Left Wanting More - Some Shine Bright, Some Fail Hard During "The Final Show"
- jaybroderick
- Jul 6
- 7 min read
By: Michael Drukarsh - You can't kill rock and roll and that was more than evident during the Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham England honoring Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Part appreciation, part goodbye, the Back to the Beginning festival featured an eclectic array of bands paying tribute to the gods of heavy metal, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne.
Taking place in their home town of Aston, the one day extravaganza showcased just how influential the music of Black Sabbath was and still is to the heavy metal community. Hosted by Jason Momoa, a self proclaimed metal head who said that the music has influenced every character he's ever played, the all day festival kicked off with Mastodon who just tore through a set which featured Sabbath classic "Supernaut".
Starting the trend, each of the following bands paid homage with their own covers of Sabbath or Ozzy classics. Although each band brought their own groove, it was very evident that Sabbath can never truly be duplicated. Case in point, Anthrax's cover of "Into the Void". Unfortunately, Joey Belladonna really didn't do the song justice. On the other hand, Lizzy Hale and Halestorm just killed it with their cover of "Perry Mason" and then again with the first All Star band when she, along with special guest Jake E Lee and the incredible lineup of David Ellefson, Adam Wakman, Nuno Bettencourt and Mike Borden nailed the "Ultimate Sin".
Three other standouts include Yungblud's beautiful version of Vol 4's "Changes" where he had the 50,000+ in attendance sing along to the chorus in unison. Whitfield Crane, who's band Ugly Kid Joe is heavily influenced by Sabbath delivered an incredible cover of one of my favourites "Believer", off Diary of a Madman. And finally, a prerecorded tribute by Jack Black, who along with a band of teens including Roman (son of Tom) Morello and Revel (son if Scott) Ian absolutely killed Blizzard of Ozz's "Mr. Crowley", complete with polka dot flying v solo and Jack lifting up Morello, mimicking the bond between Ozzy and Randy.
Throughout the pay per view, commercials ran featuring the local Birmingham charities that will benefit from the proceeds of this event. All were very touching and showed the importance of care needed and appreciated throughout the UK. Also featured were local musicians and businesses who showcased what it is like being true Brummies.
Fans from around the world were also featured throughout the feed each given 15 seconds to pay tribute and their respects to royalty. A few celebrities and musicians were also featured including a surprising cameo from Cyndi Lauper who recalled hanging out in a hot tub with the family including a young Kelly Osbourne.
The "Drum off" featuring Travis Barker of blink-182, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Danny Carey of Tool was good, each taking their turn pounding out beats before coming together for a little "Symptom of the Universe".
Another All Star break featuring Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Adam Jones of Tool, and KK Downing, once of Judas Priest, came out with a version of Priest's "Breaking the Law" followed by Sabbath's "Snowblind". Musicianship was pretty good, but Corgan dressed as some weird monk/priest was just not that good and once again showed how incredibly talented and unique Ozzy's singing is.
Sammy Hagar took over from Corgan, joined by the hardest working man in music Rudy Sarzo, along with Chad Smith, Nuno Bettencourt and Tom Morello, and just completely ruined "Flying High Again". My god, who thought this was a good idea? He was absolutely terrible. His own song, "Rock Candy" was a tad better but did not suit the vibe already laid down by bands like Gojira and Lamb of God who came before him.
Sammy finally left the stage giving way to Ghost's Papa V. Once again another Ozzy song, this time "Bark at the Moon", totally and completely bastardized. An absolutely horrible cover despite having Sarzo and Bettencourt on stage along with Travis Barker. I'm guessing Jake heard Papa at sound check and went "nope".
Ronnie Wood hit the stage next with Steven Tyler. Now that is a hell of a pairing with Tyler ripping right into "Train Kept A Rollin". I hope Hagger was watching because Steven put on a clinic on how to be a classic rock frontman. Watching Wood and Sarzo come together along with Morello was definitely a magical moment. Following up with "Walk This Way", Tyler didn't miss a beat moving right into "Whole Lot of Love", and holy shit, he killed it! Chad Smith on drums looked like a kid in a candy store having the time of his life! Choosing not to cover a Sabbath or Ozzy song, Tyler left the stage with a literal mic drop and definitely stole the show up to this point.
Just before Pantera took the stage, host Jason Momoa leapt into the pit to mosh to his favourite band! A site that was pretty impressive! Pantera, featuring Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante whipped the crowd into an immediate frenzy with "Cowboys from Hell" and flowing straight into "Walk". Playing tight as hell, Pantera brought the mosh to Birmingham. A now completely full stadium banged their heads in unison while throwing the horns to Phil and the boys. Momoa was even spotted crowd surfing. But a surprising turn saw the band play their version of "Planet Caravan", one of the slower Sabbath selections. Again, highlighting how incredible Ozzy's voice is, Phil did a decent job of bringing the psychedelic soul to the song but couldn't hold a candle to the original. Their sludge filled cover of "Electric Funeral" fared much better.
Tool followed Pantera. I'm not sure why though. After stirring up the crowd with "Cowboys" and "Walk", Tool's opening tune "Forty Six & 2" seemed to bring the crowd back down. The crazy at the front of the stage definitely subsided. But they definitely redeemed themselves with the opening heavy bass of Sabbath's "Hand of Doom". Maynard James Keenan did a great job on vocals and the band stayed pretty true to the original.
Bringing back the energy that Pantera started, Slayer took to the stage next and, as expected, just destroyed the place. Kerry King, Garry Holt, Tom Arya, and Paul Bostaph ripped into "God Hates Us All" bringing the full stadium back from Tool's more prog-rock set. Shots of a full circle mosh pit cemented the energy Slayer brought with thrash classic "War Ensemble". Breaking into "Wicked World", Slayer touched on some Sabbath before going back into "South of Heaven" and then back into "Wicked World". The set finished with an incredible version of "Angel of Death" with the band leaving everything on the stage.
A brief pre-recorded version of "Changes" by Fred Durst did not need to happen. But his tribute to Sabbath before the butchering was definitely from the heart. Up next, for some reason, Guns N' Roses. Why, in a concert celebrating the birth of Heavy Metal, would GNR come on after Slayer? I have no idea! How to kill the vibe after Slayer, put Axl in front of a piano to sing "It's Alright". Thankfully that didn't last too long. Unfortunately we got a high pitched, nasal, out of tune rendition of "Never Say Die", and two words... shit sandwich! I'll give the band credit for busting out "Junior's Eyes", but that's the only credit Axl gets. The presentation was horrendous. Next up on the 'Let's Kill Sabbath Set', "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Why Axl, why? Let Sabbath do Sabbath, you can murder your own songs. Well, he listened, "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" were just fucking terrible, out of tune and unintelligible.
Just before Metallica took the stage (keep in mind my review is from the live feed), a recap of Alice in Chains cover of "Fairies Wear Boots" was shown. I would have much rather seen this three or four times in a row instead of GNR. Lead singer William Duvall and the rest of the band really captured the sound and feelings of the classic song.
The final band to take the stage before Ozzy and Sabbath were Metallica. The history of Metallica and Ozzy is well known, and the band opened with a great tribute to Sabbath playing "Hole in the Sky" complete with James' trademark "ahh huh" and "yeaaaahs". Bringing the thrash, Metallica delivered with classics "Creeping Death", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Battery" and "Master of Puppets" along with another hidden gem from Sabbath's collection, "Johnny Blade" of Never Say Die. The boys from Metallica looked like they were having a blast, and truly are in their rightful place opening once again for Ozzy and the mighty Sabbath.
If you've read this far, I'm sure you're expecting the Ozzy and Sabbath reviews, well, it ain't going to happen. Up to this point, the concert has been a tribute and each band had an opportunity to showcase Sabbath's influence. Some did better than others and a few kicked ass. Ozzy and Black Sabbath are guests of honor and as such will not be reviewed. But, if I must say something to appease the readers, both Ozzy and Sabbath's sets outshone all the other bands. The boys of Sabbath can still do exactly what they did when they first stepped into the studio 56 years ago and Ozzy sounded incredible during both sets orchestrating the crowd like the true Prince of Darkness that he is!
Suffice to say, I shed a few tears watching Ozzy on stage and reminisced about the countless times I saw him in concert, starting way back with 1984's Bark at the Moon tour with my good friend A.J. Hermalin, right up to his last concert in Toronto, at Budweiser Stage in 2018, with, once again, A.J. I was also lucky enough to see the full Sabbath band with my buddy Trevor Norris, in Toronto during their 1999 tour.
There are no words to truly explain what influence Black Sabbath and Ozzy's music has had on my life. Through the best of times and the worst of times, the timeless music of both have helped to bring me to where I am today.
Thank you and God bless you all.
show date: July 5, 2025
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