When Ozzy announced that he was going to retire from the music business in 1992, it was the shock felt around the world. We couldn’t believe that the Prince of Darkness was going to call it a day. He had just released “No More Tears” which was a huge album for him (definitely not his best) and he was going out on top. My friends and I jumped at the chance to see what was supposed to be his last show in Atlanta ever. We scored 8 4th row seats and we were in business.
The show date rolled up and we were so pumped to see opening acts Faster Pussycat and Ugly Kid Joe. Ugly Kid Joe took the stage first with a 30 minute set that completely ripped our faces off. They were so fucking good and they really got the crowd moving and excited. They were followed by the less than terrible Faster Pussycat. Normally I like Faster Pussycat but they were fucking terrible at this show. Maybe following Ugly Kid Joe wasn’t the smartest move since they just seemed to fail in comparison. They didn’t make the most of their time on stage so it seemed to really kill the momentum. But what did we care? Ozzy was about to take the stage for the last time ever and own our lame asses.
A huge curtain was dropped to cover the stage and the place went nuts. I was just talking about this with my buddy Cheevyjames. There’s nothing more awesome at a show when a band drops a curtain right when the first song kicks in. It creates such an awesome tension that just makes everyone go apeshit. The PA music played a medley of Ozzy riffs that had us all going crazy and then all of the sudden, Zakk Wylde rips into “Paranoid” which was one hell of a surprise. The curtain dropped and it was off. I looked around me and realized suddenly that people were hopping over seats and moving forward. We just shrugged and joined the crowd as our 4th row seats were now right up against the barricade.
This was an audience that looked like they were seeing their last Ozzy show ever. Nobody was calm or collected. We were sending Ozzy off in style and letting him know that we were giving him all we had much like he had done for us for well over 20 years. The show had some really great moments like “Desire”, “Mr. Crowley” and “I Don’t Know.” During the guitar solo of “I Don’t Know”, Zakk got right in front of us and just ripped the fuck out of the solo. I held my hand out to give him five and he slapped my hand so fucking hard that it tingled for a good 5 minutes afterwards. I could care less because we were having a killer time. “Shot In The Dark”, one of my all time favorites, was so kick ass to hear live and “Miracle Man” was so heavy and fun to hear as well. After playing a killer “Bark at the Moon”, they came back for a encore and did “Mama I’m Coming Home” which seemed appropriate as an encore being that this was his last tour. My kid brother threw his baseball cap up to Ozzy during the show closing “Crazy Train” and it was even captured on the big screens as Ozzy caught the hat, put it on and looked down at us and yelled, “I love you motherfuckers!” Goddamn we were going nuts!
The show was over and we couldn’t believe it. We had witnessed the last Ozzy tour ever. We all felt so lucky and happy that we had seen such a great show. The set list on paper really doesn’t look all that exciting but it was the vibe and energy of the performance that made this show so exciting and fun. Ozzy was going out on top of his game looking and sounding better than ever. Unfortunately, he would break his promise and come out of retirement only to make another 15 or so years of crappy records and uninspired performances that show him being nowhere near the top of his game. He’s a shadow of his former self. He really had the opportunity to go out as a legend but instead is an old rock star who’s overstayed his welcome. It’s really sad. I really like to look at this show as the last time I ever saw Ozzy because when I like to think of the last time I saw Ozzy, I like to see the image of a man who ruled the fucking stage, his audience and gave us more than 110%! What a great memory to have.
Ozzy Osbourne Set List
Paranoid
I Don’t Want to Change the World
Desire
Mr. Crowley
I Don’t Know
Road to Nowhere
Flying High Again
Suicide Solution
Goodbye to Romance
Shot in the Dark
No More Tears
Miracle Man
War Pigs
Bark at the Moon
Encore:
Mama, I’m Coming Home
Crazy Train
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