Next month, metal icons Black Sabbath will perform for the final time at the star-studded “Back To The Beginning” concert in their hometown of Birmingham, England. The show will also feature performances and/or sets by Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax, Slayer and several others.
In a recent interview with Music Week, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi expressed his concerns with the show. Osbourne has battled through several health issues in recent years and is also unable to walk due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“The worrying thing for me is the unknown. We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Iommi said. “Normally, when we’d tour, we’d rehearse and run through the thing for a while, and it’s just us. But with this event there are so many other moving parts. You’re used to Ozzy running around, but he certainly won’t be doing that for this show. I don’t know if he’s going to be standing or sitting on a throne or what.”
Iommi said he’s approaching the show with “excitement mixed with fear. Once we start playing, then we’ll know we’re doing it. It’s always a worry, even when we did tours before, there’s always that build-up, and then it gets to the point that we do it and it’s okay.”
Previously, Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler also expressed concern with the band’s final concert. “I’m already having palpitations,” Butler said. “In fact, I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed everything went wrong on stage and we all turned to dust. It’s important that we leave a great impression, since it’s the final time that people will experience us live. So it has to be great on the night.”
