February 20, 2011

BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, FL

Written by Kate Dingle

It doesn’t matter how you look at it, Ozzy Osbourne is a legend. He’s done a few things in his lifetime that people of all ages have heard about (like one particular incident involving a dove) and his music is timeless (but not in that Engelbert Humperdinck kind of way). And everyone who didn’t know the phrase, “I am Iron Man!” knows it now courtesy of the Prince of Darkness himself.

Ozzy brought the BankAtlantic Center to its knees in submission Sunday night and proved that he’s still, “f***ing crazy after all these years”.

As soon as the house lights went down, “Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy” chants resonated throughout the arena. A series of videos portraying Ozzy as a cast member on the Jersey Shore and as Edward in Twilightshowed on a screen, and fans ate it up. By the time Ozzy stormed the stage and into “Bark At The Moon”, crowd members could no longer contain themselves.

Each time Osbourne would demand that everyone’s “f***ing hands” be put up, everyone would dutifully comply; reaching as high as they could just to get a little closer to the metal gods. As the Englishman jumped around the stage and head banged along with guitarist Gus G, the more new and old fans did the same. If he could do it, then there was no reason everyone else couldn’t do it too.

Set highlights included: “Let Me Hear You Scream”, “Mr. Crowley” (which included a fire hose aimed at the crowd), “Road To Nowhere”, “War Pigs” (Black Sabbath), “Shot In The Dark”, “Rat Salad” (which featured his band, including a mind numbing drum solo), “Iron Man”, “I Don’t Want To Change The World” and “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath).

Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash kick things into high gear before Ozzy. There’s no question that Slash is one of the most talented musicians of this generation. With his band behind him, featuring vocalist Myles Kennedy, Slash turned everyone’s brains to putty with his sick shredding skills.

Highlights from his set included: “Back From Cali”, “Slither” (Velvet Revolver), “Paradise City” (Guns N’ Roses) and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (Guns N’ Roses).

Sunday night’s performance was a testament that the metal gods do love South Florida as Ozzy and Slash tore through Sunrise like two freight trains. And although Ozzy has sometimes been linked to Satanism (which is total B.S.), the event was a family affair. Entire clans showed up to support the metal man in all his glory, but if you’re looking to catch the Prince of Darkness in a not so “dark” setting, you can always catch him in the animated flick Gnomeo and Juliet. He’s the fawn.

Photos by Kate Dingle

SLASH

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