Reviewed by:
Metal_link111, on october 02, 2007
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Sound: It has been a long time coming. 15 years and Black Sabbath have reunited with singer Ronnie James Dio and embarked on a world tour under the alias name of ‘Heaven & Hell’, a provocative title causing waves in the Australian metal scene. Having last visited Australia some 26 years ago, this was a truly rare occasion and one (not surprisingly) of a magnificent quality. Having just released a new album titled Black Sabbath, The Dio Years, rumours of an imminent tour were gathering fuel in the months before Heaven & Hell returned to Australian shores. On August 8th, the band steered away from their usual metropolitan gigs and played an immensely memorable show (at least by my part) at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre. As a long and loyal fan of the band, I was gravely disappointed with the crowd numbers, particularly because this was such an exclusive and rare occasion. A pathetically small handful of metal heads, girlfriends of metal heads and 50-year old fanatics gathered outside the doors of the theatre in the minutes before the show was due to start. // 7
Perfomance: As I sat in my designated (fourth row) seat my attention was caught by both the relatively empty seats in the stands and the imperial-looking black backdrop behind the wall of Marshall Amps displaying supporting act Down’s logo. it's sheer size combined with white gothic styled letters illuminated a sense of power and authority, definitely two words to describe Down’s performance. As the lights dimmed not only did the backdrop appear to grow in size under the pale lights, but the crowd of 1000 transformed (much to my surprise) into the equivalent of 10,000. While the surprisingly dedicated metal fans rushed to the front, Down’s lead singer Phil Anselmo (famously from thrash metal band Pantera) walked erratically up to the microphone. Looking more stoned than enthused he addressed the crowd with one slurry cheer and a puzzled look on his face, “where the f--k am I?” a comment that drew a strangely large cheer from the audience. Starting with a relatively heavy track the band appeared exhausted, bored and unenthused. The guitarist (dressed somewhat like Axl Rose) stood motionless while Anselmo put barely any effort into his vocals regularly moving in and out of tune throughout each song. However, despite their very stereotypically ‘drugs and rock and roll’ appearance the crowd was fanatical, some knowing every lyric and demonstrating a great respect for the group. As the set was drawing to a close, Anselmo stood imperialistically at the front of the stage and thanked what he described as “the best audience on the Australian tour”. While most bands, in their politeness, attribute the title of ‘best audience’ to almost every city, Anselmo was surprisingly sincere, thanking the crowd at the end of every song, pointing to people in the crowd and showing a clear sense of gratitude, he even posed for my camera. Though I’m not a huge admirer of the group, Down were very entertaining in their simplicity and proved a great opener for show even though their music is almost a binary opposite to Heaven & Hell.
In the minutes before Heaven & Hell were to grace the stage the Down banner was replaced by a wonderfully realistic-looking set depicting the walls and windows of a church on either side of a huge silver drumkit. The lights suddenly dimmed and a bright yellow light shone through both of the windows, marking a black cross on the stage, an iconic symbol that has almost always been attributed to (perhaps ironically) the image of Black Sabbath. Then suddenly the lights shifted and a large backdrop picturing three, seemingly overweight angels with cigarette’s clinging from their mouths appeared behind a white mist. The sound of a familiar tune, and an even more familiar voice sent the crowd into a huge roar that was again followed by a sudden Rush to the front. Then in one huge eruption of sound, Heaven & Hell appeared in their entirety, Vinnie Appice on drums followed by Geezer Butler on bass, Tony Iommi on guitar and Ronnie James Dio Who was to provide the wonderful instrument that is his voice. Kick starting the show with the classic The Mob Rules it was clear that, despite the bands already long list of shows, Heaven & Hell were still the same dedicated musicians Who, in their professionalism, were determined to provide a genuine show for every fan. As the show progressed through classic songs such as Children of the Sea, the Sign of the Southern Cross, Die Young and a pair of new songs called The Devil Cried and Shadow of the Wind, the band showed why their reputation as pioneers in their field is still so vivid. Each song was uniquely different yet maintained it's core sound while the physical performance of the group was done will skill and Precision.
While it is difficult to condense the show into a few words, it becomes impossible to find the words to describe the bands best performed song, title track Heaven & Hell. For a song that goes for only seven minutes the crowd was treated to an absolute gift, Heaven & Hell would be performed for an amazing 20 minutes. Complete with a blues-style solo by Iommi that spanned for well over 10 minutes and a vibrant vocal solo from Dio, the musical aspects of the song were flawless. Visually the band set about bringing the song to life through the use of lighting and a strategically placed fog machine. Half way through the song and Dio walks to the centre of the stage, the lights go out and an intense red light appears. A few seconds and Dio appears before the light and whispers a cryptic message into the microphone, it's effects deliberately set so that a demonic sounding voice Echoes against the walls of the hall. As the intensity of the red light grew and a ghoulish yet familiar voice yells “Welcome... To Hell!” that is followed by an exploding row of smoke in front of the stage, drawing perhaps the most euphoric reaction from the fans. // 8
Impression: Dio’s marvellous ability to provide operatic-styled vocals combined with Iommi’s unique use of the fret board, Butler’s famous bass licks and Appice’s continuously electric rhythm on drums (not to mention his fantastic drum solo during Computer God where he used a wall of drums and huge gong) proved the quintet could still put on a vividly entertaining show while in their '60s. Great sound, great visuals and a truely awesome stage presence provided by both Heaven & Hell and Down put on an electric show that was surely one of the greatest this year. // 9
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