(NY Post: Chad Rachman)
By the fifth song of last night’s show at the PNC Bank Arts Center by heavy-metal pioneers Black Sabbath, frontman Ozzy Osbourne was a sweaty, sopping mess, a result of the manic energy he brought to the band’s only area show.
So intense was Osbourne’s presence that to a point, it even overshadowed his inability to stay on key.
This year’s return of Black Sabbath has been a significant event, especially after a contract dispute that caused original drummer Bill Ward to bow out of the new album, “13,” and guitarist Tony Iommi’s cancer diagnosis during its recording.
All of this made the show a multilayered triumph that largely managed to overshadow Osbourne’s shortcomings.
While Ozzy is the celebrity of the band, largely regarded by metal fans as a goofy beloved uncle, Iommi and bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler are in many ways its heart and soul, and seeing the three of them together made the night the most joyous of heavy- metal reunions.
The band, with Ozzy’s solo drummer, Tommy Clufetos, behind the kit, treated fans to favorites mostly culled from their first four albums, with hits like “Black Sabbath,” “Iron Man,” “War Pigs,” and “NIB” matched with deep cuts, including “Behind The Wall of Sleep,” “Fairies Wear Boots,” and “Under the Sun.”
Clad in his traditional long black overcoat, Iommi gave no indication of his recent health issues. His fingers leapt from string to string as if in a meth-propelled game of Frogger, and his crisp, aggressive guitar tone, long the secret sauce in the Black Sabbath stew, dominated the sound.
While his riffs were crisp throughout, there were times when he took a slower, roomier approach to his solos, substituting his usual hypersonic speed for blusier bends or vibrato. But he was on fire just as often, as on the band’s signature song, “Black Sabbath,” or new album opener “End of the Beginning.”
Butler, one of rock’s premiere lead bassists, flew across his strings as if the fingers on his right hand were rubber, and Clufetos traded Ward’s jazzy swing for straight-on bash.
Given the dark soul of the band’s songs, Ozzy was downright gleeful in the role of ringmaster.
Fit for his age (64!) in tight black T-shirt and jeans, Ozzy prompted the crowd, “Lemme see your hands!” about once per song, and during a segue in the middle of “Into The Void,” he motioned to Iommi in sync with the music as if playing a game of peek-a-boo.
But Ozzy’s vocals were often cringeworthy. While he pulled it together somewhat on the cocaine ode “Snowblind” and on “Black Sabbath,” most songs contained at least several off-key passages, and on some, like “Under the Sun” and the new album’s “Methademic,” Ozzy’s voice never found its way.
His inability to find the pitch, though, seemed to barely affect the crowd, which reveled in the return of its heavy metal heroes. Throughout the night, Ozzy wanted to see their hands, and they gleefully obliged at every turn.