The road to nowhere leads to Ozzy

As promised, here is my review, funny bits et all for the Ozzy Osbourne concert in Prague. First of all, let me say I had seen Ozzy live twice before, but with Black Sabbath, on their final tour. And man, I'd forgotten just how good a showman he is.

He's simply delightful to watch. As a human being, I mean, because we've already established he is an amazingly talented singer. As soon as he took the stage, there was a change in overall mood (and I'm talking about the mood of thousands of people). It wasn't just the joy of seeing your hero on stage and to many of us, that's what he is, a pioneer, a light in the dark. It was kinda like coming home when I first saw Ozzy, you know?

Like 'Hey, there you are, it's been a while'...Ozzy has always had (it seems to me) this lightness about him, he's just so casual on stage. He is a showman, don't get me wrong, he works a lot to keep the atmosphere going, but it's all natural to him. All the craziness and the running about and the faces – it's in his blood, which is truly amazing to watch.
They opened the show with this beautiful montage with pictures of Ozzy, from a young boy with mischief in his eyes, to the Prince of Darkness we know and love today.

It was such a joy to see him live again. It had been more than a year since the last Sabbath show I went to (one of the last they ever played) and I was struck by how much I missed Ozzy's presence. There's nothing quite like a good showman, is there?
Yet, it's not how you usually think about a concert. We tend to go 'yeah, it was a good concert', but we place the music above the person, above the singer somehow. And yet, thinking about it, all the shows I've been to, in the past few years were about the singer/band and not really about the songs. They are all these wonderful experiences created with wonderful people, such as Ozzy. I love him (and a few others) to the point that it doesn't really matter if he sings Iron Man, Crazy Train or just stands up there for two hours, telling us about his day.
And honestly, I don't think I'm not the only one. Most of the people around me seemed to psyched to actually be looking at the Prince of Darkness that they would've gladly accepted it if he chose to read from the phone book for the entire show.

But, being the great showman he is, of course he did not.
Throughout the first couple of songs (Bark at the Moon&Mr Crowley), I couldn't believe I was there, I just kept thinking 'These are the songs I listen to on Youtube,' songs I had never hoped to hear live. Even after I saw Black Sabbath, I never thought I would hear Ozzy's songs played on an actual stage by the man himself, I just chucked it up to one of those eras and experiences that I had sadly missed forever.

And yet, there I was, quite close to the stage (considering the huge-ness of the crowd), barely able to breathe, yet singing along to 'I don't know'. And to tell you the truth, I don't know what I did to deserve this pleasure, the honor of being there, in the presence of the great man himself.

It may seem like I'm exaggerating, sure, but I'm not. Back in 2015, I was broken when I heard of Lemmy's death and the fact that I didn't get to see Motorhead live was a really hard blow to me, so ever since, I've tried to go to as many concerts I can and I know a once-in-a-lifetime experience when I see one. And this was one of those. I was deeply aware that I may not get another chance to see Ozzy Osbourne live, and even if I do, that night in Prague will still be a much-cherished, unique experience.

'No More Tears' - 'No More Tours'

One thing that amazed me about the show was Ozzy's energy. For a man of almost 70 to be running around the stage for two hours, singing his lungs out, clapping, jumping, doing all that is astonishing. I've seen singers half his age who don't have nearly as much energy.
Same goes for the crowd, where ages ranged from small kids, carried on their parents' shoulders, to people in their sixties or seventies. Yet, they weren't old. You'd look at them, see the lines on their faces, the little stoop in their back, and yet, their face was as rebellious and strong and happy as it had probably been fifty years ago.
And I love that. I love the fact music can do this to you. If you let it. I truly believe growing old is a choice, and I saw these people had chosen not to and I loved them for it. There's a beautiful sense of kinship among music fans.
I guess there has to be, since we spent the show standing in thick mud and packed like sardines. You literally had to snake your hand, along your stomach to put it up. Ozzy was up there asking to see those hands and I was down here going 'Yeah, I'd like to see you try'. And none of that mattered. Because I was there, I saw Ozzy, I heard him sing, I watched him move. How doesn't really matter.

Most seemed to feel the same, as we all sang along to the songs (all of them) so that Ozzy could've just sat there and waved his hands or something, we knew the words.

The one Ozzy song I have always wanted to hear live, ever since I first heard it, was 'Crazy Train'. It has always been such a symbol of madness, of rock n roll, of me... and of course I nearly threw my back out headbanging to it (luckily, there wasn't much space to properly headbang, which is what saved me in the end) and singing along.

But the song that really seemed to break through the audience and that filled my heart with both incredible joy and sadness was 'Mama, I'm coming home'. A classic by now, and an astonishingly beautiful ballad, the song has a special place in my heart, since it was written by Lemmy and the lyrics really bear that unique print, they have something of Lemmy in them and it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.
It was an amazing surprise to hear that live...followed, of course, by the classic Black Sabbath song, 'Paranoid'.

Everyone walked away from the show, singing along to the taped version of 'Changes' that played after Ozzy had left the stage. People were just wobbling through the mud, singing at the top of their lungs, 'cause most of us were deaf by now. Happiness, that's what it looks like.

I've talked so much about Ozzy that I feel I must mention the other amazing musicians that graced the stage. I was really excited that Ozzy's long time guitarist, Zakk Wylde (now leader of his own band, Black Label Society) joined him for this tour. The man really is a force of nature. tearing through the songs, a true powerhouse of music.

Not to mention, amazingly talented – playing his guitar with his nose, at one point. And the manliest kilt I've ever seen.
Ozzy actually made a point of that, during one of the songs, peeking under Zakk's kilt and then making obscene gestures to the audience, to let us know it was huge. Typical Ozzy.

And before Ozzy took the stage, we were graced by another beautiful presence – that of Alice Cooper, together with his super-group, The Hollywood Vampires, a band everyone was quite skeptical about, at first.
With names like Joe Perry and Johnny Depp, along with Alice himself, I suppose the shows practically sell themselves, regardless of the music quality. But the thing is, the music actually is good. Not just good, it's great. They played a lot of covers, such as 'Ace of Spades', 'The Jack' and 'Heroes', but they play them beautifully, a true tribute to the original singers themselves.

They also did a couple of Alice Cooper clasiscs – 'I'm eighteen' and 'School's out'. They focused on covers in this show, but in their independent shows, they do a lot of original songs, such as 'My dead drunk friends' and 'As bad as I am', which are beautiful songs (what do you expect from such people?). And again, it's delightful to see Alice live. He's a different presence from Ozzy, creepier, more dominating, but amazing.

As for Johnny Depp, this band really changed my opinion of him. Not that I didn't like him as an actor, I think he's great, but he seemed like such a darling, you know? Such a pretty boy and all the 'bad boy' thing seemed like an act, to me. I tend to be weary of people who are so well-liked by so many people.
But he really turned out to be a talented singer and musician. Funny thing is, I've grown to love his movies more since I first saw him with the Vampires.

It was a fantastic night, altogether. I'm so happy I'm alive, at times like these.

Thank you for reading,