A bit of background on the beginnings of the Black Sabbath Live Project, as well as its intended mission - by site creator and proprietor Rob Dwyer
Some of you may wonder what possessed me to tackle this project in the first place. Believe me, it has been no small task! I've always respected those webmasters who had the dedication and resolve to build project web sites. Before this, I'd only attempted a personal homepage and trading page. I never imagined I would tackle a larger subject, such as the history of Black Sabbath! It just seemed to be so much work! But I've loved Sabbath since I was a young teenager and they've already inspired me in other life choices, such as learning to play the guitar in a serious way 20 years later, they're still inspiring me!
The project itself began with the tour dates list. I've been collecting and trading rare and unreleased recordings since 1986. I've always been intrigued by the mysterious allure of "bootleg" recordings, which began with the purchase of a vinyl bootleg of Led Zeppelin at a record show. After many years of collecting these rarities, it became necessary to make a list for trading. But I quickly discovered how difficult it was to find accurate information about Sabbath's live performances. Bootlegs have always been notorious for mislabeling shows or providing wrong source information. For many years, it was almost impossible to truly authenticate any of these recordings.
When I first began surfing the Internet in 1996, I was absolutely AMAZED by all of the great information that was now at my fingertips! I fell in love with this great new way to exchange information with people all over the world. This also led to a career change for me (yep, I'm a systems technician by trade now, but a musician at heart!). What I noticed immediately was that certain bands were very well researched. It's very easy to find out just about anything you want to know about Led Zeppelin (thanks to people like Luis Reyes) and Pink Floyd, but Sabbath the written history of Black Sabbath is still quite fragmentary. Sure, there is 'some' information out there, but there are so many gaps in it.
About a year ago, I began constructing a list of all known tour dates for Sabbath using a program called Tape Tracker. It's an Access based custom database program, specifically designed for tape traders. Many of the guys who use this program actually create these databases of different bands to share with other program users. Visit www.tapetracker.com for more info on this program. It's still fairly useful to me, but quickly becoming outdated.
Anyhow, I started with the dates that were on Joe Siegler's site (www.black-sabbath.com). I figured this would be a good starting point. From here, I found several other people on the Internet who had also attempted to put together complete tour dates lists and compared my info to theirs. I also referenced the lists of various traders and began adding even more information (such as set lists, bootleg titles, etc.). At this point, I was quickly outgrowing my little Tape Tracker program, so I migrated to Microsoft Access 2000 in order to expand the type of information I could include. My list was now beginning to take on it's own unique form.
What I quickly discovered was that there was NO definitive list of Sabbath's live performance history. I found pieces of the puzzle with each list that I read, but no one had yet assembled the whole thing. I would have figured that a band as popular as Black Sabbath would have already been researched more thoroughly, but this was apparently not the case. With this realization, I decided to pursue this research as a hobby. Never did I realize how demanding AND rewarding this decision would turn out to be.
Along the way, I did reach a crossroads when I met another person who was also pursuing this journey. For a couple of months, we both compared notes and helped each other criticize the evidence about some of these shows. I even proposed the idea of collaborating on the project, even if it meant sharing the glory with this other guy. At the time, it seemed like it could be a lot of fun to work with a partner. But unfortunately, we had a misunderstanding that left us divided for several months. It was a great disappointment to me that this happened, so I wasn't sure whether to continue the project on my own. I thought it would be a bit redundant for us to do the same work. I also knew that we would be competitors, if not allies.
But instead of giving up, I decided to go ahead and build my own site - in 24 hours! Many of my web pages are all scripted from Microsoft Access, which enables me to update them daily. This site was officially born on July 13th, 2002. I purchased the domain www.sabbathlive.com just a few weeks later and found a good web hosting service on an OC3 internet connection. I have strongly believed in this idea since I began working on it, so why stop now?
Since the very first draft of my list was constructed from the one on black-sabbath.com, I thought it would only proper to ask Joe Siegler if he'd be interested in an update. At first, he wanted to continue doing them on his own, which I respected. But after several more months, it was quite obvious that I was making fast progress. It was then that he agreed to post a summary version of my past tour dates lists on black-sabbath.com. We share the credits for these list, since the core of my list began with his original tour dates list. But I am now completely the "keeper of the list" and he has been kind enough to pass along the leads that his visitors send in. Joe has added a few customizations to his list, including ticket scans and reviews, that aren't on my site. Currently, the 1997 to present lists on his site are 100% his work.
I am grateful that Joe thought enough of my work to include it on his site. This has been a great way for people to discover my site and project. I can't thank Joe enough for his help and support!
Once I started the project, it began snowballing faster than I had imagined. Every day, I get letters and pictures from people all over the world who have seen Black Sabbath in concert or just have something to share. Some people write in simply to tell me that I am WRONG about something, while others express their appreciation for bringing back good memories. Black Sabbath fans are definitely a breed of their own and I'm thankful to have this opportunity to interact with so many of them! If this site were simply just a research paper about Sabbath's history, it would quickly get old for me. Instead, it has become a patchwork quilt of stories, memories and experiences, as seen through the eyes of people who were there. It's also quickly becoming a place to debate about whether or not that certain Sabbath bootleg is 'bogus' or is incorrectly dated!
There have been many other individuals along the way who have unselfishly shared their Sabbath knowledge with me. While there are dozens of people that I could name as contributors here, a few deserve special merit. Special thanks must go out to Ralf Schultz and Gary Dean, who have given a lot of themselves to this project. Bow to these great Sabbath scribes! I also make a point to list the daily contributions of every person who takes the time to write to me with even the smallest bit of information. It's tough to keep up with this, but I want everyone to know that they are appreciated here. Thanks to all!
And what of the future for Sabbathlive.com? I think it's inevitable that the project will become a book, since Sabbath fans are still hungry for a comprehensive and accurate history of the band. And while I will continue to provide much of this information on the Internet for your quick reference, some details will obviously need to be kept for the book. There is no set date for publication as of yet, but I'll be sure to announce it once the finer details are hammered out!
It is quickly becoming obvious to me that this project is about much more than the band or the work I've put into it. It's about all of the people around the world who love Black Sabbath!! And much of what you'll see on this site would be possible without even the smallest contributions from each and every one of you. Keep the good stuff coming and I will do my best to keep you entertained and informed. Sabbath rules!
Rob Dwyer, Atlanta, GA USA - Revised 4/26/2003