Concert #4 - Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz, 1981, Milwaukee
This was Ozzy's first solo tour with his new band, the Blizzard of Ozz, featuring the late, very great Randy Rhoads. The phenomenal album had just been released. I belonged to a concert club offered by Stardate, the big promoter in Milwaukee at the time. For $35 a year, I would get first dibs on tickets before they went on sale, allowing me to see countless shows from the first 10 rows. Well, I scored 1st row for Ozzy, and being a huge Black Sabbath fan, and now Blizzard of Ozz fan, I was very excited. My excitement turned to concern at the venue when I realized I was in first row, but not center, and a towering stack of amplifiers were in front of me, and I did not bring ear protection. Needless to say, the opening band, Motorhead, was very loud. When Ozzy came on, the volume went even higher. As the show progressed, my ears pained in a bad way, and I couldn't help but think that permanent hearing loss may be in store for me, yet being a big fan, I would not leave my incredible seat. The music was great -- just way way too loud, distorting in my ear, making it less than enjoyable for me to get into the show. Ozzy recognized that most people in the front row around me weren't into the show as much as they should (after all, we were all in pain!). At one point, he looked at us angerly with arms stretched out and said "What the fuck?" Then took a swig from a bottle, swished it in his mouth, and showered us with it. As I wiped the liquid from my face, the smell was quite familiar -- but not beer or liquor which I had expected. It was the antisceptic Listerine! I guessed he used that when performing to keep his vocal cords tight. How many people can say Ozzy Osbourne spit on them, much less with a spray of Listerine?