My
girlfriend and I (at the time) set off the day before, as we had over 250 miles
from Castletownbere to travel to this show.
You really can't set off much farther that this from Dublin, as Ireland
is not that big. We stayed
overnight in Cork and got the coach to the show on the Sunday morning.
The streets of Cork that night were mobbed with people and a very heavy
police presence. There was a big
Gaelic Football match the next day between Cork and Dublin. As we were traveling to Dublin, the traffic was non-stop from
the opposite direction for this football match.
When
we got to Dalymount Park, we were a little late and missed most of the Mamas
Boys set. [Note: Mama’s Boys were
best known for their cover of Slade’s “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” and their
self-penned “Needle In The Groove”, which was a minor hit in the States.] I can't remember much about the Diamond Head set, in fact I'm
99% sure that they did not play. I'm
99% sure that their equipment got held up at customs or
The highlight of the Anvil set was the front man playing his guitar with a vibrator. Walking around, it was interesting to hear the different accents of the people, especially the ones from Northern Ireland who had actually traveled less than I did to get there. Motorhead were good but were too loud. In the end, I was trying to walk as far away from the stage as I could to get away from the noise. When they finished, one of the guys sitting next to me shouted "AND DON'T COME BACK".
Twisted Sister came on next. Even though everyone was there to see Sabbath, it was Twisted Sister that stole the show. It was a damp day and they really lifted everyone's spirits, especially when they got the whole crowd to shout, "I'M A SICK MOTHERFU##ER". Great stuff.
After a bit of a wait then came Sabbath. Already having the new BORN AGAIN LP and being a fan of Gillan and Purple too, I was really looking forward to this show. They started off with a tape of "Supertzar" which ran into "Children of the Grave" with Geezer, Iommi and Bev on stage. Then enters Mr. Gillan to a huge roar! And what does he do? Yes, he forgets the words to the song! It gets better and I manage to get up near the stage to take some photos and hear the new Sabbath’s versions of "Iron Man" and "War Pigs", as well as the overlong guitar solo.
We
started moving to the exit near the end to avoid the rush and I was
When Sabbath played "Smoke on the Water", I just could not believe it! And with "Paranoid" and its "Heaven and Hell" instrumental finish, they ended a really unforgettable day, which I’m still able to recount 20 years after the fact. The only thing I would have wished for was to hear Gillan sing a Dio era song, but you can't have it all...
Many thanks to Paul Sheehan for taking the time to write this review back on December 18th, 2002. I didn't forget you, my Irish Sabbath brother! [Rob O' Dwyer 5/2/2003]
