When we gave away a trip to Birmingham’s legendary Back to the Beginning gig back in April, we knew it was gonna be something special. And it absolutely was - especially in light of Ozzy's recent passing.
It's been about a week since our Rock the Globe #3 winner Andrea and her sister Claire returned home and, in their words, they're "still buzzing.”
Note, Andrea sent us this review before we all found out the tragic news of Ozzy's death. Which honestly, makes it all the more special.
From the vibe in the streets of Birmingham to Ozzy’s final performance, Andrea gave us a first-hand look at what it felt like to be part of this monumental day in rock history from the crowd itself.
Leading up to the show, Andrea says the buzz around the city was epic: “The vibe around Birmingham in the days leading up was just so cool - so many people - old and young in vintage band t-shirts - just so excited and chatty.
"Everyone wanted to know where we had travelled from!”
Birmingham itself rolled out the heavy metal red carpet for Sabbath fans, with a walking tour showing off Black Sabbath history, like “where they started playing, a photography display of their history and an exhibition at the museum of their history, awards and platinum albums".
As for the gig? Andrea says they “just had the best day".
“There was so much love for Ozzy - not only amongst the audience, who were all so stoked to be there, but also all the performers," she said.
"James Hetfield pretty much summed it up with 'there would be no Metallica without Black Sabbath!!’”
Andrea says the two made a bunch of friends around them at the gig, and ended up finding themselves in a beauty of a spot a few meters back from the front of GA.
They had never seen Ozzy Osbourne live before, and said watching him perform 'Mama I’m Coming Home' was a pretty emotional moment: “You could tell Ozzy wanted to get up - he did pretty well all considering!”
Other highlights included Metallica, Tool, Pantera, Yungblud, the supergroups and of course, Black Sabbath.
“Pantera I enjoyed more than I expected, and Yungblud - I hadn't heard of him but thought he had an amazing voice for the cover of 'Changes',” she said.
“Jason Momoa in the Pantera circle pit! Hilarious!!” she continued. “The supergroups they put together - from the incredible drum off, to seeing Ronnie Wood just casually walk on stage.”
You can feel how amped the two were just by reading what she told us, right?
“There wasn’t one act we were prepared to miss and we were just buzzing from one set to another!” she said, before dubbing the whole experience a “once in a lifetime event".
Honestly, we couldn’t be more stoked for Andrea and Claire. This is what it’s all about!
Don’t forget, you could be off to Metallica’s sold-out Auckland show, with flights, accom and spending money included. Check out how to win all of that with Rock the Globe #6.
