Review Tuesday: NO MORE TOURS 2 @ Jones Beach Theater

NO MORE TOURS 2

Jones Beach Theater

September 8, 2018

Not too long ago I awoke to find Mrs. Bax0jayz lying next to me with a huge grin on her face.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I got Ozzy tickets," she replied.

And with that we got to see NO MORE TOURS 2.

Stone Sour

Stone Sour is touring to support their most recent release HYDROGRAD. I always, mistakenly, thought of this band as a Slipknot side-project when it was always another project of singer Corey Taylor. They hit the stage approximately 7:35.

Setlist

1. Taipei Person / Allah Tea
2. Do Me a Favor
3. Knievel Has Landed
4. Whiplash Pants
5. Absolute Zero
6. Bother (Corey solo)
7. Tired
8. Song #3
9. Through Glass
10. Fabuless

These are seasoned musicians who didn't make the mistakes that many opening acts do, they kept their sound in good order. Rather than trying to attract attention to themselves by playing louder, they played well. Their levels were good and the sound was clear. Their stage show was fun with some pyro-technics.They finished their shortened set by 8:20.

Ozzy Osbourne

I wish musicians will just tell the truth already. Everyone announces their final tour then goes on to have multiple final tours that go on for years. As I understand it Ozzy recently stated that he will never retire from touring, so this whole NO MORE TOURS thing is just a farce to fleece the fans. Who couldn't figure that out? This was called NO MORE TOURS 2!

But I digress...

Ozzy hit the stage before 9 PM.I had read that he would be off stage by 10:30. I guess when you are his age you can't stay up late anymore...

Setlist

1. Bark at the Moon
2. Mr. Crowley
3. I Don't Know
4. Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath song)
5. Suicide Solution
6. No More Tears
7. Road to Nowhere
8. War Pigs (Black Sabbath song)
9. Miracle Man / Crazy Babies / Desire / Perry Mason
10. Drum Solo
11. I Don't Want to Change the World
12. Shot in the Dark
13. Crazy Train

Encore:

1. Mama, I'm Coming Home
2. Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)

As you would expect, Ozzy put on a good show. His voice was as good as ever and he surrounded himself with perfectly suited musicians. Zakk Wylde with lead guitar duty, Adam Wakeman (son of Rick Wakeman) on keyboards and rhythm guitar, Rob Nicholson on bass and Tommy Clufetos on drums. Interesting side note, Rob and Tommy both worked previously with Rob Zombie. 

The levels were okay. At times I felt that the guitars and drums both seemed to be a bit low. The stage show and graphics were spectacular. The light rain and the lasers made for some very cool effects. Ozzy had very little to say, thank goodness because anything he said outside of singing was unintelligible as usual. The Zakk and Tommy solos were both too long, indulgent and dull. I will, no doubt, catch flack for saying that, but neither seemed very impressive to me at all.   

All in all I would call it a night to remember. Now I can say I got to see Ozzy perform during my lifetime, and who knows how long Ozzy has? Who knows how long any of us has? So it was a good time and fun for all the memories the songs evoked from my metalhead teens during the 80s.