In an epic 8-and-a-half-hour marathon of a goodbye for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, there were some seriously sick moments.
It was very tough to pick, but here are just some of our favourites, in no particular order.
The Drum-Off
Absolute scenes. You had Travis Barker, Dany Carey, and Chad Smith all on stage together for Black Sabbath’s ‘Symptom of the Universe’, where they each had a moment to themselves.
They were backed by Tom Morello, bassist Rudy Sarzo and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
It was awesome.
Jack Black’s Pre-Recorded Performance of Mr Crowley
We loved it - it was like a mini sequel to School of Rock, with young musicians in the band including Tom Morello’s son Roman and Scott Ian from Anthrax’s son Revel. The young Morello was even playing the Polka Dot Flying V belonging to Ozzy's late great guitarist Randy Rhodes!
Made as a tribute to the original 1981 TV performance of ‘Mr Crowley’, Black nailed the rendition, down to the iconic blue rhinestoned shirt.
It’s a little scary how well Black channeled his inner Prince of Darkness through the little mannerisms and nuances, but it served as a beautiful tribute. Check out our reporter Mon’s opinion piece on it - she couldn’t get enough.
Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa was the MC for the marathon of a concert, introducing each super-group and band in between sets, and keeping the audience entertained and engaged.
It comes as no surprise, given Momoa’s past collaboration with Ozzy, starring in the music video for ‘Scary Little Green Men’.
The 45-year-old even joined the pit for Pantera’s set, and the crowd frothed it.
It speaks for itself really. That was awesome to see, and we thought he was a fitting host for the event.
James Hetfield thanks Black Sabbath
The moment when James Hetfield straight up thanked Black Sabbath before beginning their set was nothing short of emotional.
He thanked Black Sabbath for giving them ‘purpose in life,’ and in his words, “without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica.” This was fucking epic.
Hetfield has been open about hearing Black Sabbath’s debut album when he was just nine, and how it ‘completely altered the course of his life’.
Talk about a full circle moment.
Sean Kinney Back with Alice in Chains
Shout out to Sean Kinney for being back onstage with Alice in Chains. They had to cancel their shows earlier this year because he had some health stuff going on, so it was awesome to see him back on stage with the boys.
The band performed three songs - Man in the Box, Would? And Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath cover).
Now, for some honourable mentions.
Axl Rose playing the wrong note, then tripping on a mic chord during Guns N' Roses’ set
When the first supergroup walked on stage and Lzzy Hale to ask where the hell Jake E Lee was ‘cause he was nowhere to be seen
Seeing Tool on the live stream in actual high definition? About time.
The rotating stage was fkn genius and made the whole thing run so smooth
Bill Ward taking his shirt off - why not? good on him
And Fred Durst of all people… singing an acoustic version of Changes - I definitely didn’t have that on my bingo card
Ending strong with our all time favourite bits…
Ozzy’s Last Set
We thought he sounded fucking fantastic throughout his five-song-set, and we don’t know about you but someone was definitely cutting onions during Mama I’m Coming Home.
Especially the line ‘it hurts so bad, it’s been so long’ - just knowing how much Ozzy has wanted to get back out onstage despite all of his health battles - it just hit hard.
Just 5 months ago, the bloke said, “I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive.”
There is one thing we know for sure after his set - the Prince of Darkness has still fucking got it.
Last, but not least, Black Sabbath’s final set
Tony, Geezer, Bill, and Ozzy all together on stage was just so epic to see… Even though they only played four songs, it was super special to see them all up there together - and sounding tight as.
You wouldn’t be able to tell the fellas haven't played at their original line-up in two decades.
Performing to a loud and ecstatic crowd of 42,000 sure was a legendary send-off. And honestly, this doesn’t even cover HALF of what went down.
Mastodon kicked off the celebrations with an epic three song set, followed by Rival Sons, Anthrax and Halestorm.
Lamb of God then took the stage, and were joined by Randy Blythe for a cover of Black Sabbath’s Children of the Grave.
Gojira killed their set, as did Alice in Chains, Tool, Pantera and Slayer. In fact, it was sick to see Slayer tackle 7 songs - making it the longest set of the day, besides the super groups. Don’t even get me started on the Supergroups - one of which saw Steven Tyler’s triumphant return to the stage.
We can’t forget to mention Yungblud’s cover of Changes, either.
All of this is only just scratching the surface. We cannot stress enough how jam-packed this gig was.
Keen to see more break downs? We covered Metallica’s set, Ozzy’s set, Black Sabbath’s set, and had some running commentary throughout the live-stream.
