Concert Review: An Evening with Ozzy Osbourne

Thanks to Jimmy from HBIH, Draeden and I journeyed to San Jose to catch Ozzy Osbourne in concert.This would be second time seeing Ozzy in concert the first being way back in '96 for the Retirement Sucks tour. This also was essentially the second time for seeing Slash though the first time was with Guns n' Roses. Overall there was some highlights and lowlights so after the jump let's go back and you can see some of what we experienced.

When we arrived to the HP Pavilion in San Jose of course there was the obligatory holy rollers outside. What started as one person quickly expanded to about half dozen or so. Here is video of us heckling the one guy. This wouldn't be Devil Music without this.



So now we get to the venue. This was my first trip to the home of the San Jose Sharks and if you've been to one indoor arena you've been to them all. Turns out our tickets were on the floor level seating area probably about 15 rows back almost dead center. So really good seats for more then one reason. More on that later.

Now I would like to take the time to formally admit defeat. My droid work phone is absolutely garbage and for future shows I may need to purchase a real camera or get my own smartphone with better audio and video quality then this. My pictures sucked ass as you can see here.



And to top it off while the video is not bad the audio quality on these Droid A1's is horrific. As seen here. I think this was the opening song by Slash.



Therefore any further video clips will be provided by other people that were there last night. Photos will be provided by Draeden. Case in point here is a much better quality video of 'NightTrain' then what I ended up with.





Overall Slash's band put on a decent show. There were a few numbers off the solo album,and quite a few songs from Appetite for Destruction. Notably most of my favorites and a couple of standards. Myles Kennedy did an admirable job of fronting the band though he did appear to strain on some of the G n'R songs. Slash's guitar playing has never really impressed me. I always thought he was overrated and it was the signature top hat that always made people think he was better then he was. It was evident in spots last night as he was really sloppy on some riffs and solos. But a decent hour of tunes was played.

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And now for the main event. Ozzy Osbourne. I do have to give him props for being the age and physical condition he's in to still continue to go out there and put on a show. Even if it's basically the same show he's done for the last 30 years. Ozzy does love the crowd and it shows every time. The first time I saw him it was a shortened set due to stomach issues or something but this time it was an hour and a half set filled with the same tired Sabbath songs. With the exception of Fairies wear boots. And mostly the same tired Ozzy solo songs like Mr. Crowley and this.



Here is the set list for Ozzy to enhance what I'm saying.Though there were a few songs like Fire in the Sky and Shot in the Dark that were pleasant surprises for me.*Note* I do realize that this is labeled for L.A. It's the same damn thing and I don't entirely remember the order of the songs.

Edit this setlist | More Ozzy Osbourne setlists

There were a few sound glitches such as feedback throughout the night. The rest of the band played ok though it was hard to tell due to the heavy bass over the sound system to really get a feel if the usual nuances of the songs were present.



There was a long guitar solo by Gus G and though Draeden is enraptured with the guy to almost man crush levels I was not impressed with him last night.For somebody who is supposed to be a guitar whiz he did not have a flow to his solos and was not very fast or accurate with scales. Mostly hammer on and pull off tricks. The drum solo was one of the atypical drum solos just on a elevated drum rig.

At the beginning of the set Ozzy looked clean and dry but as in so many of his other shows it doesn't stay that way for long.Observe.



Which then devolved into a firehose contraption that he sprayed on himself and the first 5 rows of a foam substance.



Hence why I'm glad we sat back where we were and why he looked absolutely drenched in that first video.

I miss the days though when you could do whatever the hell you wanted once inside a venue short of fighting or throwing dangerous items on stage. To the floor person in last night's show I'd like to say this. After the headliner comes on, who gives a flying fuck who is sitting where and if you're standing in front of your designated chair? Stupid bitch proceeds to squeeze her fat ass in front of me as I'm taking video and ask me which is seat 6 and when I told her it was sort of behind me motioned me to move over and then grilled the hot girls next to me on their seats. The second song wasn't even done during this. Fuck you and go back out in the aisle.

Overall it was a fun night and though Ozzy has lost a step or two it was nice going to see a legendary figure that is so loved by so many people still go out and entertain people.