H&H in SF

[ElectricWiz]

Saw Heaven and Hell last night in San Francisco. The show was originally booked for a larger venue in San Jose, but ticket sales were not stellar, so it got moved to the Warfield in San Francisco. The Warfield is still a decent sized venue (I've seen Megadeth, Mastodon, Machine Head, Queensryche and many more besides there). Methinks the ticket sales reflect several things. 1. The economy 2. Heaven and Hell has been through 3 times in the last two years 3. The other dates included stellar lineups (Metal Masters, and the origional reunion gig with Megadeth and Machine Head). Oh well, it was still a good sized crowd, but not busting at the seams, that's for sure.

Anyway, the show was great, as expected. There were slight adjustments to the setlist from previous tours to account for, well, the previous tours, each of which I attended. From The Devil You Know they played Fear, Bible Black, and Follow the Tears. They added Time Machine from Dehumnizer, and dropped Computer God. The rest of the list was what you might call conquered ground, but then again awesome - Neon Knights, H&H, Falling off the Edge of the World, the first verse and chorus of Country Girl (kind of a tease), Children of the Sea, Die Young, Mob Rules, etc.

Very cool show. Dio is in fine form, as most of you know. They were all energetic and spot on, and the song Heaven and Hell was 15 minutes long, with a great improv section in the middle.

Best summed up as, "A bunch of old dudes coming across as more excited and vital than bands half their age."

Coheed and Cambria opened up, and were pretty cool live actually, but I don't really know their stuff...

 

[sixxswine]

The fucking Warfield?! Holy shit! Theye didn't play in Portland because there was no demand so they played in Seattle instead.... That sucked for me. They could have played at some of the concert halls here but I'm sure the owners would have been terrified at the thought of having "metal fans" in their venue and wrecking things...Looks like you had a good time man. Thanks for the summary.

 

[SoundMaster]

Having seen them on each of the previous two tours, I declined to purchase a ticket for this trek (I tend to limit shows these days).

But I'm still sad I passed it up. Last year's H&H was arguably the single best live performance I've ever witnessed....seriously, they just "hit me" that well.

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the summary!

All hail Dio, Butler, and Iommi!

 

[desert_demon]

I'm surprised to hear that attendance is not what was expected but perhaps the name change from Black Sabbath to Heaven and Hell is starting to weigh the band down. Also the curious choice for an opening act may have been a factor. I mean, Coheed and Cambria??? Who?? Somebody like Testament, Armored Saint or just about any "old school" band would have been better and the tour would have been more attractive, ticket-sales wise.

 

[poundingmetal74]

I'm debating seeing H&H again, in Cleveland, because Icarus Witch is opening. Couldn't care less about Coheed other than the song "Welcome Home"

 

[ElectricWiz]

Yes, I agree that Coheed and Cambria was a strange choice. Actually, I don't think either of the other two tours I saw were sold out either, and they included huge names in the metal world. I was shocked that after two completely killer bills with H&H they chose such a small, not really metal band for an opener. Odd. Again, they were okay, but I know nothing of them...Having listened to some samples today, they were way heavier live than on CD. Not sure if I'm interested in them, but they had a certain energy if nothing else. Not a complete loss. They did a cover of the Trooper, incidentally.

 

[wdiv]

I'd guess they're counting on the old school crowd to show up for Sabbath regardless of opening act & are hoping they can pull in more "younger" fans with C&C as opening act. Also suspect that C&C demands less of the proceeds then a bigger act (although I could be mistaken).

I saw H&H last time thru. The show was well-performed, but Iommi & Dio seemed to just be going thru the paces & the show wasn't very memorable, unfortunately. I thought Geezer was remarkable... he adding a bit of a jam/psychedlic flair that doesn't really show up on the album.

They're coming thru town in a couple of weeks. I opted for the Priest / Whitesnake show instead, which is the same weekend.

Hopefully waning ticket sales does not signify the beginning of the end for H&H.

 

[Flavio CotM]

It would be better IMO to have an old school band and a new band for the younger crowd.

 

[wdiv]

It would be better IMO to have an old school band and a new band for the younger crowd.

???
That's what they've got & it doesn't seem to be selling.

 

[Platinum Maze]

Couldn't care less about Coheed other than the song "Welcome Home"

Now that's hilarious. That's the ONLY song I like from them. I accidentally flipped by a live performance of that song on the tv a few years back and was blown away. I think it was from Webster Hall in NYC.

 

[Flavio CotM]

???
That's what they've got & it doesn't seem to be selling.

I meant Heaven & Hell, "insert old school band" & "insert nu-metal band"