Attended Ozzfest in Seattle (Auburn White River Ampitheater for the purists) on Tuesday July 27, 2004 and the 14 hour sunburn wasn't the only thing hot there. Judas Priest gave an outstanding show. It started with Hellion/Electric Eye and Rob Halford was singing through the eyeball of a huge tarp while Glenn Tipton and KK Downing worked their dual axes with masterful execution. The complete setlist:

Hellion/Electric Eye
Metal Gods
Headin' Out To The Highway
Touch of Evil
The Sentinel
Victim of Changes
Breaking the Law
Beyond the Realms of Death
Green Manalishi (with the two-pronged crown)
Painkiller
----------- end set, start encore segment
Hell Bent for Leather
Livin' After Midnight
You've Got Another Thing Comin'

The encore started with a vintage Priest show attraction: Rob Halford riding out on his signature Harley motorcycle to be followed by the tune: Hell Bent For Leather. Halford still can rock although it seemed like he cleverly avoided hitting some of the real high notes at some points in songs (like Victim of Changes). Or he hit the note but didn't have the sustain that he had when I saw them nearly 20 years ago on the Defenders of the Faith tour. That's not really a slam, as there aren't many singers — perhaps Ripper Owens excluded — who could handle sustaining those high Halford notes. Also, a little bit of a letdown that they didn't play anything off their upcoming new album. I was hoping for at least a brief sneak peak at some new stuff. Still, their setlist was solid and I'd say for me this was the best part, musically anyway, of Ozzfest.

Also exciting to me was for the first time seeing the original Black Sabbath lineup with Geezer Butler on bass guitar, Tony Iommi on guitar, Bill Ward on drums and Ozzy at vocals. Here was Black Sabbath's complete setlist:

War Pigs
N.I.B
Fairies Wear Boots
Into the Void
Black Sabbath
Snowblind
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
--------------- last song, start encore
Paranoid

Every song was followed by a break for Ozzy to grab a drink of his tea and work the crowd up a little. Ozzy goes a little nuts these days with the "I wanna see all you [expletive] go [expletive] crazy!" stuff. He did tell one interesting story about how his doctor said he should take a year off after his ATV accident and he'd have no part of that.  He called his doctor a "dickhead" and I'm sure his doctor wouldn't be surprised.

Bill Ward on drums looked like he was 80 years old and the camera should not have panned on his overweight and out of shape elderly body on drums. Closeups of Bill Ward man boobs are a scary site on two story high screens. Musically, Ward did an admirable job on the drums, but I kept thinking about how this guy has had heart trouble in the past and I was worried — seriously — that he was going to have a heart attack on stage. A roadie was towelling him off after each song. His health and appearance aside I am glad that he worked out his reported contract disputes with Sharon Osbourne and was present. Overall this was a very visual reminder of the age of Black Sabbath and in one respect it was sombering and in the other it was exciting to be there to witness them for what might very well be the last time they take the stage together in our area. I know, I know, they've done a bunch of reunion gigs but these guys are all looking haggard. Perhaps the only exception might be Geezer Butler who has aged fairly well. Iommi doesn't move much around the stage, but can still work his magic on the fretboard. 

It was a thrill to see Black Sabbath and I wish I had been able to see them together when everybody was younger and Ozzy could still sing. Ozzy's voice cracked badly on several songs: notably Into The Void and ironically their self-titled song: Black Sabbath. I also noticed that some annoying reverb was added to some of Ozzy's tougher vocal moments. Was this to disguise him not being able to hit all the notes? I think so. He wasn't bad vocally all the time and in fact there were times he hit the notes surprisingly well, but there was always this sense there that Ozzy doesn't have much left in the tank. The crowd was singing along to help out the Ozzman so I don't think that many concert-goers really cared.

The smell of marijuana wafted through the air more heavily during Black Sabbath than any of the previous bands. So much in fact that I'm surprised that they didn't perform their song Sweet Leaf. That was the only song I expected that they'd play that they didn't. I think they should get rid of Into the Void and replace it with Sweet Leaf. It also seemed a bit odd that the headline band didn't play as long as the band that preceded them (Judas Priest). I guess they are sort of dual headliners. This didn't bother me that much because I was just happy to be able to see the band together on stage for the first time.

As for the rest of Ozzfest? I don't have much to say either way about the other bands. There were a few bright moments, but I was pretty much only looking forward to seeing Judas Priest and Black Sabbath and primarily focused on their music and setlists. Black Label Society was solid and Zakk Wylde displayed why he just might be the best practicing metal guitarist today. Jury remains out on Wylde's vocal ability though. We did buy Laguna Coil's CD, as the lead singer there has a Pat Benatar raspy rock edge to her voice that I enjoyed. Also, my son got an autograph of guitarist Kerry King from Slayer on a double live CD and he seemed to enjoy Slayer's set. My son also enjoyed the Playstation 2 truck that was parked near the second stage and was filled with machines with playable demos. Nice touch to get out of the sun. It was a wonderful father/son day and one that made me wish my dad had done something like this when I was a teen.

Would I do Ozzfest again? Absolutely! It was a great time. What would I do differently? Smuggle in more snacks! The food prices there were carnival-style outrageous. $23 for two lousy tacos and two large sodas. We bought two concert shirts and a couple CDs. Total money spent for 14 hours of entertainment (two tickets), food and souveniors for two people: $285 USD. If Ozzfest is coming anywhere near you this summer, check it out!  Really, this may be the last chance ever you'll get to see the original Black Sabbath lineup together (contract deals with all of them and Sharon Osbourne could plague future appearances just as much as age) plus Judas Priest is a real treat. Grade: A-

A slightly different version of this review (same grade) originally appeared at Things That ... Make You Go Hmm