December 20, 2007

While the snow took a night off, there was a blizzard of noise at the Bradley Center Thursday night as Ozzy Osbourne and supporting act Rob Zombie let their classic and nu-metal sounds reign down on the assorted headbangers adrift in a sea of black wear.

At 59 and battling a throat infection, the Ozzman still had it in him to energize the crowd with classics as well as new material from his excellent 2007 release, Black Rain. Don't be fooled by his dazed and confused stoner attitude. Early on in his 90-minute set, he repeatedly pulled out a large hose and doused the front rows with foamy soap, much to the crowd's delight.

Supported by a maelstrom of talent, including drummer Mike Bordin, bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson (who also plays with Zombie), keyboardist Adam Wakeman (son of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman) and the Viking-like Zakk Wylde on guitar, the fivesome opened with Black Rain's "Never Gonna Stop" before jumping onto the early solo hit, "Crazy Train," with video screens showing a maniacal skeleton conductor while Wylde's guitars jumped the tracks with his searing refrains.

"C'mon! Ya gotta go crazy for me now!" demanded Osbourne as he launched into "Suicide Solution," one of the night's highlights, along with the crowd pleaser "Bark at the Moon," which he sang alongside columns of shooting flames. For those in the crowd old enough to recall his Black Sabbath days, "Paranoid" completed the 12-song set. It was just good to see that Ozzy can still do it when he needs to.

Rob Zombie made sure that anyone attending his mock-schlock funhouse of horrors got an eyeful to go along with his metal mayhem: go-go dancers; video clips ranging from "The Munsters" and '60s soft-core films to horror movies (including Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects and his fake trailer from the Grindhouse film, Werewolf Women of the S.S.) and a gigantic devil's head with drummer atop. Oh, and during his 60-minute set, the hits got played as well, including "Living Dead Girl, "Dragula," "Never Gonna Stop (the Red Red Kroovy)" and White Zombie favorites "Thunder Kiss '65" and "More Human Than Human.