So apparently it was Ozzy’s birthday. He’s 62. Wow.

Pretty cool, huh? Unfortunately the crowd there seemed to be mostly older too (40s, 50s) and was very lethargic.

Ozzy’s stage presence was awesome, he was constantly full of energy during songs and always had something to say before or after a song. The transformation of him standing slouched between songs versus jumping around during songs was pretty amazing to see.

His voice was pretty good but obviously began to be a bit strained as the night went on. Of note, he was pretty easy to understand while talking. I guess he played the whole mumbling thing up on TV.

He had some kind of foam spraying fire hose with which he punished the front few rows when they lacked proper energy. Then he’d turn the hose on himself and rinse off by sticking his entire head in a bucket.

At one point we sang happy birthday. One of the stage hands kept thinking about smashing Ozzy with the cake, but ultimately he chickened out.

The stage and video production was actually not all that impressive – the drum stand did rise up about 20 feet during a solo and there was pyro a few times, but it was definitely a bit behind the times. LOTS of sound sensitive lights, and not just to the drums – bass and guitar reactive strobes which was pretty cool.

Got to hear the real deal War Pigs (WARNING VERY LOUD):

All my pictures here.

Setlist:

Last month we saw Michael Buble and I have to say, I was fairly surprised.

After a couple of songs he spent 15 minutes introducing each member of his band. Some of it was obviously fake and staged, but overall it was pretty darned funny.

In general, throughout the show he was very self-deprecating which surprised me. I expected an ego maniac. Also, he seemed to really enjoy the energy of the crowd – the place was completely sold out.

His set was interesting – most of it was sloped 30 degrees except for a 6′ strip in the front and platform areas for the strings, piano, drums. It allowed him to slide around as he sang, but it was also very reflective, making pictures come out super crappy!

Can’t find the set list online but it seemed like he covered all his popular songs and did some covers as well.

Pictures here.

We were almost on time!
Sammy Hagar kicked off his set as we were about halfway in from the far parking area (Field 4).
We missed the first 2 songs and heard the 3rd as we made our way to our seats.
It was easy to see immediately why Van Halen had him as a front man and why he has survived a long time in the rock world. Dude can front a band.

He seemed really intent on entertaining and not concerned about the fact that he was opening or the crowd was sparse. He performed for the people who were into it and not against the hoards of 40 somethings sitting and ignoring him.

He has a bar setup on stage and there were 2 bartenders mixing drinks for him and for fans in the front rows who were “into it”.

Aerosmith took FOREVER to take the stage. The delay was literally an hour and 20 minutes or more. It didn’t help that we were surrounded by stereotypical middle aged house wives gossiping and griping LOUDLY not only between sets, but during much of Sammy Hagar too.

Steven Tyler’s face is a little scary on the video close ups, but he’s live a hard 60-something years.
His voice is still Fantastic. He hits almost every note on every song.
For a super band, he seemed to interact with the crowd spontaneously quite a bit. High fiving fans, serenading people and holding the mic out to the crowd (or individuals) to sing a verse.

Despite a slight on and off drizzle, the crowd remained upbeat and relatively into it, despite their age. The row in front of us was a group of particularly drunk (and I’d imagine sore the next day) women who NEVER SAT DOWN.

The whole Joe Perry vs Steven Tyler dynamic was really odd. At times they’d be cheek to cheek singing and dancing around one another. Other times Joe Perry seemed to avoid Tyler. I’d imagine its a real love-hate relationship there. It was highlighted by Tyler hitting Perry in the head while swinging his mic stand around. No real injury, but a short delay as Perry sauntered around stage cursing.

Each member of the band got their own spotlight moment over the course of the night, but the band clearly revolves around the Tyler-Perry dynamic.

I think we got a pretty kick ass setlist too. I haven’t monitored shows since, but the ones before it had a different setlist with fewer songs.

All pictures here.

We were late again, but thankfully did not miss too much. I would have liked to hear Spirit of Radio and Time Stands Still, but oh well. We got there during “Leave that Thing Alone”.

Their video screen was shockingly sharp and bright. Their production work and it’s use was great, but not over the top. A+ for that. Their pyro and fireworks… well, the timing was off, it was mostly underwhelming, and in some spots just completely ill conceived. It seemed to just interrupt the music. I did get one cool picture of some pyro though, so I HAVE to post that obviously!

The video interlude between Part 1 of the show and Moving Pictures was kind of neat and entertaining. What was more funny was Geddy Lee saying “We’ll be right back, due to our advancing age we need a short break”

Not exactly what a rock star would say, but Rush has never been the picture of rock stardom!

The fact that they were doing Moving Pictures in its entirety was great.

Neil Peart’s drum solo was VERY long and wasn’t so much focused on insane speed and technique, but more about exploring rhythms.

The lead in from there to Closer to the Heart… well I would have preferred a more traditional rendition of the song.

The band seemed to have the most fun doing the 2112 Overtures.

Video outro was entertaining, but we should have been beating feet. Getting out of Jones Beach after a sold out show, on a Saturday night… from the last song until we were on the Meadowbrook was likely an hour+

YYZ + Limelight:

All my pictures from the show here.