Black Sabbath Wrap Leg One of "The End" World Tour

Ozzy Osbourne (Vocals), Tony Iommi (Guitar) and Geezer Butler (Bass) wrapped the first dates of BLACK SABBATH’s massive 2016 THE END world tour last week (3/7) in Vancouver, BC to an overwhelming response, from fans and critics alike.  The first leg of sold-out North American shows will be followed by a run of summer performances including return visits to Los Angeles (at the iconic Hollywood Bowl), New York, Chicago and 14 additional cities.  Tickets for the summer shows are available at www.Livenation.com.  See BLACK SABBATH’s world wide itinerary below.  

Here’s some critical feedback from 2016’s THE END tour:

“From the pulverizing opening tritone of ‘Black Sabbath’…the show was more a celebration of the pioneering heavy-metal band’s legacy than an epitaph…each of the musicians was in stellar form in Chicago…now may be the beginning of the end for Black Sabbath, but, as they proved in Chicago and over the years, their music will echo through the ages.”
--Kory Grow, ROLLINGSTONE.COM, 1-23-16

“The beginning of The End happened Friday in Chicago at the United Center, where the band played a two-hour set of snarling hard rock songs, played according to the rules of strict minimalism but always with brawny execution…Black Sabbath remains a genre of its own, combining space jazz and prog-rock, gothic imagery and riff-heavy thunder.”
--Mark Guarino, THEGUARDIAN.COM, 1-23-16

“The iconic rockers were able to bid farewell in style…If this was truly the band's last show in Washington, the quartet had left its fans with a night they'll never forget.”
--Ernest Jasmin, TACOMA WEEKLY, 2-8-16

“Sabbath sounded so strong that, at times, it seemed like an absolutely ludicrous idea for these guys to even be thinking about hanging it up. Yet, if the goal is to go out on top--in peak fighting form--then Sabbath is right on track.”
--Jim Harrington, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2-10-16

“Osbourne was confidently strutting the length of the stage, imploring the audience to clap along…Osbourne led the band through classics like ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Children of the Grave,’ exuding bravado and, often, joy.  The night didn't belong to Ozzy, though. While bassist Geezer Butler remains rock-solid…Iommi's effortless leads and power-chord riffs laid the groundwork for generations of hard-rocking axe-slingers, yet his attack still sounds fresh and resonant, and his vibrato-laden shreds are as precise as they were four decades ago…”
--Jeff Miller, BILLBOARD.com, 2-13-16

“Black Sabbath put on as perfect of a farewell show at the Pepsi Center [in Denver] as you could have hoped for. They played, sounded and yes, sung as well as they did in their prime…Instead of leaning on theatrics, they let tight riffs take the audience away…Their astonishing performance Monday night proved the band to be going out with remarkable live chops.”
--Mike Long, DENVER POST, 2-16-16

“One of the strongest live rock shows in recent memory…Sabbath performed the music with such power and conviction that songs many of us have heard ad nauseam seemed fresh and new…The fluid rhythms, the interlocking, crushing dynamics between the rhythm section, and Iommi and Osbourne's uncanny ability to switch in and out of the role of avatar of doom and avuncular hype man, rousing the crowd, made for a show that was much more than merely a great performance. It felt inclusive.”
--Tom Murphy, WESTWORD (Denver, CO), 2-16-16

“Black Sabbath turned its The End farewell tour into a celebration--albeit one steeped in a little bit of Satanic mechanics…the 100-minute, 14-song show was standard issue Sabbath--Spartan and leaden hard rock played with tight precision.”
--Gary Graff, THE OAKLAND PRESS (Detroit, MI), 2-20-16

“Black Sabbath, from Birmingham, England, was foundational for metal, but the music it played on Thursday--all of it recorded between 1969 and 1976--is full of scales related to the blues, which has its own long tradition of despair masking joy. That joy on Thursday was in sound and feeling. You could hear the band in giant, clear, present detail, unusual for the Garden…”
Ben Ratliff, NEW YORK TIMES, 2-26-16

“…he [Osbourne] was on fire last night, hitting all the notes exactly the way you remember them. All the stretched out vowels, all the ‘ohh yeahh!’s, everything. In even finer form was Tony Iommi, whose riffs were as crisp today as they are on the early records, and whose solos still screamed. No disrespect to Geezer Butler of course, who shined all night and especially on his bass solo in ‘N.I.B.’…There really wasn’t a moment where you weren’t hearing some of the best heavy metal ever written…The show was also a serious reminder of how even with legions of excellent doom bands popping up for decades, still nobody can do it like Sabbath.”
--Andrew Sacher, BROOKLYN VEGAN, 2-27-16

“If this in fact was the end for Black Sabbath, then it was one hell of a farewell.”
--Dean Pilling, CALGARY SUN, 3-5-16

“Black Sabbath were magnificent…what sets Black Sabbath’s music apart is how fresh it still sounds…a night free of stage effects or gimmicks, packed with a selection of brilliantly performed songs from the best heavy metal band there ever was and ever will be.”
Robert Collins, CTV NEWS VANCOUVER, 3-8-16

These dates mark the end of the epic journey that BLACK SABBATH began nearly five decades ago.  The massive 2016 THE END world tour by the greatest Metal Band of all time will take the band to Australia and New Zealand in April, then Europe for a mix of summer headlining and festival performances, before returning to North America in August.

As previously announced, a special fans-only CD featuring original artwork by Shepard Fairey/Obey Giant is being sold at shows along the tour route.  The CD is comprised of eight previously unreleased tracks: four songs are outtakes from BLACK SABBATH’s worldwide #1, Grammy Award-winning album 13 and four live songs from the band’s critically acclaimed 13 World Tour.

When this tour concludes, it will truly be THE END, THE END of one of most legendary bands in Rock ’n Roll history...BLACK SABBATH.

BLACK SABBATH’s remaining 2016 tour dates are as follows:
            
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND
Fri    4/15    Perth, AU    Perth Arena
Sun    4/17    Adelaide, AU    Entertainment Centre
Tue    4/19    Melbourne, AU    Rod Laver Arena
Sat    4/23    Sydney, AU    Allphones Arena
Mon    4/25    Brisbane, AU    Entertainment Centre
Thu    4/28    Auckland, NZ    Vector Arena
Sat    4/30    Dunedin, NZ    Forsyth Barr Stadium
           
EUROPE
Wed    6/1    Budapest,Hungary    Groupama Arena
Wed    6/8    Berlin, Germany    Waldebuhne
**Sat    6/11    Donington, UK     Download
Mon    6/13    Verona, IT    Arena Di Verona
Wed    6/15    Zurich, Switzerland    Hallenstadon
**Fri    6/17    Dessel,Belgium    Graspop
**Sun    6/19    Clisson, France    Hellfest
**Thu    6/23    Halden, Norway    Tons of Rock
**Sat    6/25    Copenhagen, DE    Copenhell
Tue    6/28    Vienna, Austria    Stadthalle
Thu    6/30    Prague, Czech Rep.    02 Arena
Sat    7/2    Krakow, Poland    Tauron Arena
Tue    7/5    Riga, Latvia     Riga Arena
**Thu    7/7    Helsinki, Finland    Monsters of Rock
**Sat    7/9    Stockholm, Sweden    Monsters of Rock
Tue    7/12    Moscow, Russia    Olympisky Arena
           
**Denotes festival appearance
           
NORTH AMERICA
Wed    8/17    Wantagh, NY     Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Fri    8/19    Philadelphia, PA    BB&T Pavilion
Sun    8/21    Washington DC     Jiffy Lube Live
Tue    8/23    Holmdel, NJ    PNC Bank Arts Center
Thu    8/25    Boston, MA    Xfinity Center
Sat    8/27    Uncasville, CT    Mohegan Sun Arena
Mon    8/29    Toronto, ON    Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Wed    8/31    Detroit, MI    DTE Energy Music Theater
Fri    9/2    Indianapolis, IN    Klipsch Music Center
Sun    9/4    Chicago, IL    Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Wed    9/7    Dallas, TX    Gexa Energy Pavilion
Fri    9/9    Albuquerque, NM    Isleta Amphitheater
Sun    9/11    Salt Lake City, UT    USANA Amphitheater
Tue    9/13    Portland, OR    Sunlight Supply Amphitheatre
Thu    9/15    Oakland, CA    Oracle Arena
Sat    9/17    Las Vegas, NV    MGM Grand Garden Arena
Mon    9/19    Hollywood, CA    Hollywood Bowl
Wed    9/21    Phoenix, AZ    AK-Chin Pavilion
 

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