iTunes Festival: Ozzy Osbourne &#8211; The Roundhouse

The iTunes Festival brings Ozzy Osbourne to the Roundhouse, the first time he has played the venue and a rare chance to see a heavy metal icon of Ozzy’s stature playing to a venue of this size.

The Sword are an ideal choice to support Ozzy Osbourne having recently supported the likes of Metallica, Machine Head and Motorhead their pedigree is in no doubt. Their stoner Sabbath styling’s seem to strike a chord with the audience, some of whom probably remember when Black Sabbath used to do this all those years ago. As a prelude to Ozzy it seems fitting.

Feint murmurings ripple through the crowd and the bars empty faster than rats exiting a sinking ship. Chants of “Ozzy” die away as a countdown on the video screens silently ticks down to zero. Carmina Burana rings out and within moments Ozzy is on the stage grinning like a maniac and clinging to his microphone stand like it is his only salvation. “Are you ready to go fucking crazy?” Mr Osbourne I think the answer is “yes”.

The opening songs on the set feel a little shaky and there are moments where Ozzy’s voice cracks. But it seems as though the stage is the source of Ozzy’s power, his strength seems to grow as the show progresses. It isn’t long before The Prince Of Darkness finds his stride and seems to relax, seemingly enjoying the show Ozzy dashes from one side of the stage to the other. It is moments like this where it becomes clear why Ozzy’s appeal has endured and why he continues to draw crowds.

Ozzy’s split with long time guitar player Zakk Wylde has been well publicised and tonight provides many people with the first glimpse of new guitarist Gus G in action. Gus G is stepping into some seriously large boots and although he seems to lack the presence of his predecessor, it’s still early days. When it comes to ability he doesn’t put a foot wrong. One thing you can always count on with Ozzy’s guitarists, those boys can play.

With ‘Let Me Hear you Scream’ the only song from the new album making it into the set it’s difficult to judge the new material but it certainly has the same vim and vigour you would expect from the prince of darkness. With the classics like ‘Mr Crowley’, ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Bark at the Moon’ not to mention the healthy dose of legendary Sabbath tracks, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ nobody’s complaining.

For the encore Ozzy offers us one more song which to the crowds delight becomes four songs as we are treated to ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’, ‘I Don’t Want To Change the World’, ‘War Pigs’ (a real highlight of the evening) and ‘Paranoid’.

The performance retains the arena scale and bombast but the intimacy adds a special je ne sais quoi. The crowd, a rag tag bunch picked up along Ozzy’s forty-odd year career, show their appreciation long after Ozzy has left the stage and it is pleasing to see some of the veterans of the Sabbath era grinning like children.