Black Sabbath make live return with new drummer in Birmingham


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Black Sabbath returned to the live stage last night ((May 19th), playing their first hometown show in over a decade at the Birmingham Academy.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you Birmingham,” bass player Geezer Butler wrote on his official website following the show. “Best fans ever- you brought out the best in us. It was a privilege playing for you tonight. Tony was a hero- you were the best medicine he has had. Proud to be a Brummie.”

The gig acted as a warm-up for the band’s headline appearance at Download next month, with the build up being dominated by drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to pull out of the reunion, citing contractual issues as a main reason for his withdrawal.

As a result, Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi were joined on drums by Tommy Clufetos. Prior to the show, Butler had described Ward’s alleged contractual demands as a ‘joke’, remarking:

“As you may expect, a one-off show at Donnington festival cost an absolute fortune to stage, involving over 50 people, transport, airfares, hotels, meals, agents, promoters, lawyers etc, so none of us expected to make much money from it – it was a one-off Sabbath show to the fans, before we go into recording the new album.”

“Apparently, this wasn’t acceptable to Bill’s representatives; they wanted an amount that was so unrealistic that it seemed to have been a joke. So we resigned ourselves to doing Download without Bill, hoping he’d change his mind and at least make a guest appearance.”

Setlist:

‘Into The Void’
‘Under The Sun’
‘Snowblind’
‘War Pigs’
‘Wheels Of Confusion’
‘Electric Funeral’
‘Black Sabbath’
‘The Wizard’
‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’
‘N.I.B.’
‘Fairies Wear Boots’
‘Lord Of This World’
‘Tomorrow’s Dream’
‘Sweet Leaf’
‘Symptom Of The Universe’
‘Drum Solo’
‘Iron Man’
‘Dirty Women’
‘Children Of the Grave’
‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’
‘Paranoid’


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