So apparently it was Ozzy’s birthday. He’s 62. Wow.

Pretty cool, huh? Unfortunately the crowd there seemed to be mostly older too (40s, 50s) and was very lethargic.

Ozzy’s stage presence was awesome, he was constantly full of energy during songs and always had something to say before or after a song. The transformation of him standing slouched between songs versus jumping around during songs was pretty amazing to see.

His voice was pretty good but obviously began to be a bit strained as the night went on. Of note, he was pretty easy to understand while talking. I guess he played the whole mumbling thing up on TV.

He had some kind of foam spraying fire hose with which he punished the front few rows when they lacked proper energy. Then he’d turn the hose on himself and rinse off by sticking his entire head in a bucket.

At one point we sang happy birthday. One of the stage hands kept thinking about smashing Ozzy with the cake, but ultimately he chickened out.

The stage and video production was actually not all that impressive – the drum stand did rise up about 20 feet during a solo and there was pyro a few times, but it was definitely a bit behind the times. LOTS of sound sensitive lights, and not just to the drums – bass and guitar reactive strobes which was pretty cool.

Got to hear the real deal War Pigs (WARNING VERY LOUD):

All my pictures here.

Setlist:

Last month we saw Michael Buble and I have to say, I was fairly surprised.

After a couple of songs he spent 15 minutes introducing each member of his band. Some of it was obviously fake and staged, but overall it was pretty darned funny.

In general, throughout the show he was very self-deprecating which surprised me. I expected an ego maniac. Also, he seemed to really enjoy the energy of the crowd – the place was completely sold out.

His set was interesting – most of it was sloped 30 degrees except for a 6′ strip in the front and platform areas for the strings, piano, drums. It allowed him to slide around as he sang, but it was also very reflective, making pictures come out super crappy!

Can’t find the set list online but it seemed like he covered all his popular songs and did some covers as well.

Pictures here.