Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath)

The Never Say Die! Tour was a concert tour by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. The tour began on 16 May 1978 in Sheffield and ended on 11 December 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the last full tour with Ozzy Osbourne until the band reunited for Ozzfest 1997.

Never Say Die! Tour
Promotional tour by Black Sabbath
LocationNorth America
Europe
Associated albumNever Say Die!
Start date16 May 1978 (1978-05-16)
End date11 December 1978 (1978-12-11)
Legs2 in North America
2 in Europe
4 total
No. of shows100
Black Sabbath concert chronology

Overview

Europe (1st leg)

Van Halen opened. "We did 23 shows in 25 days," recalled Eddie Van Halen. "I didn't know they had that many places! But to meet Tony Iommi when I was so into him was really incredible." David Lee Roth summed up the experience as "a real shot in the ass". The Liverpool Empire Theatre date was attended by future members of Apollo 440 – who, in 1997, issued an adaptation of Van Halen's 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love' as 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub'.[1]

"We had a great time with the Sabbath guys…" recalled Alex Van Halen. "It was really special because Ed and I were big fans of the band. Every time they came to LA, I was out there in the audience, fighting tooth and nail to get to the front so I could get my eardrums destroyed. But I learnt a lot from them about audience participation… One time, we were up near Leicester, about half an hour before showtime, and Ozzy and Bill Ward were out there on the front lawn with the punters, having a beer. I thought, 'Fuck me, none of this star-type shit.' I was really impressed."[2]

"Ozzy used to tell a funny story…" recalled onetime Osbourne sidekick Don Airey. "Sabbath had done a tour for a year [sic] with Kiss… and it nearly killed him because Kiss had been so good. And he said, 'We're never doing that again. Next tour, we just want a bar band from LA. That's all we want.' And then he got to the first gig. Ozzy said they walked in as 'Eruption' was going on. Ozzy said, 'We just went into the dressing room. We sat there going, That was incredible… and then it finished, and we were just too stunned to speak. Then there was a knock on the door and the best-looking man in the world walked in and said, Hello' – you know, David Lee Roth. I think they only lasted about two months on that tour. Then the record broke… I went to see them at the Rainbow when they supported Sabbath. By the time they played the Rainbow again a month later, they were headlining. Incredible!"[3]

North America (1st leg)

"At all our shows on this tour," Ozzy told Circus, "there's one guy that gives me the evil eye. It's not the same guy at each show – at least I don't think it's the same guy. But it's kind of frightening to feel those vibes." Of the tour, he said: "The crowds are going fucking wild. In Cape Cod the other night [4 September], they were going fucking insane. Man, it was scary up there. We didn't expect this response." Van Halen, he said, "are so good they ought to be headlining the tour."[4]

Personnel

Setlist

Tour dates
Date[5][6][7][8][9] City Country Venue
Pre-tour
BBC's "Look Hear"
16 January 1978 London England Pebble Mill Studios
("War Pigs" and "Junior's Eyes" live TV lip-sync performance with Dave Walker replacing Osbourne for a brief time)
Europe
2 May 1978 Ludwigshafen Germany Friedrich Ebert Hall
4 May 1978 Erlangen ?
5 May 1978 Kuernach Kuernach Hall
6 May 1978 Uhingen Haldenberg Hall
8 May 1978 Offenbach Offenbach City Hall
9 May 1978 Dortmund Westfalenhallen
16 May 1978 Sheffield England Sheffield City Hall (Ozzy's first show back)
17 May 1978 Southport Southport Theatre
18 May 1978 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo
19 May 1978 Aberdeen Capitol Theatre
21 May 1978 Newcastle England Newcastle City Hall
22 May 1978 Manchester Manchester Apollo
23 May 1978 Stoke Victoria Hall
25 May 1978 London (BBC's Top of the Pops ("Never Say Die"))
Portsmouth Portsmouth Guildhall
26 May 1978 Bristol Colston Hall
27 May 1978 Lewisham Lewisham Odeon
28 May 1978 Ipswich Ipswich Gaumont Theatre
30 May 1978 Coventry Coventry Theatre
31 May 1978 Leicester De Montfort Hall
1 June 1978 Hammersmith Hammersmith Odeon
2 June 1978 Oxford Apollo Theatre Oxford
3 June 1978 Southampton Southampton Gaumont Theatre
5 June 1978 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon
(Cancelled after the PA failed during their set)
6 June 1978
7 June 1978 Bradford St George's Hall
8 June 1978 Preston Preston Guild Hall
10 June 1978 Hammersmith Hammersmith Odeon
11 June 1978
12 June 1978 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon
13 June 1978
14 June 1978 Manchester Manchester Apollo
15 June 1978
16 June 1978 Bridlington Royal Hall
17 June 1978 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre
19 June 1978 Hammersmith Hammersmith Odeon Theatre (Never Say Die! Live)
22 June 1978 London (BBC's Top of the Pops ("Never Say Die"))
North America
22 August 1978 Milwaukee United States MECCA Arena
23 August 1978 Chicago International Amphitheatre
24 August 1978
25 August 1978 Terre Haute Hulman Arena
27 August 1978 New York City Madison Square Garden
28 August 1978 Hempstead Nassau Coliseum
29 August 1978 Philadelphia Spectrum
31 August 1978 Erie Erie County Field House
1 September 1978 Hampton Hampton Coliseum
2 September 1978 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
4 September 1978 South Yarmouth Cape Cod Coliseum
5 September 1978 Portland Cumberland County Civic Arena
7 September 1978 Utica Utica Memorial Auditorium
8 September 1978 Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Civic Center
9 September 1978 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center
10 September 1978 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
12 September 1978 Indianapolis Indiana Convention Center
14 September 1978 Detroit Cobo Center
15 September 1978 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
16 September 1978 St. Louis Checkerdome
17 September 1978 Kansas City Kansas City Municipal Arena
18 September 1978 Tulsa Tulsa Assembly Center
21 September 1978 Bakersfield Bakersfield Convention Center
22 September 1978 Fresno Selland Arena
23 September 1978 Anaheim Anaheim Stadium (Summerfest)
24 September 1978
26 September 1978 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
27 September 1978 Portland United States Veterans Memorial Coliseum
28 September 1978 Spokane Spokane Coliseum
29 September 1978 Seattle Seattle Center Arena
30 September 1978
Europe
9 October 1978 Hamburg Germany Audimax Theatre
10 October 1978 Essen Grugahalle
11 October 1978 Offenbach Stadthalle Offenbach
13 October 1978 Uhingen Haldenberg Hall
14 October 1978 Ludwigshafen Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
15 October 1978 Kuernach Kuernach Hall
17 October 1978 Neunkirchen Hemmerleinhalle
18 October 1978 Bad Rappenau Bad Rappenau Sports Hall
20 October 1978 Cambrai France Grottos Palace
North America
3 November 1978 St. Petersburg United States Bayfront Center
4 November 1978 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
5 November 1978 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
7 November 1978 ? Columbus ? Municipal Auditorium ?
8 November 1978 Birmingham Boutwell Memorial Auditorium
9 November 1978 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium [10]
10 November 1978 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
11 November 1978 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
12 November 1978 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
13 November 1978 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
14 November 1978 Mobile Mobile Municipal Arena
15 November 1978 Huntsville Von Braun Center
17 November 1978 Austin Austin Municipal Auditorium
18 November 1978 Midland Chaparral Center
19 November 1978 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum
20 November 1978 Oklahoma City Myriad Convention Center
22 November 1978 Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum
23 November 1978 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum
24 November 1978 San Antonio San Antonio Convention Center Arena
25 November 1978 Dallas Dallas Convention Center Arena
26 November 1978
28 November 1978 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
29 November 1978 Ogden Dee Events Center
1 December 1978 San Bernardino Swing Auditorium
2 December 1978 Oakland Oakland Arena
3 December 1978 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
4 December 1978 Long Beach Long Beach Arena
5 December 1978 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
7 December 1978 Abilene Taylor County Expo Center
8 December 1978 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum
10 December 1978 Albuquerque Johnson Gymnasium (Ozzy's last shows until "Live Aid" (7/13/1985))
11 December 1978

References
  1. Heatley, Michael (March 2000). "The story behind the album". Classic Rock #12. p. 30.
  2. unsourced clipping, reproduced in Sabbath fanzine Southern Cross #12, January 1994, p6
  3. thehighwaystar.com/interviews/airey/da-feb082004.html
  4. Napierala, Cathy (10 October 1978). "The Crowds Are Wild". Circus #193.
  5. http://www.ozzyhead.com/olddates/olddates.htm
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://rotharmy.com/forums/showthread.php?61450-Van-Halen-Joint-Tour-With-Black-Sabbath-In-1978-%28Matter-Dates-Reviews-Photos%29
  8. http://van-halen5150.blogspot.com/2011/01/van-halen-turne-conjunta-com-o-black.html
  9. http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/11/09/he-passed-out-deader-than-fried-chicken-david-lee-roth-on-van-halens-1978-tour-with-black-sabbath/
  10. "Is Ozzy Dead? Van Halen's Crazy Tour With Black Sabbath | Van Halen News Desk". Vhnd.com. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
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