Tony and his Black Sabbath rock Australia at The End!

On April 15th 2016, Black Sabbath kicked off the Australian leg of their The End tour. They successfully played Perth, Melbourne, and are playing Sydney tonight with monumental power. "The Sydney Morning Herald" writes about Sabbath's Melbourne gig, giving the legendary band the totality of five stars:

Billed as "The End", it was hardly surprising to see a full house at Rod Laver Arena for Black Sabbath's last ever performance in Melbourne.Having blitzed Perth last week and Adelaide two days ago, it was Melbourne's turn (three years after they last toured here) to see original members Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi unleash the songs that made them the harbingers of English heavy metal in the late '60s.

It was those four albums they lent almost exclusively on for their final, jaw-dropping Melbourne show, giving pumped-up fans exactly what they wanted. Opening with Black Sabbath from their debut album, Osbourne looked fitter and more fired up than his last visit. Fairies Wear Boots and the monstrous Snowblind were more evidence this would be a night of classics from Birmingham's greatest band, before War Pigs took things to another level. Osbourne prowled the stage, waved his arms in the air and smiled the cheeky grin that's endured throughout an unrivalled career in rock.

Behind the Wall of Sleep and N.I.B. (both again from the first album) sent the enormous crowd on the floor into a frenzy, while fans in the seats were just as eager to celebrate climactic moments with fist pumps and huge roars of approval. Effects on stage were kept to a minimum with the spotlight instead thrown on Guitar Legend Tony Iommi's blistering guitar work, Butler's pummelling, timeless bass lines and the sheer awesome power of Clufetos on the skins. Drum solos may be passe in some music circles, but a near 10-minute showstopper from Clufetos also gave Ozzy a much needed breather backstage.

The 90-minute show featured another early track in Hand of Doom, plus a mighty rendition of Dirty Women (from 1976's Technical Ecstasy), while Iommi's familiar opening riff of Iron Man - one of the most recognisable in rock history - brought yet another moment for fans to savour. After half a century as the one constant member of Black Sabbath, Iommi still has the appearance of a man barely raising a sweat on stage.
Ozzy, on the other hand, hurled water on the crowd, on himself and generally had a blast as he shuffled from one side of the stage to the other; all the time peering through a thick mane of black hair and brandishing that smile. The fact the 67-year-old spent so many years touring and recording with his own band while others fronted Sabbath was incidental tonight. This was classic Black Sabbath (albeit minus Ward) and the fans loved every minute.Before "The End" was actually plastered across the back of the stage in huge purple letters, Paranoid gave fans one last chance to revel in what's often described, quite simply, as one of the most influential bands of all time. At the very end they took a bow, looking triumphant. And rightly so.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 2016