Ozzy, Rob Zombie and In This Moment
January 16th, 2008 Bell Centre Montreal
After getting settled into the Bell Centre, the opening act In This Moment was already finishing their set. It must of been really short, because we were not that late. Anyway, from what I heard of the last song, it was hard to tell if I liked them or not. The way the lead singer Maria sounded, and the kind of music they were playing, they made me interested, but the live sound was not working for them in that arena. I was afraid the sound would not be good of Zombie and Ozzy, but that was not the case. phew.. I will have to check out their new album Beautiful Tragedy and get a better idea of their music. The general seating was full of chairs, which we found strange for an Ozzy, Zombie concert.
Good thing we were settled in our seats while they switch stages, and didn't go outside for smoke, because the roadies had the Stage ready for Rob Zombie in 15 minutes or so! As you can see from the pictures, Rob Zombie had screens everywhere, where he started playing one of his movies (movie shorts, not in theatres), then the intro music started (Sawdust in Blood). At this point, getting really excited since I have not seen Rob Zombie since he was in White Zombie in 1995 for the Astro Creep Tour.... Rob Zombie explodes out of the creature's mouth under the drum riser starting the show with a new song American Witch, with his go-go dancers (one being his wife Sheri Moon) on two platforms on each side of the drummer. Demon Speeding from "The Sinister Urge" album was next on the list. The go-go dancers return for Living Dead Girl, which sounded great, followed by another classic, More Human Than Human. An 8 - 10 foot robot comes on the stage for this one, dancing to the song with his glowing green eyes. It may sound cheezy, but it was actually very well done. Another highlight of the show was how Rob Zombie interacted with the crowd... for instance he was commenting how the seats behind the stage and the third level seats really sucked, but ensured to include them in the show. At one point Rob Zombie jumped down from the stage and was walking and singing up and down the floor seats, everyone crowding to get a picture or a glimpse of him. After returning to the stage, he says comments of how the crowd now has potential now that most people in the arena were now standing, he said "put the camera phones down, and raise your fists!". hehe. During John5's guitar solo, Rob grabs a huge spotlight and jumps into the crowd again, he makes his way all the way around the floor to the back, shining the light on the crowd (including the very top 3rd level), circles around and gets back on the stage, I am sure the people at the very back would not expect to be a few feet from Rob during the night. During Never gonna stop, John5's strap breaks, unplugging his guitar, he manages to plug it back in again, but now playing strapless, Rob Zombie comes over trying to assist, but the strap would not go back on, then you hear Rob say "fuck it", and John5 finishes the song without the strap. John5 would start the Thunder Kiss '65 riff, and Rob would tell him to stop. Rob not starting the song until the crowd was fully going nuts...taking 3 attempts. The go-go girls were shining the spotlights all over the arena... then they finished the set with Dracula. The show and setlist were amazing. Rob showing movies and imagery (displaying lots of nudity and horror, Rob Zombie style) throughout the show was a great touch. Can't wait to see him again.
Rob Zombie's setlist:
01. Sawdust in the Blood
02. American Witch
03. Demon Speeding
04. Living Dead Girl
05. More Human Than Human
06. Superbeast
07. House of 1,000 Corpses
08. Let It All Bleed Out
09. Never Gonna Stop
10. Thunder Kiss ‘65
11. The Devil’s Rejects
12. Dragula
OZZY
The lights go out, and there is a skit played on a huge white screen in front of the stage, and 2 screens on either side of the stage. They show Ozzy making cameo appearances in these popular TV shows, like the Soparano's, The Office (where Ozzy takes a shit on the office floor) and another one where this woman shows him her "new" fake boobs, which he pours milk down and smothers her chest with his face. They were so funny. Once the skits are done, the huge white screen in front of the stage drops and Ozzy and the gang start I Don't Wanna Stop. Then it was time to go crazy with Crazy Train! Now Ozzy pulls out his famous buckets full of water and starts throwing water at the first 10 rows or so, followed by this fire hose type of thing that shoots this white liquid. now the first 10 or more rows are completely white. With Ozzy's facical expressions, you could tell he was enjoying this, maybe a little too much. hehe. I hope no one wore their best clothes, but if you have seen Ozzy before and you are close to the front, you would know this is not a good idea, Ozzy tells the crowd the next song has given him a hard time over the years, and they start Suicide Solution. Then on to Mr Crowley and more white liquid stuff flying. Ending the show with Black Sabbath - Paranoid was too cool. Through out the show, Ozzy's voice was surprisingly very good (I heard from other reviews he was not as good), you can see he still loves being up there and giving the crowd what they came to see. His timing was great, and the setlist had everything from really old, older, and not so old, to new. It was a great mixture of all the years. Ozzy has been playing for an unbelievable 40 years now! Zakk Wylde was unbelievable too, he is the king of the panatonic scales. He knows them up and down, inside and out, forward and backwards, playing at incredible alternate picking speeds with precision. With a few behind the head tricks too :) Also the night before was Zakk's birthday! Happy be-lated birthday Zakk!
Ozzy's setlist:
I Don’t Wanna Stop
Crazy Train
Suicide Solution
Mr. Crowley
Not Going Away
Road To Nowhere
Bark at the Moon
Guitar Solo (Z. Wylde)
I Don’t Know
Here For You
I Don’t Want to Change the World
Encore
Mama I’m Coming
Paranoid
Overall a great show. Best concert I have been to in a long time, and I have been to a lot. The sound and performance were great. The setlists from both bands were awesome. I got to see several of my idols in one night (Ozzy, and Zakk Wylde, Mike Bordin (drummer for Faith No More), Rob Zombie, and last, but definitely not least, John5 (guitarist for Marilyn Manson for many years).
If Ozzy or Rob Zombie return to Montreal or Ottawa, I will definitely be there.
Check out some of our pictures from the show!