Black Sabbath’s blockbuster curtain closer, Back to the Beginning, saw the heavy metal pioneers sign off across an exhaustive, riff-filled 10-hour party. Each band covered a cut from Sabbath's or frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s solo catalogs. Sabbath delivered a four-song set. They had, however, rehearsed more.
Reflecting on a night that is estimated to have raised millions for charity, guitarist Tony Iommi told SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk: “I'm really a bit of a perfectionist, but they can only do what they can do, and you can't expect anything else.” [via Blabbermouth]
Drummer Bill Ward missed out on Sabbath’s last farewell due to health issues. This time out, Ozzy had to perform seated. Four songs was their lot, but that didn’t stop them defrosting some other classics.
“We're in our seventies and late seventies, so you can only do so much,” he confesses. “To expect perfection from everybody is just impossible at the moment.
“But they did what they could do, and everybody was fine about it. I think the audience would know that and accepted that. They weren't expecting us to go on and be absolutely brilliant players. We played as we played and as we are now.”
The fact that the Prince of Darkness was pulling a double shift, bowing out as a solo artist with a five-song set before going straight into Sabbath’s sign off, sparked further concern for Iommi.
“We worked out what songs we were gonna play, and it was really a case of how long Ozzy could do it, because we didn't know,” he says. “With him doing his own set – which I didn't think he should do – I didn't want him to get burnt out by the time he'd come with us.”
Their final quartet of songs comprised War Pigs, Iron Man, N.I.B., and Paranoid, but “six or seven” songs were rehearsed. Ultimately, Black Sabbath and Fairies Wear Boots – the latter covered by Alice In Chains on the night – were dropped.
“It was a little difficult for Bill 'cause he hadn't played them for so long,” Iommi expands sympathetically. “Geezer and I, of course, played them on the last tour. And, of course, Bill hasn't toured, don't forget, for a long time.
“We hadn't played with Bill live for 20 years, so it was hairy wondering what's gonna happen, because Bill, when he plays, he plays different things every time. So you just have to be on your toes. But it went well.”
Much of the media coverage around the show has focussed on Ozzy’s retirement but Iommi has a solo album on the way, and he’s far from finished. Writing in the wake of the historic event, Guitar World editor-in-chief Michael Astley-Brown called it “a tribute to Tony Iommi’s singular impact on guitar music.”
Sabbath weren’t the only ones facing health issues and uncertainty in the run up to the gig, Jake E. Lee was forced to revert to plan B after he accepted he wasn’t fit to play his biggest hit, Bark to the Moon.
That was ultimately handled by a supergroup including Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt – who debuted a stunning mystery guitar for the performance – and Ghost mastermind Papa V Perpetua, as part of Tom Morello's ‘Metal Yardbirds.’
