Last month, singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler reunited as Black Sabbath (sans drummer Bill Ward) for a warmup gig in their hometown of Birmingham, England. With one show under their belts, the heavy-metal legends, who are joined by solo Ozzy drummer Tommy Clufetos and keyboardist Adam Wakeman (son of Yes’ Rick), played their first major comeback gig at England’s Download Festival this past weekend. The set list contained some of the group’s best songs, including the obvious hits “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” and deep cuts like the sludgy “Tomorrow’s Dream” and the doomy “Under the Sun,” both from 1972’s Vol 4.
One of the up to 100,000 fans in the audience had the good sense to record the concert, which apparently was loud enough to sound crystal clear in the YouTubes he posted, embedded here. As you can hear, the band is in top form, and Iommi, who has been battling lymphoma, sounds great as he plays bluesy solos throughout. In August, Black Sabbath will play Lollapalooza in Chicago (against the Black Keys). Get a preview of what you might hear at that show here:
“Black Sabbath” and “The Wizard”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-3N-3REmGGc?version=3
“Behind the Wall of Sleep” and “N.I.B.”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BORnmnx_Mgc?version=3
“Into the Void” and “Under the Sun”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VpbhORvy4q8?version=3
“Snowblind” and “War Pigs”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Di1qIIqmJAE?version=3
“Sweet Leaf” and “Symptom of the Universe”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/lGQizwFDpZw?version=3
“Iron Man” and “Fairies Wear Boots”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/v-ivni4m-Gg?version=3
“Tomorrow’s Dream” and “Dirty Women”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtNFiA9Psho?version=3
“Children of the Grave” and “Paranoid”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/A8u_LB3XPLc?version=3
