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THE BAND
- Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
- Tony Iommi - Guitar
- Geezer Butler - Bass
- Bill Ward - Drums
- Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards
CONCERT PHOTOS
None - do you have any? Let
me know.
TOUR REVIEWS & REMARKS
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 06:51:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Randy Walton <waltonrandy@yahoo.com>
Subject: Vegas show review
Hey everybody, to anybody that is driving a long way to see Sabbath, IT IS WORTH EVERY
MILE!!! After a long seven hour trek (and my first speeding ticket), we arrived in Sin
City to see the tour of the year. We had 13th row so our seats were about 40 feet from the
stage a little left of center on Geezer's side. After two mind numbing sets by Incubus
& Pantera, the lights go down and a video retrospective of the band appears on the
screen for around 5 minutes. Then the sirens went up. The opening strains of War Pigs
start the show. The stage is decorated by two large wooden things that like like giant
armrests from an antique chair. Behind the stage above Bill is a large video screen framed
in ornate gold. Over the center of the stage is a copper colored metal thing that kinda
looks like a candlelabra without any candles in it. The band is all dressed in black. Bill
has cut his hair real short. Ozzy looks healthy & continually either does jumping
jacks or some sort of frog leaping most of the night. He also has the old black face paint
around his eyes. It looks like Ozzy is still using the teleprompter to remember the
lyrics. At one point a fan got on stage. The security was ready to gang tackle the guy but
Ozzy shielded him and let the guy stand shoulder to shoulder with him until the song was
over. Ozzy also threw four buckets of water on the crowd. Overall, the crowd was
fantastic. Only a couple songs (After Forever & Dirty Women) didn't get much reaction.
The show was just over 2 hours. The entire band played like they had something to prove.
Tony was all smiles and was hitting every note, as did Ozzy. The boys did not disappoint.
There was some well done pyrotechnics at the end of War Pigs & Paranoid. Plus a huge
amount of black streamers & confetti with Black Sabbath printed on it came down during
Paranoid. Set list: War Pigs, NIB, Fairies Wear Boots, After Forever, Electric Funeral,
Sweet Leaf, Into the Void (!!), Snowblind, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Dirty Women, Black
Sabbath (with eight stage torches lit), Iron Man, Children of The Grave, Paranoid. SEE
THIS SHOW NO MATTER WHAT!!! Randy from Tucson.
From: Randall Morgan <rlem702@aol.remove_this.com>
Subject: Las Vegas Set List
Newsgroups: alt.music.black-sabbath
Set list:
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
After Forever
Electric Funeral
Sweat Leaf
Into the Void
Snowblind
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Dirty Women
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Encore - Paranoid
Notes:
1) The set opening was awesome! When the lights went out the big screen showed short video
clips from Sabbath's old days while fog rolled out onto the stage. Then after the video
goes black, the band comes up through the fog on platforms built into the stage!
2) During the middle of Sweat Leaf a guy ran up onto the stage and put his arm around
Ozzy. When a security guy then ran out to get him off the stage, Ozz kicked at the guard
to leave him alone. Then, he sang a whole verse with his arm around his fan. Guess which
verse it was? "Straight people don't know what you're about. They put you down and
shut you out..." The timing was magical!
3) The set lasted 90 min.
4) This being the beginning of a tour, Ozzy's voice didn't suck like it usually does.
5) The whole band seemed to have a great time. Everyone was smiling and joking constantly.
6) Although Ozzy and Geezer exchanged a few jokes with each other, Tony only talked to his
roadies. It would be interesting to know if this is true of the rest of the tour.
7) The souvenir stands were out of the cool flasks. If you go to a later show, be sure and
get the catalog. It has a lot of great stuff not for sale at the shows.
8) The show ended with the whole arena being blanketed with black confetti as the PA
system played Changes. Most of the confetti had Black Sabbath printed on it in silver
lettering.
9) Last but not least, the band sounded incredible!
From: JF3498@aol.com
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 22:44:59 EST
Subject: Vegas Review Jan 2 1999
Setlist:
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
After Forever
Electric Funeral
Sweet Leaf
Killing Yourself To Live (only the intro, Tony and Geezer start the intro then stop, look
at each other like they made a mistake, then laugh at each other out of control then go
into:
Into The Void
Snowblind
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Dirty Women
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
Children Of The Grave
encore:
Paranoid
Changes (tape over PA)
Show was much more intimate than BankOne Ballpark, dissappointed though Killing Yourself,
Lord Of This World, Symptom/Supernaut jam were dropped. However added Dirty Women which
was a plus. Other highlight was the guy onstage during Sweet Leaf the entire song, which
Ozzy kicked the security guard out of the way and held the guy arm in arm throughout the
song, he will remember that the rest of his life, i'm sure. Other points of interest are
the rapport Tony and Ozzy seem to be establishing. It seems everytime Ozzy looks over at
Tony, Tony can't contain himself and loses it. This especially happened at the beginning
of the intro to Iron Man, Tony was just out of control over Ozzy's antics. It's good to
see them in such great spirits! I don't think i've ever seen Tony in such a great mood!
I've seen the Mob Rules, Born Again and Dehumanizer tours to make this comparison. Go see
the Reunion while you can, it's a chance of a lifetime you will not regret! I'm already
looking forward to the Dallas show on the 24th! Who knows I may not be able to contain
myself till then and may have to see another show inbetween!
Jeff
From: ROCZU@aol.com
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 00:04:17 EST
Subject: Sabbath - Jan 2 Las Vegas
Well I dont know if this qualifies as a ''review'' i would just like to say the show was
excellent.The footage on the screen above the stage showing clips of sabbath through the
years literally whipped the crowed into a frenzy.And standing there thinking I have been
waiting for this moment since 1977 when I was 12 was making it even more intense.As for
the show I was happy with the sound though Ozzy did crack here and there and forget words
as he usually does,the song lineup was unbelievable just one great song after another, all
older material I may have the order wrong but it was
WAR PIGS
N.I.B.
FARIES WEAR BOOTS
AFTERFOREVER
SNOWBLIND
DIRTY WOMAN
INTO THE VOID
SWEETLEAF
SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH
ELECTRIC FUNERAL
CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE
IRON MAN
PARANOID
I may have left one out but anyone wanting to see the orig lineup wont be dissapionted.I
would have liked Tony Iommi to take a long solo but this is the 90's and solo's seem to
have gone by the wayside.At one point a fan ran onstage and quickly the cops were ready to
grab him but Ozzy put his arm around the guy and kept singing with the guy until the guy
held up a pantera shirt.The band seemed to be having a good time Ozz and Geezer were
goofing around when Ozzy does that whoa oh whoa stuff during Iron man they were laughing
to the point where Ozzy just started cracking up and couldnt sing even Iommi was
laughing.Bill Ward sounded great to me despite rumours ive heard about him using
sequencers but hey he did just have a heart attack and me personally just wanted to see
all four guys together.Which leaves me to this point I hope they record a video tape to
put out because after waiting 20 something years the night just goes by to fast and having
a video we can relive it over and over. well that was my take on it im sure you can clean
it up a bit but go see SABBATH
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 12:59:30 -0800 (PST)
From: NOLAN R STOLZ <nstolz@nevada.edu>
Subject: concert review
I attended the Black Sabbath concert at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas January
2nd. I've been waiting to see my favorite drummer for the longest time and to see Mike
Bordin try to fill his shoes last year was a dissapointment. When I saw Bill Ward behind
the kit with Black Sabbath, it meant the world to me.
My comments on Sab's performance:
-Great 'Bassically' bass solo, but the wah-wah pedal was turned on a couple bars too late.
Weird to hear the solo dry like that.
-After Forever was an awesome surprise---I had always loved that song--many memories. Also
liked the Christian idea behind it, especially when I saw this jerk with a "Jesus is
a C*nt" t-shirt. How ignorant. It made me think of all the satanic low-lifes in the
crowd. Ozzy flipped off the crowd on the lyric "might as well worship the sun".
I honestly haven't been able to interpret his meaning behind his action.
-No Spiral Architect?....when I saw that on the Reunion CD when I purchased it, a tear
rolled down my eye....I knew all the hours I spent listening to that became worth it...I
felt I could share this song with millions of other people again. Another tear fell when
they didn't play it.
-No Behind the Wall of Sleep? man, why?
-Dirty Women was amazing.....the syncopated part immediatley after the solo was so tight!
Nobody seemed to cheer when Ozzy announced it. I yelled out, even though people in front
of me thought I was over-excited. I'll tell you I wasn't as excited to hear Iron Man as I
was for Dirty Women or After Forever!
-Tony's solos on every song were so melodious, every young guitar player should at least
appreciate what he does for music. When the audience is busy headbanging, I try to close
my eyes and feel what he feels. Tony's playing is so excellent I understood what he was
trying to say.
-Ozzy's vocals were, well It's sad to say..but the worst I've ever heard him. Changing the
melody because he doesn't have the range he used to really affected the performance. He
always used to sing out of his own range in the 70s, and you can hear him stretch. Those
notes are out of most any tenor range! Taking them down an octave would make his voice too
muddy. There was really no chice.
-Ozzy's stage presence was very entertaining though, and for the type of crowd---that's
what's most important. It was cool to see him dump water like the 80s Ozzy! He tried the
thing where he crouches down like a frog and jumps 10 ft. in the air, but his age limited
him to jump back into a standing position.
-Bill's playing was superb. It was better than what the sound tech could give him. The
first tom was too loud,middle tom was barely there, and the floor tom sounded thin. At
least the bass drums were loud, whenever he played a fill incorporating them every note
was heard. Thank God. I watched his fills, and even though I couldn't really hear them...I
know what it sound like. He has improved through the years..fills I'm used to hearing on
the old LPs were right in the pocket.
-Geezer screwed up the main riff on Iron Man! It made Ozzy laugh, and he couldn't sing--he
laughed out the lyrics. That was the first time I saw all 4 members smile that night. When
Ozzy chants the melody(riff) with the audience, he would walk back to Geezer and sing it
right in his face. It was no big deal to me, in fact I'm glad---I got to see everyone
smile and laugh!
-Geoff Nicholls (or whoever was playing keyboards) messed up the tubular bell part in 'Black
Sabbath'. Assumed the guitars weren't tuned down, he played the first G no problem. Then I
heard a major 2nd clash above, I think, so he may have played a G and an A
simultaneosly.
Then on the second time around it sounded like he played a perfect fifth--G and D. It was
odd whatever he did.
-Added note:the opening bands Incubus and Pantera could not touch the expertise of Black
Sabbath. Even though people think 50 is too old for musicians to tour they're wrong. Them
being 50 showed their musicality. Young bands just don't get it anymore. I'm a young
musician myself --18 years old. At least I can see where mature bands are coming from. One
day my musicianship will mature too.
Nolan from Las Vegas
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