Black Sabbath Live

Ozzy Ozbourne and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath performing in Oakland last night

For more than forty years, the heavy metal rock band Black Sabbath has been my favorite band. So much so, that Black Sabbath is the only rock concert I care to attend. And last night, in Oakland, they performed what might be their final appearance in the Bay Area. I was there with a friend. Black Sabbath is his favorite band, as well. And it was a great night. This poor quality photo I took with my cell phone shows how close I was to the stage.

I remember my first Black Sabbath concert I attended back in 1975 with another friend. I also remember it cost five dollars. I won't say how much I spent this time, but it was far more than five dollars. Suffice it to say being in the third row was worth it. I would have preferred the first row, but that would have cost 2.5 times more. And the cost was already prohibitive.

But I never miss a Sabbath concert. Black Sabbath invented the sub-genre of rock since dubbed Heavy Metal. Tony Iommi invented the new sound that instantly reeled me in as a fan. And a fan I have remained ever since. I'm not really big on going to any concerts, but sentimentality is strong in my appreciation of this band from England and their personal stories. No need to relate them here, as most people already know about Ozzy. But Tony and Geezer Butler, (the bassist) have equally compelling stories, and Bill Ward, (the drummer) has one of his own, as well.

Unfortunately, Ward was not present last night. I had relayed that point in my posting last February. A founding member of Sabbath, Ward belongs on the stage with the other three. And as I expressed last February, I still hope Sabbath will go on tour with Ward even it's one final time.