Concert Review: Black Sabbath Chicago 9/4/2016

This past Sunday (September 4th) thousands of people packed into the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre to be part of something that no one else after that night would ever get to say: they saw Black Sabbath in Chicago (Tinley Park if you want to get technical). Black Sabbath is currently on their final tour called The End and that night they made their Chicago stop.

I've been to the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre multiple times, so there was nothing to really surprise me about it. It was perfect for the kind of gigantic high budget outdoor production Black Sabbath put on. You could easily see what was going on during the show on stage regardless of where you were sitting. It was also able to comfortably fit several thousand people in the seats as well as the lawn area. It also had multiple vendors all around for in case you wanted to buy an over priced refreshment or T-shirt.

Rival Sons were an excellent choice for Black Sabbath to have on as an opener. The styles of the two bands meshed rather well. Their old school made new approach to rock really got the crowd going. You could feel the passion and energy just dripping off of them like beads of sweat as they pounded their heavy blues rock n' roll into the packed to the rafters stadium. If I were to further describe their sound, imagine Led Zeppelin meets Black Sabbath meets Janice Joplin and then put all of that on steroids. I wouldn't say they blew Black Sabbath off the stage like Van Halen did back in the late 70's, but they definitely had a more youthful and energetic vibe about them.

However, after Rival Sons had warmed up the crowd and then some, it was time for the feature presentation to begin. When the lights went down and Black Sabbath took the stage adorned in flowy black garments the audience erupted in thunderous cheers and applause. After a brief video intro on the jumbotrons they wasted no time kicking off the opening number, the first song to the first album - the haunting classic Black Sabbath.

The stage set up was surprisingly minimal. They had a few jumbotrons accenting the songs, but that was about it. I would have thought they would have had some props and scenery of a macabre nature to add to the feel of the show, but apparently not. I guess when you're the greatest thing to ever happen to heavy metal you don't really need such things. The music naturally speaks for itself and you don't need much visual aid to enjoy it.

The band's sound was top notch as was to be expected. Tony Iommi was naturally on top of his guitar game, backed by bass legend Geezer Butler and Bill Ward's replacement/fill-in Tommy Clufetos. Together they flawlessly produced a great big wall of sound that knocked everyone in the audience off their feet (metaphorically). Ozzy Osbourne was overall still sounding ok, but there were moments where I felt he sounded strained or couldn't really produce any melody. Still, with his enthusiasm and effort he still managed to give a good performance.

One thing I will note that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there was a moment where I could definitely tell the difference between Ward's and Clufetos's drumming styles. When Black Sabbath played Hand of Doom (a personal favorite of mine) the slower parts seemed to be lacking a lot of the jazzy drum nuances that Ward had originally incorporated into his part of the song. Clufetos just tapped on his hi-hat in rhythm with the song. I'm not knocking Clufetos's skills (as he has an abundance of them), but this is kind of why I wish Ward and the band could work out their differences and truly reunite before it's too late.

I was pretty satisfied with the set list. Sabbath naturally whipped out all the classics like War Pigs, Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Iron Man, Children of the Grave, N.I.B., etc. but they also pulled out some of their less radio aired gems like After Forever, Snowblind, Hand of Doom, Into the Void, Behind the Wall of Sleep, Dirty Women, etc. Sadly they didn't do The Wizard, Sweet Leaf, Electric Funeral or Never Say Die, but I think I'll manage to live. I wasn't expecting them to do as many of my favorites as they did, so it was still a marvelous experience.

I don't have too many gripes about this show. I do wish they could have played a couple more of my personal favorites, but I understand you can't always get what you want. They still put on a great show with what they did. Again, I thought Ozzy did have a few moments where his age really did show through in his voice but I can't really fault him much for that. I also would have liked if Tony Iommi had taken a guitar solo. Geezer and Clufetos both got solos. Why not Tony? Maybe he was just trying to be modest? Otherwise, the show was absolutely great.

That night Black Sabbath proved that they are definitely still the best heavy metal band to ever exist. Even in their old age they still rock harder than just about anyone else on the planet, putting countless younger bands/artists to shame. Hell, these guys didn't even have to move around much to impress us. Even just standing there and occasionally ambling over to a different part of the stage they were still able to wow us with their musical prowess alone. That kind of talent and presence literally speaks volumes about what true talent can really do. That said, if you are close by to any of the remaining tour dates for The End you NEED to get to the show. It will be your last chance and you will get plenty of bang for your buck.

This performance receives 4.75 out of 5 stars.