I was in the UK for nearly two weeks while attending “Back To The Beginning” in Birmingham. I have posted a few photos and videos on social media that you might want to check out, but I figured that I’d add some more exclusive ones here, along with a few of my thoughts. I mentioned in previous reviews that I would give an update, so here it is. As expected, it was a really great time. In addition to the concert, I was able to see all the Black Sabbath landmarks and installations in Birmingham, explore some British records shops, visit friends, become too familiar with public transportation, and stand in line for hours waiting on sold out merchandise that I would never get. Seriously though, it was worth it all and seeing Ozzy and Black Sabbath play their final show, along with all those other bands, was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I actually visited Villa Park the day before the concert, as the news was saying a merchandise stand had been set up already outside. I guess the point of this was to save some people waiting in line on the actual day, so I made the long journey from my hotel to check it out. I wanted to pick up pretty much one of everything, but the big thing for me was to get the gig poster and art print which was available. I didn’t get there early enough, however, because the art print sold out while I was waiting in line. I thought I just might buy one on eBay but was aghast to discover copies selling for over 1,000 USD in some cases, while they retailed for only 100 GBP. I did manage to get the gig poster, the shirts and some other stuff, but I do regret not getting there earlier. I imagine people who expected to get one the day of the show (which seems like common sense) were even more pissed off about it than I was.
I also made the mistake of trying to see the Black Sabbath Bridge and Bench in Birmingham the day before the concert, and the streets were absolutely infested with people. Fans started queuing up to take photos whilst sitting on the bench, and the line was all the way down the street. It started raining, and it didn’t take me very long to decide that I needed to come back after the show, which proved to be a much better idea. After two or three more trips into Birmingham, I managed to see the bridge, the newly painted Black Sabbath wall, the outdoor art installation, the Ozzy “Working Class Hero” exhibit at the Birmingham Museum, Ozzy the Bull at New Street Station, several displays in the Bull Ring, and of course the Crown Pub where Sabbath played their first show. I know I’m probably forgetting some stuff, but those are the major highlights that stick out to me now.
What can I possibly say about the show itself? Well, I would say if you haven’t already, you should track down a copy of the stream and watch it. Outside of the main event, the highlights of the day for me were seeing Pantera, Guns N’ Roses and Jake E. Lee. Some people on the internet have been saying that Axl Rose sounded awful, but I can assure you it didn’t seem that way in person. Another huge surprise was an appearance by Steven Tyler, who absolutely killed it with “Walk This Way” and a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. Pretty much all the Sabbath and Ozzy covers that were performed that day, with maybe the exception of Sammy Hagar singing “Flying High Again”, were really great. As a full band, I think Pantera was the best, but most people were really excited about seeing Metallica and Slayer. As you can tell by their absence from this site, I am not into either one of these bands. The only band I heard at the show I might want to take another look at some point in the future would be Anthrax, who I had never really listened to before, but came away quite impressed with.
Undoubtedly, the biggest performances were the solo Ozzy and Black Sabbath sets. In the weeks leading up to the show, they had us pretty convinced that Ozzy was in really bad shape. We figured he would do maybe four of his own songs, and maybe four songs with Sabbath. When he was brought up through the floor on his throne, the crowd went absolutely crazy. For being in bad health, he looked great, and proceeded to do a full five songs, including some I never thought he would attempt due to how difficult they were to sing. As you probably know by now, he performed “I Don’t Know”, “Mr. Crowley”, “Suicide Solution”, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “Crazy Train”. He had his actual band performing with him, consisting of Zakk Wyle on guitar, Adam Wakeman on keyboards, Mike Inez on bass, and Tommy Clufetos on drums. Needless to say, these guys were all absolutely incredible and played a great set.
As you can see from any of the highlight clips, Ozzy was spectacular and brought the house down with every song. “Mama, I’m Coming Home” was very emotional for Ozzy, as well as everyone else in Villa Park that day. Interestingly, it was also the only song he played which did not come from his debut album, Blizzard of Ozz. The one song I expected to hear at some point during the day and didn’t was “No More Tears”, which leads me to believe Ozzy might have wanted to include it in his set, but possibly dropped it due to timing issues. He really was on top of his game, and I think he could have done several other songs in both his solo set, as well as with Sabbath. They really were up against the clock, which has been discussed heavily on the internet with the awkward presentation of a cake to Ozzy by Geezer before the stadium basically turned the lights out on everyone.
I’m not sure if it was included in the livestream or not, so I have to mention that Randy Rhoads was indeed highlighted several times during the performance. Before Ozzy’s set, Tom Morello came out and introduced a short montage of Randy clips, explaining to the crowd how important Randy was in not only Ozzy’s history, but rock and metal as a whole. We got to see what I think was a live video call from Randy’s sister Kathy, who was very emotional while discussing her brother and his musical impact on the world. As you can also see in my photos, Randy was also acknowledged during “Crazy Train”, with a video playing on the screen lining up almost perfectly with Zakk’s live performance of the guitar solo. If you watch closely, you will see Zakk giving his own special nod to Randy during the performance, but I’ll leave that one for you to find.
When it finally came time to see Black Sabbath, it had just gotten dark at Villa Park, which was perfect. I was a little nervous about the time, since I heard they are very serious about the local curfew, being that the stadium is practically in a residential neighborhood. The set started out with the rain sound effects found at the beginning of their self-titled “Black Sabbath” album, but the song itself was never played, which was the second major surprise omission of the day. One way or another, I figured that we would hear “No More Tears” and “Black Sabbath”, but it was not to be. Even so, the four songs we did get were spectacular. From beginning to end, it was “War Pigs”, “N.I.B.”, “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”. “N.I.B.” was the one I didn’t expect to hear, but I was pretty thrilled they included it, as it’s still one of my favorite songs.
The performances by Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill were just great, and I don’t think anyone could have asked for more. More songs perhaps, but not a better performance. Tony said in an interview that they could have done more, but the issue was obviously the time. I think they should have cut one of the other bands or supergroups shorter, or perhaps altogether if it would have given Ozzy and Sabbath more time. I am guessing though, that part of it was that they wanted to wait till it was dark before going on. At this time of the year in the UK, it stays light out for a long period of the day, not really getting dark till around 10 PM. The lighting and fireworks certainly added to the atmosphere, but I really wish we could have gotten more songs, since it was obvious Ozzy and the band were up for it physically.
This is another part of the show you should just watch in its entirety. However, I think Geezer Butler deserves special mention here, as he was absolutely on fire. His playing was as good or better as it ever was, and he was playing like a man possessed. The bass solo at the beginning of “N.I.B.” was one of the reasons I was so excited to hear it, and Geezer did not disappoint. On top of the performance, we also got to see him bring out the Aston Villa bass for the final ever performance of “Paranoid”. Needless to say, Tony Iommi lived up to expectations with his mythical guitar parts, and Bill Ward held his own on drums, even though he hadn’t played live in something like 20 years. There were definitely certain times when he really shined as well, and he lost his shirt somewhere during the performance. It was on him one minute, and then the next minute I looked over, it was gone. It’s good to see that some things never change.
There was so much more, but I guess those are the musical highlights that stick out to me most. As I mentioned, I did get to pick up some records while I was over there, including two copies of very early “Black Sabbath” self-titled and a second pressing of “Paranoid” which sound great. I have shown these over on TikTok along with some Ozzy records I also got, so head over there if you want to see more about those in the days and weeks to come. Since they are all early UK pressings, I think I might make some videos highlighting the differences between the UK and Japanese versions of some of these records, which I think are quite interesting.
It was my first time in the UK, but I know it certainly won’t be my last time. I have several great friends over there, and the trip should have been made years before without needing the prodding of an Ozzy and Black Sabbath show. Now that I know international travel isn’t so bad (ok, it is bad, but not as bad as I thought), I will be way more comfortable for the next time, and much less hesitant to do it again. There are many more record stores and music history spots to explore, so I will look forward to going back in the near future.
If you didn’t see the show in person, and weren’t able to watch the livestream, there are other options out there for you. Several bootleg labels, including a couple of my favorite CD and DVD labels Lost & Found have issued the show in audio and DVD versions. It shouldn’t take much effort for you to track those down, but it has also just been announced that there will be a 100-minute movie version coming out to theatres in the near future, as well as a home release in 2026. If you are impatient, I found a copy on Blu-ray by searching on eBay, and it was in my mailbox before I arrived home. Ozzy also has a new biography called “Last Rites” that’s coming out in October, which will include a section detailing his experiences at “Back To The Beginning” among a ton of other subjects. Obviously, it might be worth placing your pre-orders now wherever books are sold. One way or another, find a way to enjoy the performance. It was certainly one for the ages!