Ozzy in Toronto Jun,11 - 2003

Hi all, been back about an hour, tired as dirt. Toronto is a great city, mix of the very old and new combined, very diverse population of about 4 million and I think Larry and I were 2 of the biggest people there, they all seem to be built small(French Canadian blood I guess), they thought we were moose loose in the city,LOL. There was incredible hype in town about Ozzy coming because almost all other acts have canceled. They interviewed Ozz in the paper and he said he gave his crew a chance not to come and they asked what he wanted to do. His reply was, these people new entertained to show them they arent poison, so the crew said hell yes, lets go. The venue held 20,000 and there were around 19,000 in attendance we were told. I will differ in opinion from the other poster, the first 2 bands had some redeeming qualities. Didn't like Newsted with Voivid,not a very good sound and to thrash and speed metal bass style for me,drummer and vocalist were very good,guitarist was interesting. Finger 11 were decent also(better). Then of course pandemonium broke loose. " I cant FUCKING HEAR YOU!!!!!!!" and the crowd was wild. Ozz came onto stage before everyone else and said"You can Ozzy Osbourne alot of things, but you can call him a pussy, FUCK SARS!!! then he told everyone to be sure and take care and have good hygene to keep healthy. The set list was as the other guy put up(thanks!! whew)but instead of 2 1/2 it was 3 hrs and 7 minutes from beginning to the end of the last song(not including bows)I timed it to make sure because in the paper Ozz said that he was going to try and beat his record of 2hrs,40 mins on stage and he did by far. Ozz was in THE finest form I have seen him since I started doing concerts again. He couldnt quite make all the high notes after about 2hr 15 minutes,but he still 85% after that even. I no longer have to wonder if he plays harp, it screwed up on him in the intro of The Wizard so he stopped the show till they got him a new one and then he played a triple long solo on it during the song, shocking the shit out of me. In a real testament to Ozz,he held the band together. I didnt like much of what Newsted did at all and his sound was more for thrash and hardcore as was his playing. it messed with the continuity of the music, managed to mess up Wylde somewhat also, Bordin worked to keep it straight, but Ozz held it together in the end. He really was almost 95% perfect and that was with a 3 hr show. All the people really enjoyed the show, but I am sound freak and also play some so I disect everything I hear. Did I have fun?? hell yes, OZZ was great, the rest of the band about 60%. Trujillo fit much better, but I will give NEwsted some slack, it was on the 4th show playing together, to the average listener they will thrilled with all of it.Fire in the Sky did come off really good, that was treat since it was my 1st seeing it live, also 1st time for Miracle Man and Flying HIGh Again. Great trip and lots of fun and memories........OZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

one last thing,Ozzy got down in the crowd and shook hands and walked around to show the people that he wasnt afraid of them, this was the first time I have seen him do this and I have seen him around 25 times now.

by Ozzy's fan Drip (EUA)
(Jun,12-2003)