Soliloquy

Last week, Black Sabbath performed the concert, ‘Back To The Beginning‘, which marked lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and their final live show. The show was held at the football ground, Villa Park, in Birmingham, close to where all the bandmates had grown up in the 50s and 60s.

Striking was the presence of Osbourne, heavy metal music’s ‘Prince of Darkness’, as he sang while sitting on a throne, no longer able to walk due to advanced Parkinson’s disease. A major part of me, at least mentally, was in Birmingham last Saturday, while physically I was still rooted in Hyderabad.

Back To The Beginning was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, metal concerts ever, purely on the basis of the quality of artists performing. Metallica, Guns N’Roses, Tool, Slayer, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Pantera and Gojira played the supporting acts – can there be any better lineup in the world?

What’s even more harrowing is the fact that neither Sabbath nor Osbourne himself will perform live again, and that I shall never be able to see one of my top-most favourite bands in the world in a concert. Life catches up with all of us, as it has done with Osbourne, who now seems a shadow of his former self. We will have to make peace with how life is in the here and now.

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