A huge crowd of 12,500 rock fans packed into the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon on Wednesday, October 24. I was among the die-hard fanatics and we were there for one reason and one reason only - to see what was hyped to be a monumental, pulse-quivering, earth-shaking rock concert. Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne did anything but disappoint us.
The show started at about 7:20, 10 minutes early. Pretty taboo for a rock concert to start early. The opening act was In This Moment, a new heavy metal act with a blonde-haired goddess of a lead singer named Maria. She wore a frilly, Alice in Wonderland-type dress but was anything but innocent, headbanging with the best of 'em and armed with a screaming voice that could rival Axl Rose in his heyday. In This Moment were impressive and played for about 25 minutes before the tech crew came out and started assembling Rob Zombie's stage, which consisted of a 6-foot tall drum riser decorated in monster heads, as well as skulls and several ghoulish puppets. It was an incredible visual.
Zombie hit the stage shortly after, making his entrance through the mouth of a monster above the drum riser and launching into his setlist, which included songs like "Sawdust In The Blood", "American Witch", "Living Dead Girl", "More Human Than Human", and "Superbeast". Zombie was ANYTHING but a "supporting act" as the 12,500 strong went nuts for him. I was there more to see Rob than Ozzy myself and I wasn't left disappointed. Zombie played for over an hour and his show consisted of amazing visuals and hot women who danced to several of his songs. He even made his way into the crowd and the fans welcomed him with open arms. Clips of B-grade horror movies and some of Zombie's own material played across several monitors and the use of flame pots helped make the packed house go even crazier. At one point, Zombie talked a bit about his recent hit remake of "Halloween", stating that he was amped to be in the same city where Michael Myers is from. "You know why I'm f***in' amped? Cuz that motherf***er Tyler Mane is FROM Saskatoon, man!" Zombie said. This of course made the crowd go nuts yet again. A cheap pop, yes, but an effective one. Zombie continued to play, darting around the stage like a wildman and pretty much showing me my ticket price was worth it. He ended his set with "Dragula" as thousands sang along, bringing and end to an incredible set. I proudly wore my "ZOMBIE" baseball cap and chanted along as Zombie said goodnight. It was loud, it was explosive, it was incredible, and there was still Ozzy Osbourne to come.
When the Ozzman did hit the stage, the energy level picked up where Zombie left off, bringing all of us to our feet with "I Don't Wanna Stop". Osbourne actually looked genuinely excited to be there, as he launched into classics such as "Crazy Train" and "Bark at the Moon". He also did a few songs from his new album "Black Rain". They weren't very recognizable to everyone inside CUC but, really, we didn't care. Ozzy shows that he's still got it and looks to be enjoying the rock star life even as he approaches his 59th birthday in December. Guitarist Zack Wylde was a madman, shredding through Ozzy's songs and performing a solo that had me thinking of the likes of the late Jimi Hendrix and Dimebag Darrell. In the end, Osbourne had us all singing along with "Mama I'm Coming Home" and finally closed the show with "Paranoid".
Overall, the show was a blast. Worth the ticket price no matter where you were sitting, in my opinion. I'd love to go again if Ozzy decides to come back to Saskatoon, and definitely plan on seeing Rob Zombie the next time he brings his solo show to Prairieland Park.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the entire concert an 8.5. Rob Zombie's fans were satisfied, Ozzy's satisfied, and the entire thing just made for a smorgasbord of heavy metal, the way it should always be.
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