him how low Sabbath fell in 1995. I know Tony Iommi has plans to remix and re-master that album, and who knows? Maybe he can work some magic there. But in my opinion, the songs themselves are just awful. Tony Martin’s wonderful voice is stymied, Cozy Powell sounds like he’s drumming underwater and while I won’t knock Iommi’s riffs, it’s the least creative thing Sabbath ever did. Again, my opinion.
A near-tragic event almost occurred before the show ever started. I bought these tickets off of a seller from Stubhub and sent one ticket download to Jimmy and kept the other for me. The e-mail was clearly marked, but it didn’t matter apparently. Jimmy got his ticket scanned, and got in. My ticket was scanned and came up “already in use”. Jimmy and I had printed the same ticket.
Mother of God.
I went to the ticket window and asked if they could re-print it, but they couldn’t because I wasn’t the original ticket holder. The lady at the window then told me if I pulled up the ticket on my phone, they could scan that and get me in. I pulled out my phone, only to watch it drop signal and cut off my access to my email. Perfect. As I waited for my phone to re-start, I started thinking of ways I could sue T-Mobile for their faulty signal, or sue Live Nation, or find someone who could teach me how to sue someone. Then my phone, with signal, came up and I got in. Crisis averted. No lawsuit.
Inside the venue, merchandise, food and drinks were outrageously overpriced as expected, but I had to come out of this with a Sabbath bomber shirt. I’ve always loved that Never Say Die! design, so it was a necessary evil to fork over the $40. The $13.75 I spent on cheese sticks and a Coke, however, was an abomination to my wallet. I’m sorry forever.
One last anecdote. As we made our way to the seating area, a guy passing Jimmy grabbed his arm, and told Jimmy as he pointed at his Sabbath shirt “those guys suck, they fucking suck…cool shirt, bro.” and then proceeded to grab his face and give him a bro hug. Jimmy was horrified. He is in no way a social butterfly, so of course he’s a natural magnet for weirdos at concerts. It was perfect.
THE OPENER
I knew from all the previous reviews from shows on this tour what Andrew W.K.’s shtick was going to be, but it was still such a massive disappointment. Jimmy and I started going over all the bands Sabbath could’ve brought on in place of this guy and, eventually, worked our way from The Sword to me with my iPod on shuffle. Andrew WK? More like Stand There Like A Boob And Press Play WK. Useless. Black Sabbath deserves so much better. One of my theories on why they chose Andrew WK to open for them was that it can only get better from there. Even if Ozzy is off on a given night, you’ll take it over Andrew WK’s iTunes.
My other theory was he’s probably really cheap. Criminally cheap. Paid in beer cheap. I could see it.
BLACK SABBATH
A lot has been made about Ozzy’s voice on this tour. I’ve watched videos from every show this tour and have heard what everyone else has heard. The Houston show was horrific, and Austin was only marginally better. As the tour has winded its way through the States and Canada, Ozzy seems to have gotten stronger. The Toronto footage from 3 nights ago was stupendous, so I was really amped for tonight, hopeful for a great show. The last time I saw Sabbath, back in 2005 at Ozzfest in California, Ozzy lost his voice midway through “Dirty Women”, slammed his mic down and left. Tony, Geezer, and Bill simply carried on with an extended solo bit until Ozzy returned and briskly finished the set. So I was really hoping for an inspired Ozzy. I don’t care if his voice cracks. He’s 64 years old and he’s lived a HARD life. I get it. Just stay in tune.
THE SETLIST
War Pigs
Into the Void
Under the Sun
Snowblind
Age of Reason
Black Sabbath
Behind the Wall of Sleep
Bassically/NIB
End of the Beginning
Fairies Wear Boots
Rat Salad / Drum Solo
Iron Man
God is Dead?
Dirty Women
Children of the Grave
Paranoid
Sometime in the last week or so, Sabbath quietly removed “Methademic” from their setlist, replacing it with, I guess, an extended drum solo from Tommy Clufetos (more on him later). The rest of the set is consistent with what has been played on tour thus far, so I had a pretty concrete idea of what was being played.
OZZY’S VOICE
Through my singing of every, single song and excessive head banging, I paid close attention to Ozzy’s voice. I can confirm for anyone reading this that it was in top form. He was so good, so animated, and so inspired. His voice cracked quite a bit at the end of “Snowblind” as well as “Children of the Grave”, but he was otherwise pitch perfect and able to pull off the show. Jimmy and I were amazed and in awe of him. He even pulled off some of those frog jumps or whatever they are, and was running from one side of the stage to the other while singing, which was great to see, especially during “Age of Reason”.
TONY
Anyone expecting a weakened Tony Iommi was going to be pleasantly disappointed. Not even lymphoma can slow down the Iron Man. It was an honor to watch him shred all night. It was also great to see him having so much fun. He folded over in laughter 2-3 times, and was generally very responsive to the crowd. Tony’s always had this reputation as being very stoic on stage, and he can be that a lot of times, so when you get to see him smile, play around, and just generally enjoying YOUR experience, it’s a pleasure.
GEEZER
You can’t not marvel at Geezer Butler. It’s impossible. The man is so gifted, so unique in what he does and how he plays. Of course he was phenomenal last night. Of course his playing of the NIB intro bit “Bassically” compelled many around us to say things like “holllly shit!”
Recently, Geezer did an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in which he stated that he believed that this current tour would “probably” be Sabbath’s last. I’ve learned over these many years that Geezer often says what he’s feeling at the moment, not really looking into the future. I’m not saying Geezer lies, but I am saying he often says things that end up being completely and totally untrue. It isn’t lying. At worst, it’s a lack of foresight. At best, it’s some misdirection being tossed about. Whatever the case may be, his statement does make sense. The guys are 64 and 65 years old. It cannot be easy touring the world nowadays. If this album and this tour marks the swan song of Black Sabbath, after 45 years, I can live with that.
Three years ago, when Ronnie James Dio passed away, I wrote that I didn’t want a reunion with Ozzy. The band had ended on such a high with Ronnie – great tours, a great album that shot to #8 on the Billboard charts, and a ton of goodwill from fans. People had gotten so bored with Ozzy-era Sabbath shows because they were all the same. Ozzy’s voice can only handle certain songs, and that was in 2006! Plus, there was no new material to draw from. Ronnie’s version of the band could crank out an album annually. It was so easy and the focus was there. I wanted Sabbath to retire on a high note. Thankfully, my request to stop there wasn’t granted. Sabbath brewed up a great album, and is blazing through America on a tour that is getting better with age. So if this IS it, I’m happy to say I was there.
TOMMY CLUFETOS AND THE BILL WARD THING
Sabbath, for the recording of “13”, enlisted Rage against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk to play in place of founding drummer Bill Ward, who left the reunion before it could start due to contractual issues. Wilk was amazing on the record, sounding like a young Bill Ward, complete with blues and jazz chops. Many, many props to Brad Wilk.
On the tour, Sabbath enlisted Ozzy’s solo band drummer, Tommy Clufetos, who had been drumming for Sabbath since they started doing shows again in 2012. I’ve stated many times before that I would’ve loved for Brad Wilk to be on this tour, playing his songs with Sabbath, as well as the classics. His chops were just fantastic. So I was disappointed to see Tommy slotted in again for the American dates, but he did a great deal to win me over last night. He takes a little creative liberty in his drumming, but he stays largely true to the original material, and the band really seems to get on with him. His drum solo was pretty awesome, too. I wouldn’t slap it alongside any Neil Peart solos, but it was really good nonetheless. He plays hard, he plays loud, and has the whole hippie, Bill Ward circa 1978 look going for him. I’m officially fine with Tommy touring with Sabbath.
As for Bill Ward, I hate that he’s not on tour, or on the new record. But in some ways, it just seems like the time has passed for him to be playing drums in Black Sabbath full-time. I think his exit, and the current Ozzy-fueled onslaught about his being overweight, out of shape, etc is a bit clumsy, but it is what it is. It’s Black Sabbath, man. Lineup changes are the norm. I don’t understand why people are so up in arms about it. It sucks, but what can you do? Just enjoy the show.
HIGHLIGHTS
I really loved “Age of Reason”, “God is Dead?”, “Under the Sun”, “Behind the Wall of Sleep”, and “End of the Beginning” especially last night. I love all the tracks they played, but these were highlights for me. It’s funny to me in a way because “God is Dead?” is one of those tracks that, since it was the first single and I lived with it longer than the rest of the album, I always tend to skip it when it comes on my iPod. But it just fit so well in the set. The second half of the song, which is my favorite, just had me going fucking crazy. I just loved it.
I was shocked at how easily the new material fit in with the old stuff. On record, it sounds like it should. But you never know with a live show. In this case, it worked out great. The songs went over really well.
Another highlight, as mentioned before, was just the interaction between the band. Ozzy and Tony in particular were really playful all night, really into it and just totally immersed in the music. No sound issues, no large voice issues, no bad nothing. It was just a great, great show. I also found it really humorous when Ozzy, whenever the lights would go out, would start going “cookoo, cookoo” into the mic. At first, no one knew what to do with it. Eventually, everyone did it back to him. Old people and their funny quirks.
THE WRAP
Last night may very well have been the last time I ever see Black Sabbath on stage again. If it was, and even if it wasn’t, I’d like to thank Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, Tommy and every other past member of Sabbath for the work they’ve put in, the music they’ve pushed out, and, as James Hetfield once said, for spreading their wonderful disease through generations of musicians, as well as fans.
Thank you, Black Sabbath. I, too, have sold my soul for rock and roll.
awesome review. Big fan and always following reviews from each concert. I went to the show in Brisbane on the 25th of April and felt much the same. It was a great gig and ozzy sounded excellent. They werent playing age of reason yet though. Cheers
I’ve loved sabbath since I was 8 years old,I am now 47. I’ve seen Ozzy a dozen times over the years good and bad, I have even seen Sabbath back in 04′ at Ozzfest will Bill Ward. Friday was the greatest I’ve ever heard Black Sabbath sound since the early days. They were crisp, very clean and downright phenomenal musically. This will be the last time I see them more than likely in my lifetime and it was an experience I will never forget. They are without a doubt always be the kings of heavy metal music, a well deserved title that will never be surpasseed. Congrats to Sabbath after 40 years of proving who the big boys are. You truly are the Iron Men… We love you all!!! mm/ mm/
Great review!
My friend and I had some bad luck getting to and at the show also. The free Reggies Rock buses were all full by the time we got to the club at 5:30 and time was a ticking – show starts in 2 hours! We had no other choice but to take a cab out to Tinley Park from Chicago. The drive out there feels like you’ve drove through another state and the ride cost $70 bucks!
We get there and the cab declines my buddies’ credit card (not to mention he forgot his debit card the night before at a bar) so I pay w/ mine and we get out in the parking lot. Man, the good ol’ days of “HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT ” movie are over – they prod you like cows into the arena. He squares everything out on the phone with the credit card company and they lift the freeze on his card.
We head into some kinda thorny shrubs on the hillside and fire up some sweet leaf and come out all scratched up. So what, we’re here – worry about how we’re getting back in 2 hours.
After the bogus of the gate shakedown, we go to get overpriced beer and they check our ID and give us a wristband that means absolutely nothing as they assure us we’ll still have to show IDs if we get more beer. What? I ask her if the wristband grants me the right to not be forced to scrub the toilets after the show. No laugh -tough crowd.
Guess what? He’s now lost his credit card! WTF! They will let him out but no re entry so it looks like I’m funding the entire evening. I’m never prepared for this senario but tonight strangely enough, I was.
Now he cancels his credit card on the phone and I tell him he’s my bad luck charm – the fuckin’ poster boy for 13 if ever there was one! I tell him if you see anyone in Sabbath – don’t you go anywhere near them or the curse will be on them -I’M FUCKIN’ SERIOUS!!!
We go get some shots of whiskey and have a laugh – I tell him at this point, if we have to hitch hike back on the highway to Chicago and one of us needs to become a “lot lizard” and take a shot in the mouth from a truckdriver – that’s all you buddy! HA!HA!
We head up to the lawn and he sees a friend and we secure a ride back for later – COOL! Some guy stumbles over and begs him for a joint – he’ll pay $20 bucks for a $3 joint – OK. Funny thing, of all the bad luck things that can happen at shows – WE’RE STILL WELL ARMED WITH WEED!!!
We burn some more and head down to row 30 front and center from stage. No one lost their ticket and the sirens kick up. The masses are gathered!
Yes!!! Seats were awesome (except for the muscle bound guy next to us that’s fist pumping the entire set and eyeing me like he’s gonna rape me if I don’t rock out as much as him) The sound was unexpectedly great and I agree Ozzy’s voice has strengthened as the tour progresses. I saw them in Austin and they were even more in the pocket tonight.
Tony and Ozzy were busting some laughter during Dirty Women (maybe some titty flashers in front row?) and at one point Oz popped on a jester clown hat – all good fun.
Glad they dropped Methademic, it really is just a filler track – I think all of us would really like Damaged Soul to replace it or hey guys – take a whiff – Did someone cough SWEET LEAF?!!!
“ALRIGHT NOW!!!”
So all in all – some genuine 13 bad luck, a fantastic set and no one got raped or had to give a BJ for a ride back home. Damn Rock & Roll good time!
I have been to over 400 rock concerts in my life ( I will be 48 years old in 5 weeks) and this one is right up there with the top 5 or ten shows I ever saw. Ozzy was spot on and from my seat in the pit area (5th row dead center) I could see every little thing like the fun that Ozzy was having with the guys and yes, just like the review above says, there was a woman in the front row and off to the side that flashed a huge rack of chest meat at Ozzy. I thought he was gonna kill over when he saw those! He clearly said Wow and got right back to the singing. When Ozzy popped on that jester hat that another lady threw up at him, Tony and geezer were laughing with Ozzy. The show was outstanding and they really brought it to us! I enjoyed myself and as a bonus, Ozzy threw two buckets of water on the folks all around me as I too got cooled down. As for the Coocoo sounds Ozzy kept making all night, I was the guy up front who kept responding to him and laughing like a madman with him. I will never forget this night…thanks Guys and as you kept saying all night Ozzy “we love you guys”…so goes for all of us to you in the band…we will love you forever!
since the set list has already been posted in the reviews ill skip re-posting it
so reviewing a sabbath show right now is in my opinion pretty simple—- its pretty safe to say the band themselves are playing very very well so it comes down to one thing OZZY he is either on or off so basically he makes or breaks the show— well from watching video clips of opening night and other things ive heard i must admit i went friday with low expectations and did i get a surprise— ozzy was ON tonite he sounded great and he was obviously having a great time on stage— very very good show and a great time was had by all judging from crowd response—– ok i HAVE to go there— bill ward— yes bill was missed but that doesnt mean that brad isnt doing a great job and one thing ive noticed is that on the old stuff he really sticks to the format rather than trying to play those songs his was and i think thats great– at least i get the impression that he is trying to respect bill in that sense , you cant say anything bad about brad and he takes alot of heat for his position but its not his fault and all i can say is as a drummer myself if i was asked to play for a sabbath tour id be packed and ready before they could finish asking me to go. im not sure if i agree on playing rat salad for a drum solo as this was bills song but oh well i guess.
i have a gut feeling that the guys read the reviews on this site– i cant prove that of course but i truly believe they do so guys if you truly are reading this thanks for a great show friday in tinley park it really was a great time and hopefully you will be back
MY APOLOGIES TO BRAD AND TOMMY—- i just realized that in my review i was referring to brad as drummer at the show— and of course its tommy —- and i full well knew this it was just a brain cramp so for those taking the time to read i sincerely apologize for that mistake
Wow…what a fantastic great show !!! the guys sounded great! it seemed like the guys were having a blast
I did enjoy that ozzy teased coming back next year /again yes please! . I will say i was happy as a fan to see it looked like the show was nearly sold out. i agree with those above…the new stuff fit right in! but adding sweet leaf to the set would have been great! here is hoping for a 2nd US leg of tour dates!
AHHHHHHH!!!! It was just too good! I’m no musician but I have listened to Sabbath for a long time just as many others. I took my 11 year old son, threw a ‘Ride the Lightning’ t-shirt on him and everyone treated him like a celebrity. He was able to name War Pigs and Paranoid at the show so I guess its a good start. Holy shit ‘Fairies with boots’ was so good, that was my best song of the night. But even from the very beginning, I was shocked at how good Ozzy sounded. I admit I was just expecting a so-so performance. Thats not how it went. The whole thing was just phenomenal. The crowd was ridiculous. It felt like everyone there knew this was something very special. Old and young alike shouting “Thank You”, even in the middle of the set! As the last songs approached, I had an overwhelming feeling that this experience may never happen again and therefore felt inclined to make a mad dash to the front. So, from the high 200’s in like fff (triple fucked), I grabbed my son’s hand, looked him squarely and said “Were going, Do not stop”. We ran all the way down to at leat the 10th row center and got to see the whole encore. Some guy turned around and pulled my bewildered son up on the chair in front of us so he could see everything. So amazing, the whole thing, so amazing. The bow at the end, I just couldn’t get enough. I didn’t want it to be over.
Thank you metal heads. Someone, named “Jeff” who was probably wasted, and kind enough, saw my son and immediately took off his bandana and wrapped it around his head. No question, no introduction. He was just so happy to see a young kid at a Black Sabbath show. I wish I could thank him again. Jeff said that he had traveled to many concerts with his bandana, so I could tell that it was a bittersweet gesture. Jeff, if you’re out there, my e-mail is tgutsu36@gmail.com
Forever in my heart and soul, Black Sabbath, I love you! Please come to Chicago again!!!!
Gina
My lasting impression from the show in Chicago? That I will carry with me in my memory for the rest of my life?
Those scenes on the screen during Under the Sun with the nuns – SO HOT!!!!! LOVED IT!!!!!
Does anyone know the name of that movie(s)?
Highlight of the show for me.
I just wanted to leave and watch that movie.
I was there. (I’m the one who liked the nun movie during Under the Sun…what’s the name of that movie?)
It was a good show.
But the Dio Heaven and Hell show I saw in Chicago at the Charter One right before Ronnie died, in support of The Devil You Know, was a waaaay better show.
I think at this point in time – Dio was better with Iommi and Geezer than Ozzy, and Ozzy was best served solo.
But that Heaven and Hell show was waaaay better.
Wouldn’t surprise me if it was specially filmed stuff. What I want to know is what the heck was going on in the film behind them for “Fairies Wear Boots”?
I was at tinley park and it was awesome!!! I wish they would have played LIVE FOREVER!!!
I didn’t understand the DJ thing why Sabbath had that??? Tony was awesome and I pray for another tour date and hopefully they will add LIVE FOREVER to the set list!!! That would be worth the ticket alone!!!