After seven long, lonely years the legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath have returned! They played their first show to a packed crowd at the 02 Academy, Birmingham, England on May 19. They played in preparation for their first festival appearance at the Download Festival in Donington Park.
Blabbermouth reported that the setlist was:
01. Into The Void
02. Under The Sun
03. Snowblind
04. War Pigs
05. Wheels Of Confusion
06. Electric Funeral
07. Black Sabbath
08. The Wizard
09. Behind The Wall Of Sleep
10. N.I.B.
11. Fairies Wear Boots
12. Tomorrow’s Dream
13. Sweet Leaf
14. Symptom Of The Universe (intro only)
15. Drum Solo
16. Iron Man
17. Dirty Women
18. Children Of The Grave
Encore:
19. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (intro only)
20. Paranoid
However, all is not good in the world of Black Sabbath! Their drummer Bill Ward will not be playing with them throughout their shows this summer. In a statement that was published on Black-Sabbath.com he said: “I can’t prioritize the Sabbath fans, making one show more important than the other. I can’t do that. All of you are important. It’s all the gigs or none at all. I can’t come to Birmingham and “see what happens” knowing there is a risk of not being able to play Download or Lollapalooza. Again, for me, it’s all or nothing. I had to say “no” to Birmingham on the principle of wanting to play all the shows.”
Bill Ward won’t be playing until a contract can be reached that is suitable for him. In reply to Bill’s statement, Geezer Butler said: “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.”
In his place stands Tommy Clufetos, who is part of lead singer Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band.
However, without the original drummer Bill Ward, this will not be the Black Sabbath reunion that we were promised last November. After Download Festival, they will be playing next at the legendary Lollapalooza Festival from 3rd to 5th August.
