Black Sabbath returned to their hometown of Birmingham, England Saturday night for a warm up gig for their anxiously anticipated reunion tour and Rolling Stone magazine raved about the show, saying “the most famous riffs in heavy metal history … [thrilled] both the veteran Sabbath fans in the 3,000-strong audience, and those born decades after they were first committed to vinyl.” 

Unfortunately the tour had to be dramatically scaled back after Tony Iommi’s cancer diagnosis but Saturday night’s crowd showed him their love and support with an “emotional chant of "Tony! Tony! Tony!" going up immediately after opening song, "Into the Void." 

Read the full review here. 

Sad to say only days before the gig, estranged drummer, Bill Ward made it official that because his contract dispute with the group hasn’t been resolved he will not participate in the reunion. In a long message posted on his website, Ward expressed his sadness and frustration that he and the band could not come to terms. 

You can read Bill’s full statement here.

Here’s the set list from the Birmingham show:

"Into the Void"

"Under the Sun"

"Snowblind"

"War Pigs"

"Wheels of Confusion"

"Electric Funeral"

"Black Sabbath"

"The Wizzard"

"Behind the Wall of Sleep"

"N.I.B."

"Fairies Wear Boots"

"Tomorrow’s Dream"

"Sweet Leaf"

"Symptom of the Universe"

"Iron Man"

"Dirty Women"

"Children of the Grave"

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (Intro)

"Paranoid"