Since I was a young lad, I’ve always been drawn to “heavy” music. My dad was an oldies guy, which during my childhood was primarily music from the 50s and 60s. My mom was into modern rock and while her sensibilities weren’t exactly heavy, they definitely were compared to what my dad listened to (which back then was primarily Neil Diamond). As a result, I often tended to prefer the music my mom would put on compared with what my dad would select not truly realizing what it was I liked most about music. The first band I really gravitated towards was Aerosmith and my very first cassette tape was the album Pump. My first CD purchase would end up being Big Ones which I didn’t realize was just a compilation of songs I had been listening to for awhile, but at least they were all songs I enjoyed (even if my mom owned all of those CDs already). From there, I’d get my own “boom box” for my bedroom and my preferred radio station would become Worcester’s WAAF which skewed much heavier than my mom’s preferred Rock 101. By the time I was heading into middle school I found myself getting into bands I was hearing on the radio like Tool, Korn, and Worcester’s own beloved Godsmack. As I entered into high school my tastes went heavier thanks to friends and easily accessible mp3s traded in AOL chat rooms. Bands like Metallica would eventually come out and shit on mp3 files that were so accessible, but without those I may have never discovered bands like Children of Bodom, In Flames, and Opeth.

And without Black Sabbath, most of those bands wouldn’t exist. I don’t know if I truly appreciated that as a kid, but it certainly became apparent as I went on my heavy metal journey. Danzig would become my favorite band in high school and it’s hard to imagine that band existing without Sabbath (Glenn Danzig, as well as many other artists, was not shy about borrowing Sabbath riffs). As a kid, I was definitely aware of Black Sabbath, and as a child of the 80s I was very aware of Ozzy Osbourne. He had a reputation as a mad man and his songs were frequently featured on radio and MTV. Probably more so than Sabbath at that point, but it’s not as if one had to listen to the radio for very long to hear something like “Paranoid” or “War Pigs.”

My first Black Sabbath album would be the classic Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. There’s nothing I could say about that album that hasn’t been said before: it’s perfect. I’d also be lying if I said Black Sabbath was one of my favorite bands. It’s not as I tend to favor more up-tempo stuff, but I always liked the group and enjoy listening to it. I also think Black Sabbath is perhaps the most influential band ever. That’s not to say other acts haven’t been incredibly influential, but just in my little circle of music I indulge the most in, it’s Sabbath by a mile.

Few bands today could pull-off what Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne just did with the Back to the Beginning concert. Taking place at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK, Back to the Beginning is a giant celebration of Black Sabbath and its frontman Ozzy Osbourne who has been suffering with Parkinson’s disease which is forcing his retirement from the stage. This made the show both a celebration and a farewell and for a lot of artists and fans it might be the last time they get to express to the boys of Sabbath how much their music influenced them. Osbourne is of course not the only member of the band and joining him on stage for the finale was guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and for the first time in 20 years drummer Bill Ward. These four men came to define heavy metal and started something they likely could never have imagined back when they started, and though the band has not been without drama and controversy over its 50 years of existence, the guys of Black Sabbath have remained well-respected and much loved by their peers.

Back to the Beginning was a non-profit all day concert played before 45,000 fans and an untold number of others watching at home. It featured performances by the bands Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and concluding with a short set of solo Ozzy material and a set by Black Sabbath. Mixed into the bill were performances by super groups. Organized by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, the super groups featured the talents of Jake E. Lee, Billy Corgan, K.K. Downing, Vernon Reid, Travis Barker, Ronnie Wood, Sammy Hagar, and many more. Artists appeared for free with the event offering travel reimbursements. I have no idea how many took advantage of that, but I hope a lot of the bigger acts flew on their own dime.

Because of the massive bill, set lists were kept pretty short. Most acts only had 15 minutes and change-overs were done quickly via a revolving stage. While one act performed, the crew could set up for the next one out of sight. In between acts, video messages were played alongside public service announcements for the charities the show was benefitting including Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s. Despite the sadness of seeing Ozzy and the boys one final time, the mood was definitely celebratory. Other musicians could often be seen offstage watching and enjoying seeing their peers perform. The crowd certainly had favorites, but was responsive for pretty much all of the acts and especially so when they went into covers of classic Sabbath and Ozzy material.

Being a dweller of the United States, attending this show was out of my budget, but I was able to watch the livestream. The show was almost always electric and Mastodon kicked things off in strong fashion. The format for most of the acts was to play about 3 songs (Slayer, who specializes in short, fast, songs managed to squeeze in 6 into 26 minutes) which took the form of two originals and one cover. Some of the choices for covers were great fits and some surprising too. Anthrax unleashed an excellent version of “Into the Void” during their set while Slayer kind of surprised with “Wicked World” which they wove their own song “South of Heaven” into. Alice in Chains did an excellent version of “Fairies Wear Boots” while my favorite on the day belonged to Tool and their cover of “Hand of Doom.” It just worked so well as a marriage of Tool and Sabbath and really drove home where the influence originated.

The super group performances also proved to be a ton of fun. The first such set included a really kick ass performance of Osbourne’s “The Ultimate Sin” with Lizzy Hale on vocals. That first super group performance concluded with perhaps the biggest surprise of the night with Yungblood on vocals for “Changes” proving that the Sabbath influence can run deeper than most would expect. The second super group performance included some of the biggest fireworks on the day. Just check out the lineup for the first song, the Judas Priest classic “Breaking the Law”: Billy Corgan, K.K. Downing, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Rudy Sarzo. Corgan is not exactly anyone’s idea of a Rob Halford stand-in (Priest couldn’t appear due to a prior commitment opening for The Scorpions that same day, but sent a pre-recorded message), but he did quite well. And that was just the start. Sammy Hagar took over for a couple of songs and his voice still sounded strong before giving way to Papa V Perpetua for a performance of “Bark at the Moon.” That’s not the song I would have chosen for Papa, but he brought fantastic energy and delivered a great performance that had the crowd popping. The biggest surprise appearance of the show followed when Steven Tyler took the stage for “Train Kept A-Rollin,” “Walk this Way,” and “Whole Lotta Love.” It was nice to see Led Zeppelin get featured as they’re certainly up there as influential acts in the world of rock and metal. Tyler, at 77 years young, sounded fantastic and moved well on stage. I was left thinking if any other band is going to attempt their own version of Back to the Beginning in the near future it’s Aerosmith who had to call off their own farewell tour due to a vocal injury to Tyler.

Following the second of two super group performances it was time for the more noteworthy acts to take the stage. Among them were Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. It’s hard to overstate the influence both acts have had on the world of heavy metal, but their performances left me more in awe of the elder statesmen performing on the day by comparison. It surprised me that Hagar and Tyler both sound better today than Axl Rose and James Hetfield, but I guess that’s just life and in fairness to Hetfield I don’t know if anyone has toured as much as Metallica has.

Perhaps it’s a good thing I found those two acts a bit underwhelming because it helped lower expectations for the Ozz-man himself. Ozzy, being left unable to walk thanks to Parkinson’s, was raised from below in the stage in a thrown befitting a heavy metal king. At age 76 and following a pretty hard life, I’m not going to lie to you and say Ozzy looked like a man younger than that, but he definitely sounded like something close to his old self. I think he sounded better than the last time I saw him back in 2005 and perhaps not running around like a mad man on stage contributed to that. Joining him on stage for a set of his solo material was Tommy Clufetos, Zakk Wylde, Mike Inez, and Adam Wakeman. They kicked things off with “I Don’t Know” and followed with “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” and ending with “Crazy Train.” All through-out the performance Ozzy frequently thanked the crowd and extended blessings like a man truly grateful to be there. He would also drink water and hit his throat with a spray. There was also an old English tea cup beside his chair, though I never saw him drink from it.

After the set of Ozzy material came Black Sabbath. Perhaps knowing that Osbourne could only handle so much, their set was brief consisting of “War Pigs,” N.I.B,” “Iron Man,” and concluding with “Paranoid.” Before going into “Paranoid,” Ozzy noted it would be their last song ever and took time once again to thank the crowd. It was hard not to get choked up by that admission and perhaps the emotion of the moment also affected Ozzy’s vocals as it was the only time he faltered. Or maybe he was just at the end of what he could handle at his age. When the song was over there was a long, loud, ovation followed by fireworks. The broadcast focused on the fireworks, but onstage the band presented Ozzy with a cake and amateur footage captured this. It did appear more celebratory than mournful and everyone just looks really happy and content.

And that was really the whole vibe of the show. This was a bunch of artists putting on a big show over their shared love and appreciation of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. The only similar thing I can recall seeing was the concert for Freddie Mercury. That one occurred after the singer’s death and while it wanted to celebrate the life of Mercury, it did wind up feeling a bit sad in the end. It was nice that this show didn’t wait until then. The guys are still around and even able to perform. Ozzy can’t run around on stage like he used to, but who cares? He was there, he sounded great, and most of all he got to feel the love and appreciation from the crowd and his peers. Before his performance, a video was shared of all of the artists showing up earlier in the day many of whom were eager to see Ozzy and tell him what he meant to them. There were a lot of shots of Ozzy and others posing for a big group photo and I bet a lot of the people in that photo will display it prominently in their own home. They’ll probably hunt down autographs for years of everyone in the picture whenever their paths cross. It was a great show, and while it wasn’t without the occasional hiccup (Tyler kind of blew the surprise thinking his mic wasn’t on before taking the stage) there wasn’t any moment where a performance felt ruined or anything. If you’re a metal head and didn’t see this one then I urge you to check out the rebroadcast. At over 8 hours, it’s definitely worth the money and I think you’ll have a good time.