Speak of the Devil Tour

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Speak of The Devil Tour
Promotional tour by Ozzy Osbourne
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
Associated albumSpeak of the Devil
Start dateDecember 10, 1982 (1982-12-10)
End dateMay 29, 1983 (1983-05-29)
Legs2 in Europe
1 in North America
3 total
No. of shows57
Ozzy Osbourne concert chronology

The Speak of the Devil Tour was the third solo tour by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, in support of his first live album, Speak of the Devil, taking place from December 1982 to May 1983. The tour included two European legs, one North American leg, and a final show at the 1983 US Festival. The personnel in Osbourne's band changed several times during the tour.

Overview

Background

in early 1982, Osbourne's management and record label decided that he should record a live album consisting entirely of songs by his previous band Black Sabbath, for purposes of generating royalties and fulfilling international distribution contracts, and to compete with an upcoming Black Sabbath live album.[1][2] The plan was opposed by Osbourne's then-current live band (guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge), who considered an all-covers album detrimental to their careers.[1] Plans were put on hold after the death of Rhoads in a plane crash on March 19.

After a brief period with Bernie Tormé, the guitarist position in Osbourne's band was eventually filled by Brad Gillis.[3] The lineup of Gillis, Sarzo, and Aldridge toured with Osbourne in the Spring and Summer of 1982,[4] ostensibly still supporting Osbourne's 1981 album Diary of a Madman, and during some additional dates in September 1982 the band played only Black Sabbath songs. Those shows were recorded and various songs were compiled for the live album Speak of the Devil, released in November 1982.[1]

Tour schedule and personnel changes

A tour to support the Speak of the Devil album was scheduled for December 1982 to April 1983. By this point bassist Rudy Sarzo had quit Osbourne's band and rejoined his previous band Quiet Riot.[1][5] Sarzo was temporarily replaced by former UFO bassist Pete Way.[6] Keyboardist Lindsay Bridgewater, who had made guest appearances on Osbourne's two previous studio albums, also joined the touring band.[7] This lineup performed seven shows in Europe in December 1982, after which Way and Gillis left the band, with the latter then forming Night Ranger.[8]

After a holiday break, Osbourne recruited another temporary touring bassist, Don Costa (later of W.A.S.P.), plus former Rough Cutt guitarist Jake E. Lee, who would become a fixture in Osbourne's band for the next several years.[9] This lineup performed a second leg of concerts in Europe in January 1983.[5] Bridgewater then left the band and was replaced by Don Airey, who had already toured with Osbourne in 1981-82.[5]

The North American leg of the tour began in Syracuse, New York on February 11. The following night's show at a Catholic community center in Scranton, Pennsylvania was cancelled after protests from parents and local community leaders.[10] Similar protests led to the cancellation of a later show in Green Bay, Wisconsin.[11] The main tour ended in early April, after which Osbourne welcomed back longtime bassist Bob Daisley, who replaced Costa for an appearance at the US Festival on May 29.[12] The musicians at this performance (Jake E. Lee, Don Airey, Bob Daisley, and Tommy Aldridge) remained as Osbourne's backing band for his next album, Bark at the Moon, which was recorded in the following months.[13]

Personnel

US Festival '83
  • Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals
  • Jake E. Lee – Guitar
  • Bob Daisley – Bass
  • Tommy Aldridge – Drums
  • Don Airey – Keyboards

Setlists

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
Europe
December 10, 1982 St Austell England Cornwall Coliseum
December 12, 1982 Birmingham NEC Arena
December 14, 1982 London Wembley Arena
December 16, 1982 Leeds Queens Hall
December 18, 1982 Newcastle Newcastle City Hall
December 19, 1982 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo
December 20, 1982 Liverpool England Royal Court Theatre
Europe
January 12, 1983 Helsinki Finland Helsinki Exhibition Hall
January 14, 1983 Stockholm Sweden Johanneshov Isstadion
January 16, 1983 Copenhagen Denmark Falconer Teatret
January 18, 1983 Hamburg West Germany Messehallen
January 19, 1983 Offenbach Stadthalle Offenbach
January 20, 1983 Eppelheim Rhein-Neckar-Halle
January 22, 1983 Lausanne Switzerland Palais de Beaulieu
January 24, 1983 Düsseldorf West Germany Philips Halle
January 25, 1983 Neunkirchen Hemmerleinhalle
January 26, 1983 Sindelfingen Messehalle
January 28, 1983 Strasbourg France Rhenus Hall
January 29, 1983 Paris Palais des Sports
January 30, 1983 Brussels Belgium Forest National
January 31, 1983 Utrecht Netherlands Muziekcentrum Vredenburg
North America
February 11, 1983 Syracuse United States Onondaga County War Memorial Arena
February 12, 1983 Scranton Catholic Youth Center Arena
February 14, 1983 College Park Ritchie Coliseum
February 15, 1983 Huntington Huntington Civic Center
February 18, 1983 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
February 19, 1983 Augusta Augusta Civic Center
February 20, 1983 Charleston Charleston County Hall
February 23, 1983 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
February 24, 1983 North Fort Myers Lee County Civic Center
February 25, 1983 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
February 27, 1983 Montgomery Garrett Coliseum
February 28, 1983 Huntsville Von Braun Civic Center
March 1, 1983 Little Rock Barton Coliseum
March 2, 1983 Tulsa Tulsa Assembly Center
March 4, 1983 Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum
March 5, 1983 Baton Rouge Baton Rouge State Fairgrounds
(Ozzy Osbourne Rock 'N' Roll Party)
March 7, 1983 Corpus Christi Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum
March 8, 1983 Houston The Summit
March 9, 1983 Austin Palmer Auditorium
March 11, 1983 Odessa Ector County Coliseum
March 12, 1983 Lincoln Pershing Center
March 13, 1983 Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Arena
March 15, 1983 Davenport Palmer Alumni Auditorium
March 16, 1983 Peoria Peoria Civic Center
March 18, 1983 Battle Creek Kellogg Arena
March 19, 1983 Port Huron McMorran Arena
March 20, 1983 Muskegon L. C. Walker Arena
March 22, 1983 Rockford Rockford MetroCenter
March 23, 1983 Green Bay Brown County Arena
March 26, 1983 Mount Pleasant Rose Arena
March 27, 1983 London, Ontario Canada London Gardens
March 28, 1983 Sudbury Sudbury Community Arena
March 30, 1983 Quebec City Colisée de Québec
March 31, 1983 Rimouski Colisée de Rimouski
April 1, 1983 Worcester United States The Centrum
April 2, 1983 Atlantic City Atlantic City Convention Hall
April 4, 1983 Worcester The Centrum
April 5, 1983 Glens Falls Glens Falls Civic Center
April 6, 1983 Poughkeepsie United States Mid-Hudson Civic Center
US Festival (Heavy Metal Day)
May 29, 1983 San Bernardino United States Glen Helen Pavilion

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sarzo, Rudy (2017). Off the Rails (third edition). CreateSpace Publishing. ISBN 1-53743-746-1
  2. ^ Hogan, Richard (1984). "Is Sabbath Turning Purple?". Circus. p. 66.
  3. ^ "Brad Gillis | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  4. ^ "Tours from the Crypt: Ozzy Osbourne, 'Speak of the Devil'". PopMatters. 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  5. ^ a b c "Ozzy Osbourne Speak Of The Devil Tour '82". Metal Devastation Radio. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  6. ^ BraveWords. "UFO Bassist Pete Way Reminisces About FASTWAY, OZZY OSBOURNE". bravewords.com. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  7. ^ "Lindsay Bridgewater - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  8. ^ "Night Ranger | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  9. ^ "Jake E. Lee | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  10. ^ Fulton, Brian. "Time Warp: Ozzy Osbourne show canceled at CYC". Scranton Times-Tribune. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  11. ^ "In 1983, Ozzy Osbourne's Brown County arena show was banned, then it wasn't and then ..." 25 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Bob Daisley's History With The Osbournes | Bob Daisley". 2013-05-15. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  13. ^ destroyerofharmony (2014-01-06). "The Great "Bark At The Moon" Song Writing Controversy". destroyerofharmony. Retrieved 2020-09-14.