By Contributor Quentin Thane Singer
Black Sabbath, 1970: Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler in , (Photo by Chris … More Walter/WireImage)
Back to the Beginning 鈥 Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath鈥檚 final farewell concert 鈥 kicks off in less than 24 hours. On Saturday July 5th, the one day festival set in the band鈥檚 hometown of Birmingham, England, will showcase performances from just about every iconic heavy metal band and musician under the sun, including Metallica, Guns N鈥 Roses, Slayer, Alice In Chains, TOOL, Gojira and so many more. Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne will cap off the evening with their final performances, though the length of their sets might be shorter than what concertgoers are expecting.
How Many Songs Will Black Sabbath And Ozzy Osbourne Perform?
In an interview with rock icon Sammy Hagar, Ozzy Osbourne stated that he鈥檇 be performing 鈥渓ittle bits and pieces” at Back to the Beginning. According to Hagar, Osbourne is planning to perform five songs from his solo material with one of those songs being his epic, 鈥淣o More Tears.鈥 Hagar apparently will be performing Osbourne鈥檚 hit 鈥淔lying High Again鈥 as well.
While there鈥檚 nothing that鈥檚 been made public with regards to set times, given the state of Osbourne鈥檚 health, him performing at least five songs with Black Sabbath and his solo material seems reasonable. However, that鈥檚 not to say that there will only be five Sabbath and five Ozzy songs performed. With the sheer number of guest musicians appearing at Back to the Beginning, there鈥檚 likely to be a plethora of Sabbath and Ozzy songs performed by several iconic rock and metal musicians, possibly even with members of Black Sabbath and former members of Ozzy Osbourne鈥檚 solo career.
Zakk Wylde and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee will be making an appearance, so fans will most definitely be treated to multiple eras of Ozzy Osbourne鈥檚 solo material. It鈥檚 also likely that many of the bands performing will cover Sabbath or Ozzy material, particularly Metallica, Guns N鈥 Roses, and Pantera who have a history of covering Black Sabbath.
How Long Will Each Act Play For?
Including Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, there are at least 13 full bands slated to perform at Back to the Beginning. This isn鈥檛 including the several dozens of guest musicians that are also on the bill. With that in mind, the show will kick off at 12pm BST and it鈥檚 expected to go into the late evening. It鈥檚 difficult to measure the exact length each band will play, but it鈥檇 be a safe bet to say there will be between 30 and 50 minute set times, with the latter given to the bigger acts like Metallica and Guns N鈥 Roses.
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It鈥檚 also said there will be a rotating stage, where essentially one half of the stage will be utilized for setting up the next act, while the other half will be used for whomever is currently performing. This will make changeover times way more efficient and possibly give acts more time to perform than what fans are expecting.
Are There Surprise Appearances Being Planned?
There are apparently bands that are booked for Back to the Beginning that haven鈥檛 yet been revealed. According to festival promoter Andy Coping, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a couple of acts that have confirmed but not been announced yet.鈥 If this is the case, then it鈥檚 even more difficult to gauge what set times will actually look like, furthermore who these unannounced acts could be.
Seeing that three out of four of thrash metal鈥檚 Big Four is booked (Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax), it鈥檚 entirely possible Megadeth could be one of the unannounced acts. Regardless of the Big Four, they鈥檙e one of the only bands missing that seems odd given their significance to the metal genre, especially in the ’80s and ’90s.
Where to Watch Back To The Beginning
Initially when it was announced, Back to the Beginning was only going to be a live in-person event. However, given the huge demand for the concert, the entire one-day festival will be live streamed via Mercury Studios and Kiswe. The livestream will be delayed by two hours from the in-arena start time and will be starting at 3pm BST. Tickets for the livestream are priced at $29.99 and can be purchased here.
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