The last incarnation of Black Sabbath that I witnessed live is the ninth one which featured Ray Gillen, Dave Spitz, Eric Singer, Geoff Nichols and band co-founder, Tony Iommi. Not exactly a renowned line-up nor should the tour have ever been billed as Black Sabbath in the first place. Heck, this version of the group never released an official album!
Twenty years after I saw a concert that was supposedly Black Sabbath, I was present for a live performance from the reunited Mark IV roster of the band at the Montreal Bell Center. This is the version of the group that recorded the classic Mob Rules album which features an awesome cover by acclaimed artist, Greg Hildebrandt. However, irony would have it that this time around, Tony Iommi,
Geezer Butler, Vinnie Appice and Ronnie James Dio do not tour under the moniker of Black Sabbath but rather naming themselves after the title of an album they recorded entitled Heaven and Hell.
Alongside my wife, the evening starts off with the subway ride where I observe a group of young men & women who are clutching tightly at their tickets while discussing which concert merchandise they plan on purchasing at the venue. Between each station stop, I overhear a long past dilemma of mine from my youth that still appears to be the burden of today’s generation of rock fans; That is the despicable greed of concert promoters who gouge those who for one evening, only wish to listen, perhaps worship their idols as well as have a good time. With ticket prices set at $70
CDN and official merchandise averaging $35
CDN, this does not leave much entertainment budget for beer which will gash your wallet at $10
CDN for a cup. Having experienced the lifestyle of a low-wage income earner who attends school, I introduce myself to the youngsters and offer advice which was once given to me by veteran rockers to stretch one’s hard earned dollar. I show them my flat, slim 375 ML liquor flask which can easily be hidden from the security type people at the entrance booths. At 39 years old, I was afraid that I could be a fish out of water with my first concert outing since
Brian May’s Back To the Light tour but it appears that rock’n’roll will always bridge a generation gap.
Taking my seat, I survey the crowd to notice that it consists of fathers, sons, youngsters, old farts, inebriated jailbaits and my own personal favourite, sexy Milfs. Lacking any real promotion from the local second-rate FM rock station that features an array of tacky radio broadcasters that do not have the testicular fortitude to go beyond the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Styx, a respectable turnout crowd still showed up to demonstrate that there is a potential fan base for Hard Rock and Heavy Metal within the city. If only promoters can go beyond their short-sightedness to secure tour dates for bland bands such as The Police or Genesis in order to demand $400 CDN and $225 CDN per ticket….
Megadeth whets the audience’s appetite for the main course of the evening so when the lights dim for Heaven & Hell to make their entrance, the crowd demands nothing less from the founders of the modern Heavy Metal era than to have their teeth shattered by Iommi’s thundering guitar riffs while Dio makes their ears bleed with his dominant vocal styling. Unfortunately, the house that Ronald Corey built possesses no acoustical value for concerts nor does it have an architectural design that conveys a sense of excitement for the paying customer. The Bell Center was built to maximize seating capacity with no value being considered to be close to the action so whether it be a musical, concert or sports event, you will always feel that whatever is transpiring is distant no matter where you are. The sound at the Bell Center is at such a pedestrian level that I even wondered if Geezer Butler’s bass was even connected to the sound board or if the microphone had been erroneously mixed with those set for the guitar channels.
Heaven and Hell starts their set with a track from the Dehumanizer album entitled
After All. If the band thinks that the crowd is standing up on their feet because they are cheering the intro song, a quick glance at the seats by Dio and co. would make them realize that the dimensions of the chairs are smaller than that of the coach section on a commercial airline. Even the most die-hard Sabbath fan will have to admit that this is not a great intro song to get the crowd rallied up and the second featured composition, The Mob Rules, is a better choice to set the tone of the concert. The song list is comprised from the three Black Sabbath albums that were recorded with Ronnie James Dio as well as some tracks from an upcoming anthology CD box set. Do not expect any songs to be performed from the
Ozzy Osbourne era but it would have certainly been a crowd pleaser if the band would have made a rendition of one or two songs from Dio’s classic solo works or from his time in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Those who saw Black Sabbath during the Born Again tour can attest that Iommi & Butler can put their own distinct mark on any song or genre with their version of
Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water.
The highlight of the concert is when the band performs
Falling Off The Edge Of The World. A track that is considered a fan favourite but according to other Sabbath fans that I know, was never performed live prior to this tour. The band is tight and while the many teens who were raised on a steady diet of Ritalin just can’t seem to focus long enough on the songs or that their bladder cannot store more than three gulps of beer before having to rush to the latrines, even they have to chant along to the band’s signature song, Heaven and Hell.
When the band came back on stage to perform an encore, I could not believe that even after all these years, rock bands who come to perform in Montreal still rely on a cliché that is about as outdated as a VHS player. Can someone please explain to me why a band has to promote the city’s NHL franchise, Les Canadiens, by sporting a jersey or a cap with the logo on it each and every friggin’ time? Although Montreal tries very hard to be the New York city of Canada but is in reality, just a piss poor French version of Toronto, the local natives don’t all devote their lives to the sport of hockey!
The Quebec City, Ottawa and New York gigs will conclude the first leg of their tour. If you are lucky enough to get a ticket to one of these shows, you will not be disappointed to either reminisce or witness the band live for the first time. Heaven and Hell has also announced more dates to their current agenda. Check out their web site at
www.heavenandhelllive.com for more info.
Review by Brian Grindrod
Linear Mode
