Reviews from PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ - July 16th, 2004

The Star Ledger article - 'Clamorous Reunions On Tap' by Jay Lustig (July 16th, 2004)

Steven Burg: "I am not a middle aged Black Sabbath fan. I do not simply enjoy Sabbath shows because it reminds me of the way the band was in their “prime.” I am 17 years old and I go to concerts to see great shows. I have seen virtually every recent band live, some horrible, some great. Last night, Black Sabbath surpassed them all.

The band was simply excellent. Ozzy is back and better than ever. He looked so happy and into the music. The charisma is there. The jumping, head banging and chants of “I can’t fucking hear you” so familiar to Ozzy fans were prevalent throughout the show. Ozzy sounded great too. He hit all the difficult notes with seeming ease such as the breakdown in "N.I.B." and the "War Pigs" intro. As far as flubbing lyrics goes, not once did I notice any mistakes. And if Ozzy was reading from the teleprompter at all it was not noticeable (I was 8th row center so I think I would notice).""The rest of the band sounded great as well. I am not a drummer but to me Bill Ward sounded right on the money. Geezer was maniacally thumping away at his bass just as he always has through the years. Guitar god Tony Iommi was incredible. He has added some variations to the songs to make them sound heavy and fresh while still remaining true to their classic sound. He played extended leads for many of the songs last night which was great to hear. The man is simply awesome.

I make a plea to Sharon Osbourne to never again schedule a tour with constant back to back dates but rather to book tours like this one with at least a day in between each performance. Last year Ozzy was too sick to play my Ozzfest date (the third day of back to back shows) and cancelled his performance. Other times I have seen him on stage looking absolutely miserable and exhausted and I never want to see him like that again, especially knowing that if certain people would be reasonable with his tour schedule Ozzy can still give unbelievable performances.

So that was Sabbath. I have read other reviews of this tour that say Ozzy was off key, or the band didn’t sound right. Maybe the band was slightly off at other shows or perhaps these people are simply out of their fucking minds. All I know is that last night Sabbath was on. After all these years the sabs are still worthy of their reign as the undisputed gods of heavy metal.

ALL RIGHT NOW!

^{Fred Land: “Just a quick review of the 7/16/04 Holmdel, NJ show.  By now, everyone knows what songs Sabbath been playing.  I got there late, but still in time for Priest and Sabbath.  Priest put on a great show; they were tight, loud and in great musical form.  I was left in awe. My ears were ringing and I just blown away.  I never thought that Sabbath could even compare to the onslaught just put on by the Priest, but they came out with “War Pigs” and the show was on.  They were in the best, loudest form I have ever seen them since the REUNION tour of ‘99.  Iommi was unreal, Geezer was loud, Bill hit all the drum parts and even Ozzy was at his best.  He even remembered the words.  All in all, it was the best show I have seen from them in a while.  The only bad news is that while Priest said they would be back with a new album, there was no such promise from Sabbath.  Anyone who goes will have they moneys worth.”}

^{Scott Cupps: "I went to Hartford and the Holmdel shows.  Even though the opening night shows in Hartford were great the jersey show was fantastic. Ozzy’s' vocals have been holding up great and the band was in top form. It was pretty much the same set list in Holmdel [I had a few to many in Hartford. HA!]  Slayer did an awesome set seen them the next night in Glens Falls.  They did a lot off REIGN IN BLOOD.  Priest did a much better set in jersey I felt.”}

 ^{“One thing I found interesting ‘bout Sabbath was in Hartford they had a backdrop during “War Pigs” with Bush in clown make up, but in Jersey it was gone. It was nice to see Bill behind the kit.  The guys really seemed to enjoy playing together lot smiles and laughing.  I’m probably gonna go to Camden next month.”}