Tag: Tommy Clufetos

Special Edition: Black Sabbath go ‘Back to the Beginning’ in the End By Jesse Striewski

There’s a reason why I chose the specific, early ’70s backstage photo of Black Sabbath above that I did to be the starting point for this article; it was the first image of the heavy metal originators that I can recall ever seeing, adorning the walls of my bedroom throughout most of my high school years and beyond.

Sabbath were indeed the starting point for many a new fan of rock music, and I was no exception. As a young bass player, I spent countless hours cutting my teeth to Geezer Butler’s bass lines, especially from the first two albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid (each released in 1970), which were my own introductions to the metal legends (I can’t honestly remember which one was first exactly, though I’m fairly certain I obtained each within a short period of time of one another).

The roots of Black Sabbath as we all know now can be traced back to Birmangham, England in 1968, when guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward enlisted wild card frontman Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. The foursome went through several name changes – first going by The Polka Tulk Blues Band and then Earth before wisely settling on Black Sabbath after the Boris Karlof film of the same name, by 1969.

After relentlessly working the regional club circuit, the band released their aforementioned debut effort in 1970, quickly followed by Paranoid, each laying the groundwork to what we now call heavy metal, with respective classics such as “Black Sabbath,” “N.I.B.,” “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and of course, “Paranoid” contained on each.

1971’s Master of Reality found the band further perfecting their sound with the likes of “Sweet Leaf,” “Children of the Grave,” and “Into the Void,” while the production of 1972’s Vol. 4 was fueled by drug-induced studio time (see, “Snowblind”), though saw the band at their lighter side with “Changes” (a track Osbourne would later duet on with his daughter, Kelly, many years after in 2003).

It can be argued the band peaked by 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album, which contained such gems and heavy-hitters as “A National Acrobat,” “Sabbra Cadabra,” and its unforgettable title track.

By 1975’s Sabatoge album, cracks at the seems were becoming more and more noticeable, punctuated further by 1976’s experimental Technical Ecstasy album, an effort Butler would later describe in a 2001 interview as “The beginning of the end, really.”

By 1978’s Never Say Die! album, the ongoing substance abuse and management/legal issues had finally taken their tolls, culminating with Dave Walker of Fleetwood Mac/Savoy Brown briefly taking over for Osbourne before his eventual return to finish the album/tour (most notable for having then-up-and-comers Van Halen as openers outshining their own headliners). Regardless, Osbourne would be out before the turn of the new decade.

By 1980 Sabbath were primed for a comeback with former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio in Osbourne’s place for the Heaven and Hell album, while Ozzy was being brought back to life for a solo career via manager and future wife, Sharon. The resulting album Blizzard of Oz, featuring guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoades (R.I.P.), quickly became one of metal’s greatest albums of all time.

While Ozzy continued to grow his solo career with more hit records in the form of 1981’s Diary of a Madman and 1983’s Bark at the Moon, Sabbath struggled and declined after one more album with Dio (1981’s Mob Rules), which marked a succession of singers and lineups throughout the 1980s and early ’90s that included the likes of Ian Gillan, Glen Hughes, and Tony Martin (just to name a few) at the forefront, while Iommi remained the only consistent original member throughout each and every one of these incarnations.

A brief comeback with Dio and drummer Vinny Appice would produce the admirable Dehumaninzer album in 1992, but that lineup again fizzled out again before it ever really got started. After a couple more mediocre efforts with Tony Martin on vocals (1994’s Cross Purposes and 1995’s Forbidden), Iommi likely finally saw the writing on the wall and came to his senses.

Then in 1997, the unthinkable happened – Iommi reunited with Osbourne and Butler for a partial reunion (Ward was not physically up to the task at that moment in time, so the band enlisted Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin instead) to co-headline the ’97 Ozzfest alongside of Ozzy’s solo band.

I was a freshmen in high school at the time, and even then I knew how monumental of an event this was. So it was surreal to find myself there with my friends and bandmates at the West Palm Beach, FL show that Memorial Day for only my second concert ever (I had caught AC/DC at the same venue the year prior).

A live album, fittingly titled Reunion, was released the following year in 1998 as the band continued to tour into the 2000’s and rebuild their fanbase. By 2004, I found myself at another Ozzfest, this time in Tampa, FL (with Judas Priest and Slayer in direct support, each with their own reunions of sorts), and this time the entire original lineup of Iommi/Butler/Osbourne/Ward intact.

Ticket stubs from the two Ozzfests the author attended in 1997 and 2004, respectively, with noticeable damage to the former stub from smoke/incense.

The 2004 show particularly stands out as one of the better concerts I’ve seen in my lifetime. I had met my girlfriend at the time there with some of her friends, who decided to leave the show – and effectively me – early before Sabbath’s set.

As I sat by my lonesome on the lawn watching the show, a worker for the venue – who must’ve sensed my despair – very generously handed me an upgraded ticket stub closer to the stage in the seated area (I was convinced whoever this person was, had to have been sent there by the rock Gods). It felt somewhat like the ending scene of Detroit Rock City, where the group of teens finally make it to the KISS show after everything they had been through.

But I digress; I got to the closer seat, which was positioned right next to a couple who were having the time of their lives, and welcomed me with open arms to the party. I was in awe watching the legends before me on the stage with my newfound friends that night, way closer than I had ever imagined I would be (I might’ve even got a little misty-eyed at some point, most likely during “Snowblind”).

Yet I can’t say for sure if that was my favorite personal Sabbath moment, or if it was the next one. In 2010, I was still going to school for Journalism and rapidly growing my portfolio as a freelancer in music-related writing. I had already done a couple major interviews when the chance to interview Bill Ward – who was actually writing a monthly column in the very same national magazine that I was contributing to at the time – presented itself to me.

I couldn’t believe it as I sat there on the phone beside myself with one of the originators of heavy metal. There were so many things I couldn’t wait to pick his brain about (and even more that I wish I had in hindsight), and it still remains one of the friendliest, most easy-going interviews I’ve done to this day.

Partial excerpt from the author’s 2010 interview with original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward for Hails and Horns Magazine.

So I was a little more than disappointed to see the band would be putting out a final album (2013’s 13) and embarking on a “final” tour that each did not feel right without Ward included. Like many, I watched clips of the band performing their last show in Birmingham, England from afar on February 4, 2017, but felt just a tad cheated (and no offense to drummer Tommy Clufetos, who did his best with the given situation).

So when it was announced last year that the band would finally be doing it properly, with all four original members in tow once again, I was more than happy to hear it.

Official flyer for the bands final show in Birmingham, England today, Saturday, July 5.

As we soon watch the band take their final bows together today, I know my mind will be racing with my own memories of them as previously mentioned. I know I’m not just saying goodbye to a group of strangers, but rather some of the guys who actually helped mold and shape me into the man I am today, while also saying goodbye to yet another era, and another part of myself, now long gone.

Together again; the original Black Sabbath (left to right, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward) reunited ahead of their final show in Birmingham, England on Saturday, July 5, 2025 (Photo by Ross Halfin).

To Tony, Geezer, Ozzy, and Bill…thank you for everything gentlemen.

Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett and The Blackhearts at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL on 6/19/22 By Jesse Striewski/Photos By Brooke Striewski

It’s taken three attempts and nearly two years, but after numerous false starts, the massive Stadium Tour featuring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett and The Blackhearts finally rolled through Orlando via Camping World Stadium this past Sunday, June 19. And as Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliot noted at one point, “Third time’s the charm.”

Rewind It Magazine arrived fashionably late for the event, as Joan Jett was well into the hit “Cherry Bomb” from her Runaways days. The last time I saw Jett perform was actually at the 2006 Warped Tour, and not only had the Blackhearts lineup changed since then (most notably former Billy Idol drummer Thommy Price had been replaced by Bouncing Souls drummer Michael McDermott), but so had her set list, which was apparent when she went into “Light of Day” next from the 1987 film of the same name she co-starred in with Michael J. Fox.

More covers and originals like “Everyday People,” “You Drive Me Wild” (another early Runaways track), “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”, “Fake Friends,” “Crimson and Clover,” “I Love Rock n’ Roll,” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You” followed before finally closing things out on a high note with “Bad Reputation,” which some may recall served as the theme song to the late-’90s teen show Freaks and Geeks.

Poison were up next, and were the one and only act on the bill I had never seen prior, although frontman Bret Michaels’ solo shows have played a pivotal roll in the Rewind It family over the years (it was the first concert my wife/photographer Brooke and I ever attended together in 2013 while we were still dating, and a few years later in 2018 we covered one of his Downtown Concert series shows for Rewind It, which you can still read on here).

Bret was on fire on this night, with guitarist C.C. Deville, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rocket behind him as they launched into “Look What the Cat Dragged In.” “Ride the Wind,” “Talk Dirty to Me,” and “Your Mama Don’t Dance” lead to a guitar solo from Deville, which found him briefly touching on Van Halen’s “Eruption” as a tribute to late guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

More hits including “Fallen Angel,” “Unskinny Bop,” and the epic power ballad “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” were up next before the guys ended it with the ultimate ’80s party anthem, “Nothin’ But a Good Time” (at this point, the only possible way for them to end a set), priming the crowd just right for the rest yet to come.

The first couple of times I saw Motley Crue live (in 2005 and 2012, respectively) were each mind-blowing experiences, and I never tire of seeing one of my all time bass idols – the one and only Nikki Sixx, of course – on stage. Ironically though, I always seem to miss the beginning of their sets. But this time I made sure to be there for the entire thing, as the band ripped through classics like “Wild Side,” “Shout at the Devil,” and “Too Fast For Love” right off the bat.

After the first trio of tracks however, drummer Tommy Lee vacated the stage due to his well-publicized rib injury (no rollercoaster drumsets this time around!), making way for Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath drummer Tommy Clufetos, who quickly picked up the pace on “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away),” “Saints of Los Angeles,” “Live Wire,” “Looks That Kill,” and only their fourth performance ever of the 2020 track “The Dirt” from the film of the same name (and it definitely showed – frontman Vince Neil’s voice wavered a time or two while trying to reach some notes on it).

The guys then launched into a number of their most well-known covers, including “Rock N’ Roll Part II,” “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” “White Punks on Dope,” “Helter Skelter,” and “Anarchy in the U.K.,” before going through some more original classics in the form of “Dr. Feelgood,” “Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S),” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.” Tommy Lee then returned to the stage once more and fans turned on their cell phone lights for the massive power ballad “Home Sweet Home,” before they finally closed things out for the night with “Kickstart my Heart.”

And finally, Def Leppard came on stage…and initially sucked the life out of the room. When I first saw them back in 2003, they opened with a couple of early ’80s tracks in the form of “Let it Go” and “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop).” There were no such classics like those to be found anywhere in their set this time around, instead opting to start off with a couple newer numbers (which I get they need to promote) in the form of “Take What You Want” and the uber-lame “Fire it Up,” both bad choices in my opinion.

By track number three, the band finally started to treat the crowd with what they really came for, the “classics.” “Animal,” “Foolin’ (tragically one of the very few songs performed from 1983’s Pyromania album, my personal favorite of the band’s along with the two before it), and “Armageddon It.” Another new track, “Kick,” was thrown in before more Hysteria-era tracks “Love Bites” and “Excitable.”

After which, the band stripped things down and went acoustic for a bit, with frontman Joe Elliot performing “This Guitar” solo before being joined by the rest of the guys again on “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” and “Two Steps Behind.” “Rocket,” “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak,” and “Switch 625,” which featured a solo from drummer Rick Allen, got things back on track.

Finally, the band threw it all out there, unleashing “Hysteria,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” “Rock of Ages,” and “Photograph” on the now-exhausted crowd (yours truly included).

I’ve since been asked who the best band of the evening was, and it’s far from easy to answer. Def Leppard were probably the strongest as far as overall sound is concerned, although their set list was merely “meh” in comparison to the last time I saw them, as previously noted. But I’d have to say Motley Crue were definitely the most exciting to watch as always, with Poison coming in a close second. And I’m pretty sure nearly anyone who was in attendance on Sunday night will agree they indeed got enough bang for their buck.