Three Founders Together: Black Sabbath/Judas Priest/Slayer at Ozzfest 2004

My brother and I went to the Ozzfest 2004 stop in Columbus, OH.

Unfortunately, we missed a lot of awesome acts because we left late to go, but we got there in time to see the best bands on the bill:  original Black Sabbath (the founding fathers of Heavy Metal music), Judas Priest (the 2nd Metal Band ever with classic singer Rob Halford back-he rejoined the previous year), and original Slayer (one of the founding bands of Thrash Metal).

We saw a little bit of Dimmu Borgir, another Metal band, but they were nearing the end of their set.

I went to the merch stand to buy a Judas Priest shirt, which I still have in 2023 as I type this.

Slayer kicked butt as always.  It included the original lineup of Tom Araya (Vocals/Bass), Kerry King (Guitar), Jeff Hanneman (Guitar) and Dave Lombardo (Drums).  It’s always been a pleasure seeing them.  They’re a favorite for sure.

But the two Biggest heavy hitters came next.

First up, Judas Priest!!!!!

I had seen them in 2002 with Tim “Ripper” Owens singing, which was great.

But even though I love those albums he did, Rob Halford is the classic singer, who has sung on all the other albums.

And he’s one of my biggest heroes, so finally being able to see him, and back where he belongs was a huge treat for me.

And singing great as always.

I’ll always say this:  Guitarists Glenn Tipton and KK Downing are the best guitar duo ever.

And the rhythm section of Bassist Ian Hill and Drummer Scott Travis is always solid as a rock.

Rob came out on stage in a “Electric Eye” stage backdrop.

They were all decked out in their leather biker clothes, as they always do.

They played a lot of classic Priest songs.

Rob came out on the Harley Davidson later in the show as he always does.

They put on a great show.

I love Judas Priest forever.  One of my favorites.

Priest were going to be hard to top, but Black Sabbath were up for the task.

Sabbath are the first band to truly play what became known as Heavy Metal music.

They started in 1968.  They’ve had a lot lineup changes (Guitarist Tony Iommi is one who has always been there.) but this was the original lineup of Ozzy Osbourne (Vocals), Tony, Geezer Butler (Bass), and Bill Ward (Drums).

I’ll always remember their curtain being up and when they came out, I could see their shadows through the curtain.

Then the curtain came down and they were off and running.

I’ve always thought of Sabbath as a very tight band, musically, and they certainly were here.

Ozzy is forever the ringmaster, pumping up the crowd at all times and singing/screaming his heart out.

Tony is forever the riff master.  His style is only his and he sounds better than most.

Geezer is a phenomenal bassist and actually wrote a lot of the Sabbath lyrics.

Bill is always great behind the kit.

He considers himself as more of a percussionist than drummer, but he plays the drums very well.

Many bands/artists have tried to copy their sound, but no one truly sounds like them.

Sabbath really started a lot of bands with their music.

They are sooooooo influential.

One of the best bands ever.

I’m glad I got to see them, and this show.

I only regret not getting there earlier to see some of the other awesome bands (Superjoint Ritual, Black Label Society, Slipknot, Lamb Of God, Lacuna Coil).

But that’s OK because I saw three of my all time favorites back to back to back.

Does not get much better than that.

My brother and I had a great time.