BLACK SABBATH RUINED MY LIFE
Confessions of a Black Sabbath fan: Episode Three
by Hugh Gilmour
I had received a call from my mate Bob to say that the Sabbs were playing a low
key, Download warm-up show at the Aylesbury Civic Centre in Buckinghamshire on
6th June 2005. My last trip to that county had been to visit the relatively
remote Mapledurham Mill, as featured on the cover of the first LP, just north of
Reading, for an article on their album covers I had been commissioned to write
for a Q magazine special. I'd never visited Aylesbury before, but needs must as
the devil drives, and after making a few relevant phone calls, a pair of tickets
were secured, and we set off from Hammersmith shortly after 4pm on Monday
afternoon in order to beat the rush hour traffic out of town. I had a treat for
Bob (and myself) lined up for the car journey with a first listen to Fused,
Tony's latest collaboration Glenn Hughes. As we sped through North West London,
along the A41, M25 and M40, Fused did not disappoint. I have to admit I was
surprised at how HEAVY the record was, with riff-meister-general Tony's slabs of
guitar to the fore. Glenn was in fine vocal form too. I had caught Glenn's most
recent UK tour to promote his Soul Mover opus, and the rumour was he'd be joined
by Tony for the encore. Alas it didn't happen, but the show demonstrated that
both Glenn's voice and his bass playing had lost none of their drive, passion or
intensity. Fused's clean, crisp but HEAVY sound came across very much as a live
record. We were eager to see the pair onstage together once more, and I
mentioned that a joint tour with Geezer Butler’s g//z/r band had been discussed,
an awesome proposition. One hour and a single spin through Fused and we'd
reached Aylesbury. A further hour of circling the town centre (!) failed to turn
up the venue, so we parked up outside the County Hall, then found it was a mere
two minutes walk away. After a quick visit to a couple of nearby public houses,
we entered the Civic Centre. A typical provincial theatre, probably better
suited to "puppet shows" and the like, posters of forthcoming shows from Jimmy
Carr and a Queen tribute were everywhere...but none advertising Sabbath. The sea
of black Black Sabbath t-shirts varying in vintage are the only indication of
who's playing tonight.
After downing a couple more pints at the venue's bar, I take up position as
close to the stage as is safe from Ozzy's buckets of water, but positioned to
take the full blast of the PA. I chatted to Cathedral's Lee Dorian, discussing
recent rare vinyl finds. Sharon and Aimee Osbourne, followed by Velvet Revolver,
file into their seats above us, up in the balcony of this 1000 capacity venue.
Sharon waves back at the cheers she receives from the crowd, which makes me feel
a bit like a medieval serf. The last time I was at a Black Sabbath show five
years ago, Sharon could filter through the throng around Ozzy backstage free
from being pestered by fans, autograph hunters or well wishers. TV has changed
all of that. There's no support, and at 9pm, Sabbath take the stage. Ozzy, Tony
and Geezer all look great, belying their late 50 something ages, though we
wonder if dear Bill will make it to the end of the gig, let alone the forty odd
Ozzfest 2005 shows listed on the back of the new tour shirts. But Bill is there
and a Sabbath show wouldn't be the same without him. 'NIB' starts a 90 minute
set that passes all too quickly. Ozzy really does look the trimmest I've seen
him in years. Tony is cool, in his customary black, sporting a huge metal cross.
Geezer rocks his bass back and forth. Close your eyes and it could be 1974. And
it's LOUD. 24 hours later my ears were still ringing. You can probably guess the
majority of the set, as Sabbath are the masters of giving the fans exactly what
they want, but definite highlights were a resurrected 'The Wizard', which I
suspect this line-up has not performed since the early 1970s (1972 at the
Filmore East?), when much of tonight's audience weren't even born. And that's
one of the most striking things about tonight's crowd, which is how young they
are compared to the last Sabbath shows I saw only a few years ago. Again, this
demonstrates the power of TV, but also how much ROCK music is very much back in
vogue. Sabbath are cool for the first time, since...were Sabbath ever cool? You
did your best to avoid a beating from Skinheads at the weekends for wearing a
Sabbath t-shirt in the town centre on a Saturday when I was a kid. Another
surprise addition to the set is a moody 'Sleeping Village', which segued into
the sole encore of 'Children Of The Grave'. Then the lights come up and and it’s
time to go home. It would be great to hear 'Supernaut', 'Lord Of This World' or
'Hole In The Sky' performed live one more time, but I ain't complaining. The
Beatles were a going concern when this band formed in 1968, a year before I was
born, so I'm just glad to see they've very much put their differences very, very
far behind them, and getting out and doing what they do best, which they’ve now
been doing for some eight years, unbelievably. It’s also remarkable that the
hippest, coolest band on the planet are a bunch of working class Brummies
performing a set of numbers they wrote exclusively between 1969 and 1976. As the
first show of a hefty tour in what I assume will be the smallest venue they'll
play this year, it's obvious that Black Sabbath are stoked and eager to play
live.
Back in the car, and myself and Bob spend a further twenty minutes attempting to
find our way out of Aylesbury and back towards London. I feel as if I have
plasticine in my ears, as the last time I experienced such volume was at
Donington 1986, so we spare ourselves of listening to the stereo. The roads are
clear and we're home within an hour, happy to have been privileged enough to
witness such an exclusive show. |
