Ozzy Osbourne - MTS Centre, Nov. 23, 2010

Get ready to scream and scream again, metalheads.

Ozzy Osbourne is bringing his latest tour to Canada just in time for winter — and bringing Judas Priest's Rob Halford along for the ride.

The former Black Sabbath frontman, who recently released his latest album Scream, kicks off his first North American tour in three years Nov. 12 in Victoria and works his way east to Toronto on Nov. 27.

Halford's self-titled solo band is slated to open all the shows.

Tickets go on sale next weekend at Ticketmaster for prices ranging from $45 - $100 in many markets.

No thanks.
The guy can't even talk...how the heck can he sing?

And I don't think I've EVER seen him walk a straight line, or through a room without bumping into something.

I'd rather pay money to see Sharon than Ozzy...and I'd still wait for the $5 "giveaway" ticket sale.

Ha ha! The last time he was here, Rob Zombie opened the show and was much better than Ozzy! Ozzy is well past his prime, can't sing like he used to.

Better Ozzy show than the last time he was here and was upstaged by then opener Rob Zombie.

Halford, lead by Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, were mostly disappointing, not because of their musicianship, but due to their terribly simple and boring songs, complete with embarassingly amateurish lyrics. They did play some decent material but overall, the songs just weren't there.

Ozzy sort of surprised me with his longer than normal set. I read some other reviews of the Canadian tour and knew that he played over two hours elsewhere. Ozzy's set began around 8:45 and ended at 11:15, about 2.5 hours, and included several Black Sabbath numbers. At one point, he wanted to talk about a "rumour" but decided not to go there. I think the rumour is that, with the death of Ronnie James Dio, there will be a reunion of the original Black Sabbath, as the Dio led verision, Heaven & Hell, are finished.

I almost had this feeling that Ozz was playing more Sabbath material than usual to see how they would go over with the fans, many of whom weren't even born when he quit Sabbath in 1979.

He never seems to have the same players in his band each time he tours. This time around, he had keyboardist/ guitarist Adam Wakeman (son of legendary keyboardist Rick Wakemen, of Yes fame) and new lead guitar whiz, Gus G. (Kostas Karamitroudis), from the band Greek power metal band, Firewind. Gus G. proved to be a more than adequate replacement for longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, and played some of the fastest electric guitar that I've seen.

Towards the end of the show, Ozzy said that they would play one more song, but maybe one more in addition, if the crowd really went crazy or something like that. After playing Paranoid, the crowd seemed too subdued for the Prince of Darkness, perhaps due to the unexpected length of the show, so they were finished for the night. Besides, Ozzy appeared to move around the stage, mostly to and from the drum kit where he had water and a tea cup stashed, in a geriatric manner. I can only imagine how tired he must have been.