Back To The Beginning
Villa Park, Birmingham UK
July 5, 2025
Featuring: Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Guns 'N Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Minds, Mastodon and more...
It was dubbed as the greatest heavy metal gathering in history of the genre and it not only lived up to expectations, but blew most of them out of the water when Black Sabbath took to the stage in the hometown where it all kicked off back in 1968... Birmingham.
The events leading up to the performance had metalheads in a frenzy with over 40,000 venturing to the small Northern UK township to witness history in the making, and mark the final performance of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward; surrounded by a cavalcade of metal titans and rock gods as far as the eye can see.
Troy Sanders walked onto the stage at Villa Park in Birmingham and asked the crowd: “is everyone ready?” With that, Mastodon burst into ‘Black Tongue’ and thus began the final live show of Ozzy Osbourne’s career. It would be hours before Ozzy would take the stage but before then some of the very best metal bands ever lined up to play their respects. After ‘Blood and Thunder’, Mastodon dropped the first cover of the day, jamming on Black Sabbath classic ‘Supernaught’. They cut back the vocals but added a snare drum off with Brann Dailor being joined by none other than Danny Carey (Tool), Mario Duplantier (Gojira) and Eloy Casagrande (Slipknot). This was the kind of unique jam fans had speculated about when the lineup was announced and the Atlanteans delivered with help from their friends.
The stream aired on a two hour delay and for a moment I thought we’d be stuck watching the set change over for Rival Sons. But they dropped in advertising for the charities the gig is raising money for, along with documentary-style interviews and clips from fans around the world. Among them were shoutouts from the likes of Def Leppard, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Dolly Parton (wtf?), AC/DC, Judas Priest and Sir Elton John. There’s also local bands with great names like Meatdripper and Margarita Witch Cult. Later on we got a behind the scenes of Ross Halfin’s pre-gig photo shoot. Great to see Ozzy has lost none of his humour as he taunts Halfin.
After a crowd rev up from our host, actor Jason Momoa, Rival Sons brought their blues riffs to stage. Nestled between ‘Do Your Worst’ and ‘Secret’ was a brisk cover of ‘Electric Funeral’, low key one of my fave Sabbath tracks. The power of the riff reverberated from Birmingham to my living room in Melbourne. How good is modern tech? As a kid this is the kind of experience I would’ve read about in a magazine probably months later. So I’m fine with a two hour delay, especially given the crystal clear picture and audio quality.
For the first time in a long time, we’ve got most of the Big 4 on one stage. Anthrax are the first of the original thrashers to make an appearance, bursting out with the ‘Among the Living’ intro into ‘Indians’. There’s much neck snapping across the world. As is often the case, the band are in matching shirts with “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” on the front and a Sabbath band member’s names on the back. They cut sick on ‘Into the Void’, with Scott Ian telling the crowd they “weren’t here to say goodbye”, they “we're here to say thank you”.
Halestorm ignited the fire when they took the stage, with classic ‘Love Bites (But So Do I)’. Lzzy’s Ozzy-style tassel jacket is summer’s must have. Lzzy shouted out all “the women of heavy metal” and introduced new song ‘Rain Your Blood On Me’, which I guess is fine when you’ve got a new record coming out. Might as well seize the moment when all proceeds are going to charity. Gotta say though it’s a cracking tune, with very Sabbath style tempo changes, and I’m a wee bit more excited about the album now (it’s called Everest and it's out August 8). As we called in our preview, Halestorm launched into the Ozzy 90s classic ‘Perry Mason’ and they slayed.
There’s a cool bit on the stream where they show the rotating drum kit. Basically it’s a turntable that allows them to rotate the next kit straight into the stage, cutting down stage turnover to just a few minutes.
Lamb of God aren’t here to fuck spiders so they smash out ‘Laid to Rest’, undoubtably one of this century’s great metal tunes. They follow with another of this century’s great metal tunes - the almighty ‘Redneck’. That’s how you make the most of a short set. There are circlepits and bodies flying everywhere. Frontman Dr. Randy Blythe leads the crowd in a Sabbath chant and introduces ‘Children of the Grave’. The band gives it a groove metal update that hits the crowd right in the gut.
Momoa introduced the first all-star band of the day, with Mike Bordin, Adam Wakeman, Dave Ellefson, Nuno Bettencourt joining Lzzy Hale and Jake E Lee, who got a tremendous pop from the crowd (and subsequently took several moments to appear on stage). Hardcore fans will notice that Bordin, Wakeman and Lee represent three different eras of Ozzy’s solo band. They smashed Ozzy's deep cut ‘The Ultimate Sin’. Next up was Dave Draiman, who got a mixed crowd reaction that included a few boos. Anyway, he did a good version of ‘Shot in the Dark’. Scott Ian replaces Lee and Draiman introduces ‘Sweet Leaf’, giving Dave the chance to get more of his unique inflection into his vocals. The band is notably sharper too and the crowd looks more into it.
The band mostly changes over, with Sleep Token’s ii coming out in full costume and Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) singing Ozzy’s early career rager, ‘Believer’. Bettencourt was on lead guitar the whole set and smashed every single solo. Crane handed the mic over to Yungblud, who had the task of slowing down the show with Sabbath ballad ‘Changes’. And my lord, did he nail it. It’s a massive moment when the crowd joins in on the chorus, with the camera showing tears among the punters. I’m not a massive fan of it as a Sabbath song, but Yungy elevated it for me. Superb showcase from the next generation.
Waiting patiently for Alice in Chains when two kids come on and introduce ‘Mr Crowley’. The screen shows a kid playing the iconic organ part, before revealing Jack Black in an Ozzy outfit, fronting a band of teenagers who give the song a real kick. The band includes Roman Morello on guitar and Scott Ian’s son on bass. Shame this wasn’t in front of the stadium as it would’ve gone off.
Alice in Chains finally take the stage and bring some 90s attitude to proceedings with ‘Man in the Box’. Cool reminder that Sabbath riffing was a key influence on Seattle bands like AiC and Soundgarden, plus bassist Mike Inez was in Ozzy’s solo band and Jerry Cantrell played on Osbourne’s covers album. Sadly Cantrell’s mic is off in the mix so I could barely hear his vocals, dampening the mood of ‘Would?’ a bit. His guitar had no problem though and ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ was awesome UNTIL THE SOUND DIED ON THE STREAM!
Needless to say that streaming chat blew up.
It was fixed fairly quickly and we got the second half of the song. The chat wasn’t so forgiving.
There’s a few bands on the line up who represent the evolution of metal, the foremost of which is Gojira. The tech death Frenchmen appear to immolate by playing ‘Stranded’ and ‘Silvera’ to a headbanging crowd. It’s far beyond what Iommi would’ve imagined when he was doodling on guitar back in the late 60s. The bands after them have been around longer and are bigger names, but only Gojira have played an Olympics opening ceremony in front of a worldwide audience. So yep, they play ‘Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)’ and are joined by opera singer Marina Viotti (who performed with them at the Olympics). She headbangs too! Joe Duplantier admits he is nervous as he introduced their cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Under the Sun’. But he's just being humble because of course they push the song to the extremes and cover themselves in glory. The best set so far.
I have to feel for Tom Morello. Long after the excitement of getting the once in a lifetime job of leading this ensemble of some of heavy metals finest musicians has faded, the reality of wrangling a group of rock stars together and getting them to function and perform has well and truly set in. Like honestly, where was Jake E Lee earlier?
In what will go down as a drummers dream, Nuno Bettencourt and Rudy Sarzo are very quickly outnumbered by Chad Smith, Travis Barker and Danny Carey for ‘Symptom of the Universe’, a tune that sees the three of them have a drum off. Carey’s kit dwarfs the other two sets and Barker's solo gets a “ok then” look from Chad. It’s a wee bit of a shamozzle, but I’d still watch these three beat each other off any day.
Barker, Chad and Nuno exit as Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Billy Corgan and KK Downing get this revolving door of legends moving with the Judas Priest classic ‘Breaking The Law’.
Adam Wakeman joins them for Snowblind and I think its fair to say that Corgan is in heaven. A proud metal fan, delivering two of the greatest songs of all time, and you know what? He goes alright on them too. Bravo mate.
Adam Wakeman and Rudy Sarzo hang about as everyone else takes off, Nuno and Chad re-emerge and are joined by Vernon Reid and Sammy Hagar to belt out an Ozzy cover of ‘Flying High Again’ before doing the Montrose cover of ‘Rock Candy’, the first song ever written by Hagar. It’s ok, and it’s not the most enthralled the audience is going to be all evening, but it’s over soon enough. Chickenfoot bandmates Hagar and Chad exit to make way for Travis Barker and the new and improved Papa V Perpetua to belt out a stellar rendition of Ozzy staple ‘Bark At The Moon’. During the next revolution of artist, that includes Nuno, Morello, Sarzo and Barker, the inimitable voice of Steven Tyler can be heard screaming “MY MIC ISN’T WORKING” into, what sounds to me like, a perfectly functioning microphone. He finally graces the stage alongside Andrew Watt and Ronnie Wood to belt out Aerosmith staple, the Tiny Bradshaw cover of ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’. Barker and Wood exit, Chad returns and they rip into Aerosmith's ‘Walk The Way’, followed by Led Zeppelin all time belter ‘Whole Lotta Love’. Its a welcomed return to the stage for Steve Tyler, a man who has rocked this planet for over 50 years, who was retired from touring due to injury, a man who still sits as one of the greatest frontmen of all time, a man that still sounds a million dollars. Loved every minute. Tom Morello earned his spot tonight.
Pantera are introduced onto the stage by Momoa to a large welcomed cheer by the audience. Momoa says this band are one of his all time favourites ever and tells the crowd to make room for him in the pit. Pantera have made no secret for their love of Sabbath over the decades, even going so far as to sing the line “your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath” for 'Goddamned Electric' on their Reinventing the Steel album. You can see the enormity of this occasion plastered across Phil Anselmo’s face as he enters the Stadium to the opening chugs of ‘Cowboys From Hell'. There’s an aura of reverence in his stride as he’s joined by OG band mate Rex Brown. Pulling double duty is Charlie Benante, who played earlier with Anthrax and Zakk Wylde who’ll play later with Ozzy himself. They launch into 'Walk' and Momoa has a look of regret smeared across his face. He is firmly swamped in the pit and he has to be thinking that he had a perfectly good spot, side stage, not drowning in this crowds sweat. Pantera perform the first of two Sabbath covers. ‘Planet Caravan’, the song they included on 1994’s Far Beyond Driven before ripping into ‘Electric Funeral’, the song they performed as part of the 2000 Nativity in Black II compilation album. A solid showing from the not so Texan four piece, and like so many sets tonight, it felt incredibly short, as shown by the rousing applause by the rabble on hand.
Tool swan on out and the sky shot of Danny Carey’s kit has drummers across the globe frothing right now. Maynard looks like he’s ready to spar as he locks in on bassist Justin Chancellor as he plays the iconic intro to ‘Forty Six & 2’. This is a masterclass on all fronts and the sides of the stage is packed with the best on the planet, all as transfixed as the punters in the stands. They slide into a beautiful rendition of Sabbaths ‘Hand of Doom’ before closing out with ‘Ænima’ and for a band like Tool, who have 15 minute tunes in their arsenal, banging out 3 songs in 20 perfect minutes is a miracle. Drummers worldwide lose their collective minds again as the aerial shot of the circular drum riser shows Danny Carey’s drums cycle out and is replaced by Paul Bostaph's beautiful kit.
Slayer shows are a rare thing these days so the fact they’re here underlines the day’s significance. They thrash through their own stuff before breaking into ‘Wicked World’ as their chosen cover, which segues into ‘South of Heaven’. There’s no messing around as they reprise ‘Wicked World’ and then barrel into ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Angel of Death’. The crowd shots show rabid enthusiasm with multiple circlepits and there’s barely the chance for anyone in the stadium or at home to catch their breath. Tom Araya sounds better than you’d think and it’s less a tribute to Ozzy and Sabbath and more a reminder that any history of metal must include Slayer.
Fred Durst appeared pre-recorded from a studio and gave his own rendition of ‘Changes’, accompanied by acoustic guitar and cello. It was nice but lacked the energy of Yungblud’s earlier live version.
Momoa introduced Guns 'N Roses as one of his kid’s favourite bands. They took the stage with Axl Rose on piano and played Bill Ward’s lone lead vocal song, ‘It’s Alright’. They erupted into ‘Never Say Die’ with Axl singing high, which to be fair isn’t the strength it once was. It’s a bit of a shame because Slash and Duff lead the band and they cook. They went even deeper into the Sabbath discography by playing ‘Junior’s Eyes’. Clearly the band are fans of Sabbath’s later Ozzy albums and Slash gets to wah-wah all over the riff. Worth noting this is GnR without either of their keyboardists so it’s raw but sounds huge. ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ brought the crowd back to life and Axl sounded much more comfortable. Axl commented that it was “fun” before asking the crowd “do you know where the fuck you are?” prompting Slash to kick into ‘Welcome to the Jungle’. They end the set with ‘Paradise City’, still a belter almost forty years later, but the chat is all about Axl’s vocal performance. I did notice a counter though that showed 2.3 million people were watching live. Holy smokes.
To the confusion of everyone, the stream went from preparing for Metallica to replaying the part of Alice in Chains where the sound went out. No announcement or anything, just ‘Sweet Leaf’ again in full. With Metallica’s performance due to stream, we got a replay of Lamb of God’s ‘Children of the Grave’, which caused more chat angst. Why we are doing this when the stream is a two hour delay remains a mystery.
Morello introduced Metallica who got the crowd headbanging to ‘Hole in the Sky’. James Hetfield did his best Ozzy impersonation but it sounded slightly strained. They did what they do best by blasting away at ‘Creeping Death’ to the thrill of the crowd in person and online. The crowd wasn’t mic’d well enough to hear their singing but I’ve heard this live often enough to get the vibe. Other bands might have been tighter and heavier, but only Metallica have songs as iconic as ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘Battery’ and ‘Master of Puppets’. They also did ‘Johnny Blade’, a Sabbath song so obscure I had to look it up. There’s a lot of love for it among 80s bands apparently. Great groove that works in the Metallica style but I’d forgotten about it for a reason. I’m guessing it was Lars’ choice.
After a long wait and more replays, finally we get Ozzy Osbourne for the final time. Looking appropriately evil on his throne which rose from beneath the stafe, he gives ‘I Don’t Know’ all he can. He’s probably on enough meds to wake Dio but looked and sounded pretty good for a 76 year old with Parkinson’s. The crowd applause is enormous, even from across the world. He’s joined by members of his most recent solo band, with Wylde and Wakeman joined by Tommy Clufetos and 90s bassist Mike Inez. My predictions have been off all day but I’m pretty spot on for Ozzy’s set - he peeled through ‘Mr Crowley’, ‘Suicide Solution’ and caused tears with ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’. It’s a beautiful moment for sure with the crowd taking over on the key change. As for me, there must've been a dust storm that swept through the kitchen. What is this coming from my eyes?
For the last song, Ozzy Osbourne asked the crowd to “go fucking crazy” and let out the “all aboard” wail for the final time. Zakk Wylde cut loose on ‘Crazy Train’ and for a moment all was right. The stream showed tears turning to smiles and over 40,000 people bounced and sung and hugged and celebrated the original metal wild man.
After further delays and recaps, a video package recapped Black Sabbath’s Ozzy years with a focus on relationships. The rain sound effects started, the sirens wailed and Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward joined Ozzy for ‘War Pigs’. It’s the first time the original four have played in twenty years and it met the hype. It was immediately obvious that Ward is on song and my dark lord, how good are Geezer's bass fingers? And that cued his ‘Bassically’ solo into ‘NIB’. Then it's ’Iron Man’ and the realisation sets in that this is nearly over. Iommi gives the solo song extra umph, Ward keeps up and Ozzy makes sure the crowd knows it.
There’s more tears in everyone’s eyes when Ozzy offers a final salute to the crowd before they launch into ‘Paranoid’. For the last time… ever? Ozzy shuffled his legs but couldn't rise from the throne. There’s five and a half million people streaming it from around the world, willing him to stand. There’s nothing left in the tank and that’s it. The band that started it all have defied time and illness and put on one hell of a last performance. It’s confetti and co2 cannons and fireworks into the Birmingham night, the crowd showered in purple light.
I think I’ve used enough words. I saw Ozzy with my own eyes four times over the years, twice with Black Sabbath, all of them with my Dad. If this was the last time I can see him, I’m satisfied, even with technical fuck ups.
Raise a glass to the legends of metal - past, present and future.
Review by KJ Draven @kjdraven and Duane James @duanejamestattoo
Vale Black Sabbath - 1968-2025
