When going for a headliner, I guess you can’t go much higher than the man who started it all - Ozzy Osbourne.
But, could he still keep it up, and keep a good show going? We were about to find out.

“How are you doing out there? How are we doing up here?!”
- Ozzy Osbourne (vocals)

I have to admit, to this day, I still get excited to see Ozzy. Judging by the size of the crowd, I wasn’t the only one feeling this way either.
The only way to introduce a legend like this, was with an equally legendary tune, and thus Carl Orff’s O Fortuna blasted through the speakers, as the musicians got in place. On the video screens, we got a nice overview of Ozzy looks through the ages, giving the show a charming tint of nostalgia. After this, the sweetness was over, and the band kicked things quickly into motion with an old favourite of mine, Bark At The Moon. Ozzy actually seemed to be in a very good mood for the evening, and performed as lively as his age and constitution allowed him. There was a lot of applauding the audience, walking and talking, and even jumping at times.
Having both a personality like Ozzy and Zakk Wylde on stage at the same time doesn’t leave much space for others, and while the rest of the guys did both and perform well, they couldn’t help but sink a bit into the background. Still, I will compliment Tommy Clufetos for doing some solid performing while drumming, and also for delivering a quite solid solo. Alan Wakeman also got a bit more light on him, as he left his keyboards and donned a guitar for the Black Sabbath covers of the evening.

Zakk Wylde also got a solo. Man, that was some solo. And I mean this in sheer length of the thing. God damn, it just went on and on and on, never ending, never relenting. Seriously, planets had time to shift while he was still playing. I grew gray hairs, and shed them again, waiting for the show to pick back up.
Don’t get me wrong, Wylde is a talented guitarist, and I recognise this. It’s just that, when it starts to feel like half the show-time is set aside to him showing off, I get bored. Oh so bored. It wasn’t, of course, but it bloody well felt like it at the time.
Finally, Ozzy did reemerge and put an end to it, and we could thankfully get on with the show. For that, I’ll be forever in his debt.

No show without some audience participation, and here was plenty of space for it. War Pigs saw the crowd applauding the beat and taking over parts of the lyrics, and No More Tears had them taking over the last couple of choruses.
Of course, even when not directly invited, everyone sang along to a setlist basically made up of classic upon classic, and everyone was happy doing so.
Looking away from the years taken from me during that guitar solo, I actually did like the show very much. Ozzy was alive and having fun, and he delivered as well as can be expected, and no one can take that amazing body of work away from him. He is a legend, and the reason for this was solidified here tonight.

Setlist:

O Fortuna (Carl Orff song)
Bark At The Moon
Mr. Crowley
I Don’t Know
Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath cover)
Suicide Solution
No More Tears
Road To Nowhere
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Solo (Wylde)
Solo (Clufetos)
I Don’t Want To Change The World
Shot In The Dark
Crazy Train
Mama, I’m Coming Home
Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
Changes (Black Sabbath song)