Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against The Machine, recently spoke with Shan Man of the 98KUPDradio station about his experience as the “curator” of Black Sabbath’s all-star “Back To The Beginning” farewell gig, which also featured Ozzy Osbourne‘s last performance, as per Blabbermouth. The moment Morello recognized the occasion “was more than just a concert” was the response given when asked.
Well, I had that in my bullseye from the beginning. If we’re gonna do this, we have to aim to make it the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. Heavy metal is the music that made me love music. It’s in the DNA of 90% of my favorite artists. And so if we’re gonna do this, we really have to treat it with the gravity that it deserves. I will say that once the actual day started, and, dude, it was thousands of hours of preparation and worry and anxiety and changing around stuff — changed in the last 24 hours, et cetera, et cetera — but once it actually started, I had to let go. I’m, like, ‘Okay, the bands are now gonna play their songs or they’re gonna fall off the stage. I can’t control it anymore.’
I’ll share two moments with you, one was — it was actually the night before. We had had three days of 12-hour rehearsals with the supergroups. And we just finished the last one. Everybody’s so tired, jet lagging. The last group, which was me, Steven Tyler, Nuno, my son was there, et cetera, we’re getting ready to go back to the hotel, try to get a good night’s sleep before this thing actually kicks off. And somebody comes in and goes, ‘Black Sabbath is soundchecking right now. Do you wanna go see ’em?’ And we’re, like, ‘Oh, I think I can make time for that.’ So we are in Birmingham stadium — the only people in the stadium. There’s, like, 12 people in the stadium. Black Sabbath is practicing their intro, which is a song called ‘War Pigs’. So this is the second-to-last time they’re ever going to play this song. The red lights are on, the sirens are wailing. T
here’s 12 people in the audience, and then they play ‘War Pigs’ for us. And at the end of it — they don’t even know we’re there. So at the end of it, we’re a quarter of a mile away just cheering like crazy — Steven Tyler, and Scott Ian and me — and we’re just going absolutely [nuts]. And I felt that — I felt, ‘Okay, this is something that could really, really matter.’ And then afterwards, the show happens and it feels like it’s an emotional success for all of the artists involved, for the bands, for Ozzy, for the city, for fans. And Ozzy actually went to the afterparty. Ozzy was there in the afterparty. So we finally go back to the hotel. Now the hotel lobby, which they kept open till dawn, was filled with the bands, fans from all over the world. And it’s been a year and a half working on this show. It finally happened. We’re exhausted, but we did it. We walk in, sort of this contingent of us, and the whole place goes crazy. Everybody’s crying and standing and cheering for that band, for the legacy, for the night, for the fact that like we actually did this. We did something that really, really mattered for fans and for the band. It was really pretty special.
When asked if he had to make any “hard calls” when preparing “Back To The Beginning” that the fans were unaware of, Tom had this response.
2,000 calls. One of the greatest moments of it was Yungblud singing ‘Changes’. Well, 48 hours before, he wasn’t gonna be the singer of that song. Things were changing… I landed at Heathrow Airport and I got a call, like, ‘That’s not happening.’ So I’m, like, ‘Okay, let’s figure it out.’ And it turned out to be one of the highlights. But that’s the gig. That’s what the gig is.
Morello thought about his final memory of Ozzy as well.
I’m at the afterparty playing pinball with my son. And somebody’s tugging at my shirt. I’m, like, in the middle of a multiball. So I’m, like, ‘Get off me. I got a multi…’ It’s Ozzy Osbourne. It’s Ozzy. So [Ozzy’s son] Jack Osbourne comes back and goes, ‘Dude, that was my dad.’ I’m, like, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ So anyway, I let the pinballs drop. And I go over to him. And he was appreciative of everything that had gone on. I got to give him a kiss on the head one more time, thank him. And then this is the last words that Ozzy Osbourne said to me in person. He was, like, ‘Tell Sharon I wanna get the fuck outta here’ — in true Ozzy form and also sort of poetic in a way.
