I went to the Heaven and Hell concert on Wednesday, April 25th at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. I went with my brother and his friend. The show featured Machine Head, Megadeth, and Heaven and Hell (Dio Black Sabbath).
Right across from the Forum is the Inglewood Cemetery Mortuary—how metal is that!
So we found our seats and took a look around the area before things filled up.
We happened to see some interesting people around us, including this guy with a funny expression on his face.
We also saw this smokin’ hot girl, too bad my perverted brother with the camera couldn’t get a good shot of her front cuz it was VERY NICE. There was a group of skinheads next to us as well who were drunk and high for the entire show lol.
Our seats were pretty far from the stage, at least 100 yards away, so the pictures are kind of dark and blurry. There were a lot of people smoking pot… it’s not a fog machine or smog (as it is the reason the sunsets in LA are so beautiful) haha. A few people were caught by security and kicked out of the show.
So things started off with Machine Head. They had a 25-minute set featuring songs from their new CD, The Blackening, notably “Aesthetics of Hate” and “As I Lay Thee Down.” Their tone was absolutely crushing. Two Thumbs up for chugga-chugga goodness. However, whenever they went to solo the rhythm player would play just as loud and I couldn’t hear the solo.
They had a pretty cool stage setup with their Coat of Arms in the background. Their set ended up guess which band was up next:
That’s right, Megadeth! They played a mix of old and new songs. I liked Dover’s tone and he seemed to be a very solid player but Dave’s tone and playing didn’t do it for me. He did have a nice, shiny V tho
The set lasted over an hour and I was kind of relieved when it was over. I don’t know what it was but my right ear was taking a raping when they played. It didn’t happen when Machine Head was on and certainly didn’t when Heaven and Hell were. Anyways, a mosh circle started up on the floor and I saw a few guys get messed up. My brother wanted to join in on the fun but he couldn’t get from our seats to the pit. He is a big guy at 6’3, 290 lbs (offensive lineman) and likes hitting people. He told me that he punched some guy in the head in the mosh pit at a Trivium concert hahaha.
Anyways, the headliners were up next!!
Everything started out pretty dark:
But brightened up as the band got on stage. The had a cool gothic cathedral looking set with stone surround a big wooded door. Gates covered up both the guitar and bass cabinet stacks. Iommi’s Laney’s looked intimidating and sounded mean. Overall, his tone was great and his playing was top notch. Anyone own one of these amps? How is it? (see now I have a reason to post in this forum).
They played a ton of great songs, even new ones. Children of the Sea, Computer God, Sign of the Southern Cross, Lady Evil, Voodoo, The Devil Cried, Die Young and others.
This was the Dehumanizer set—frickin’ awesome!
Here is a shot of Dio, kind of blurry but you can tell its him:
And here is one with cool lighting:
I was anxiously waiting for them to play the song Heaven and Hell and that’s what they did to close out the show. They really did end it with a bang.
Surprisingly, it was an extended version of the song. Iommi took a long solo and Dio even added lyrics not on the studio track. I have to say that Heaven and Hell might be the greatest “sing-along” song ever written. This performance had everything in it: great musicianship, lyrics, audience interaction, pyrotechnics, lighting, stage set up, and more. But it actually wasn’t the end of the show. The audience asked for an encore and we got it with Neon Knights!
But after that was over, the show was as well
Overall, AMAZING show, especially by Heaven and Hell. Definitely worth the $ and I highly recommend you guys to see it if you get the chance. If you don’t know where they’ll be here are some US cities they are touring:
^My brother now owns that shirt. Hope you guys enjoyed the story. Cheers. -K
