The UAE’s metal fans were out in force to support Black Sabbath who put on a great performance.
Updated: May 31, 2014, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Black Sabbath Rock Abu Dhabi’s du Arena
Their showmanship was very much in evidence, however, as a curtain rolled up to reveal the quartet — Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), the touring drummer Tommy Clufetos and the loon-eyed vocalist Ozzy Osbourne himself. Lee Hoagland / The National
The black-clad Osbourne initially appeared a trifle confused — something of a trademark look nowadays — and let the crowd fill in a clutch of lyrical blanks. But that was the only real moment where his performance teetered nearer to his doddering reality-television persona than his status as one of rock’s finest frontmen. Lee Hoagland / The National
Though Osbourne’s voice wobbled a few times, he sounded stronger than ever on the classics. Lee Hoagland / The National
he most pertinent case in point arrived after he announced that Sabbath were about to “Take you back … ” – right to the very beginning, to the title track of the debut album Black Sabbath, heralded by a cascade of haunting church bells and a riff heavier than an overladen 16-wheeler lorry. Lee Hoagland / The National
As Ozzy introduced Under the Sun, he made the understatement of a sweaty night when he joked: “It gets hot around here”. Lee Hoagland / The National
“This is a song called Paranoid,” Osbourne hollered. “Go … crazy!” And the crowd were only too happy to follow his command. Lee Hoagland / The National