Speak of the Devil Tour

The Speak of the Devil Tour was the third tour by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, in support of his first live album, Speak of the Devil, which was released on November 27, 1982. There are several phases of this tour: the "Speak of the Devil" shows, the U.K. shows, the Europe leg, and the North America leg. First, the band, featuring Brad Gillis on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Tommy Aldridge on drums, did two shows at The Ritz in New York City on September 26 and 27, 1982, where the sets from each night consisted of only Black Sabbath songs, which were recorded through the soundboard and then used for tracks on the live album. Later, in December, the band, featuring former UFO bassist Pete Way on bass after Sarzo left in October, and Lindsay Bridgwater on keyboards after Don Airey left in August, kicked off the "Speak of the Devil Tour" with 7 shows in the U.K. After that, the band, featuring the new up-and-coming Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Guitar God/Hero/Legend, former-Ratt & Rough Cutt guitarist, Jake E. Lee, who made his debut as Ozzy's new lead guitarist after Gillis left in December, and future W.A.S.P. bassist Don Costa on bass after Way left in December, kicked off the Europe leg in January 1983 opening for Whitesnake. Then, in February of 1983, the band started the North America leg with Vandenberg as a support act. Finally, the Bark at the Moon line-up was intact once Bob Daisley rejoined the band before the US Festival 1983 show on May 29, 1983, which was the biggest show of the tour.

Overview

Background

After the Diary of a Madman Tour ended on August 8, 1982 with its last show at Tad Gormley Stadium for the Superstar Sunday (1982) Festival in New Orleans, the band went back to Los Angeles for a 6-week break to recuperate from the major extensive tour as well as the loss of the late fallen Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Guitar God/Hero/Legend, Randy Rhoads, who was tragically killed in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida on Friday, March 19, 1982. During this time, Ozzy's drug & alcohol addiction along with his mental health had gotten worse due to Randy's loss; Brad Gillis temporarily rejoined his own band, Night Ranger, whom at that time had begun recording their debut album, Dawn Patrol & would then become famous one year later; Rudy Sarzo also temporarily rejoined the old band that he was in alongside Randy Rhoads before they had both joined Ozzy called Quiet Riot, whom at that time had begun recording their debut album, Metal Health, which would become the very 1st heavy metal album to reach #1 in the charts, thus giving the band the stardom that they had sought from day 1; Tommy Aldridge would be staying with Ozzy & Sharon in his bungalow on the property of Sharon's father, Don Arden's mansion in Beverly Hills; and finally, Don Airey left to take a break from the band, though would eventually return later in 1983. After the 6-week break was over, the band reconvened for the pre-production rehearsals of their very 1st live album.

Speak of the Devil

On September 19, the band flew to New York City to rehearse & record Ozzy's very 1st live album, Speak of the Devil. The band was under contract by their label, Jet Records, to release a live album consisting of only Black Sabbath songs. Between September 20 & 25, the band learned & rehearsed the Black Sabbath songs that they needed to learn for the upcoming shows, which were Symptom of the Universe, Snowblind, Black Sabbath, Fairies Wear Boots, War Pigs, The Wizard, N.I.B., Sweet Leaf, Never Say Die, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Iron Man + Children of the Grave, & Paranoid as the encore like usual. Then on September 26 & 27, the band performed their set of Black Sabbath songs at the The Ritz for just those 2 nights. The soundboard recordings from those live performances became the tracks for the "Speak of the Devil" live album. After that, on September 28, the band returned to Los Angeles for yet another big break. Soon after they had returned, Rudy had officially left the band as he had officially rejoined "Quiet Riot," whose debut album, "Metal Health," was already in the final mixing stages & scheduled to be released on March 11, 1983. From October to December 1982, Brad had once again returned to "Night Ranger," whose debut album, "Dawn Patrol," would be released in November. Tommy would be staying in his bungalow at Don Arden's home with Ozzy & Sharon, who were living their typical crazy lifestyles as usual. Ozzy's drug & alcohol addiction & mental health wasn't getting any better as time went by. Also, during this time, in October, the soundboard recordings of the Sabbath songs from the 2 live performances at The Ritz were being mixed at The Record Plant by Max Norman, who helped produce the Blizzard of Ozz & Diary of a Madman with Ozzy, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, & Lee Kerslake as well as help Ozzy produce the live Tribute album in 1987. Then, on October 31, the pro-video footage recording of the June 23 Irvine Meadows show was broadcast on MTV as a Halloween Special called "Speak of the Devil Live." Later, on November 27, "Speak of the Devil" was released & immediately became a huge success like the previous albums. Of course, with the success of the live album, this meant that would have to do another tour.

United Kingdom

With the success of the live album under their belt, Ozzy would have to go back out on tour to support the live album, however, since they're touring to promote their live album as well as the fact the live album wasn't as successful as the previous albums, the tour wouldn't be as much of a popular, major, & extensive tour like the previous tours. Sharon booked the band to kick off the tour with 7 dates in the U.K. in December. Then in late November, Brad returned to do the 7 shows in the U.K. before leaving the band for good to be with "Night Ranger." Tommy had also returned to the band as well. With their return, Ozzy, Sharon, Brad, Tommy, & the crew flew to England to kick off the tour in the U.K. as well as to recruit a bassist & keyboard player, which is what the band was obviously missing. During their time in England at the beginning of December before the tour, Sharon recruited former-UFO bassist as well as Ozzy's friend, Pete Way, to play bass even though he was only going be in the band temporarily to do the 7 shows in the U.K. since he wanted to start his own band. Along with Pete, Sharon rehired Lindsay Bridgwater, who had previously played keyboards with Ozzy & Randy during the Blizzard of Ozz Tour as well as the Germany & U.K. Legs of the Diary of a Madman Tour, to play keyboards. With the band now complete, Ozzy, Brad, Pete, Tommy, & Lindsay rehearsed the songs along with the stage show theatrics for the pre-production of the tour at Shepperton Studios throughout early December. Once again, the 70s Welsh heavy metal band, Budgie, who had previously opened up for Ozzy during the U.K. Leg of the "Blizzard of Ozz Tour" in 1980, would be the opening act for all 7 shows of the U.K. Leg. Then on December 10, the band kicked off the tour at Cornwall Coliseum in St Austell, England in front of a sold-out crowd, thus the tour being off to a great start. After that, the band performed at NEC Arena in Birmingham on December 12, Wembley Arena in London on December 14, Queen's Hall in Leeds on December 16, Newcastle City Hall on December 18, & the Glasgow Apollo in Scotland on December 19. Then on December 20, the band performed it's last show of the U.K. Leg in 1982 at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, which would be Brad & Pete's last show with Ozzy as well as the last show with the use of the "Diary of a Madman Tour" setlist & stage along with the props, the equipment, etc. This portion of the tour can be confused with being part of the Diary of a Madman Tour with the Setlist being the same as the main Setlist of the "Diary of a Madman Tour," even though "Sweet Leaf" was added to this Setlist for this leg of the tour along with the use of the "Diary of a Madman Tour" stage, props, & equipment, etc. Anyways, after the U.K. Leg was over, Brad & Pete officially left the band so that Brad could return to "Night Ranger" for good and so that Pete could start his own band, Waysted, who would eventually open up for Ozzy & Mötley Crüe during the 1st 2 legs of the Bark at the Moon Tour/Shout at the Devil Tour in 1984. The U.K. Leg of the tour was a success as the tour was off to a great start overall.

Europe

With the tour off to a great start, Ozzy, Sharon, Brad, who was leaving the band for good, & Tommy, returned to Los Angeles for a 3-week break. During that time in late December, Ozzy & Sharon auditioned numerous guitarists & bassists to continue the tour in 1983. It had finally come down between 3 guitarists: George Lynch from Dokken, who had previously auditioned for Ozzy in October 1979 alongside Randy Rhoads; former-Ratt & Rough Cutt guitarist, Jake E. Lee; and former-Quiet Riot (temporarily), etc. & future-Steeler, Heaven, McAuley Schenker Group, Cher, Sweet, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter Group, etc. guitarist, Mitch Perry. Ultimately, George was hired, but then (depending on who's account) he either ended up backing out of it & returning to Dokken, or Ozzy ended up changing his mind & ultimately hiring Jake instead. Then, future-W.A.S.P. bassist, Don Costa, was hired by the band after having auditioned several bassists. After Jake & Don were hired, the band rehearsed the new Setlist of songs for the upcoming European Leg of the tour starting in January 1983. After a week of rehearsals in January 1983, the band flew to Helsinki, Finland to kick off the European Leg of the tour in 1983 opening up for Whitesnake. On January 12, the band kicked off the tour, with Jake & Don performing their 1st show with Ozzy, at Messuhalli, which was a successful show, thus the European Leg of the tour being off to a great start. The band traveled all over Western Europe opening up for Whitesnake & performing a string of dates throughout January, all of which were successful shows. Then on January 31, the band performed its last show in Europe opening up for Whitesnake at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands, which was a successful show. After that, Ozzy, Sharon, Jake, Don, & Tommy returned to Los Angeles for a one-week break before starting the North America Leg of the tour in February. The European Leg of the tour was an overall success.

United States

With the success of both the U.K. & European Legs along with the success of the live album as well as the success of the previous albums & tours under their belt, the band took a one-week break at the beginning of February before starting the North American Leg of the tour the next week. Once the break was over, the band flew to Syracuse, New York to kick off the North American Leg of the tour in front of a sold-out crowd at the Onondaga County War Memorial on February 11 with Vandenberg as a support act throughout the North American Leg of the tour. The North American Leg was off to a great start until the next day on February 12, when, according to local newspaper in Scranton, the Scranton City Council in Pennsylvania cancelled the show at the Catholic Youth Center. The show on Feb. 14th 1983 at the Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland went on as scheduled. The band suffered a minor setback with these cancellations, but they managed to pick themselves back up with more shows that were successful. Then on March 5, Ozzy headlined the Louisiana Jam (1983)' with Blue Öyster Cult, Vandenberg, & Le Roux at Baton Rouge State Fairgrounds Amphitheater, which was another sold-out performance. As time went by with another string of dates & successful shows left & right, the band did its last known show of the North American Leg at Glens Falls Civic Center in New York on April 5. The North American Leg was definitely successful. The band then took a little break before coming back to do the US Festival#Sunday, May 29 (Heavy Metal Day) on May 29. During that time, Don Costa was fired because Ozzy & Sharon wanted Bob Daisley to come back & do another album since they knew he was a great bassist, songwriter, & lyricist, considering he was partly responsible for the magic of the Blizzard of Ozz & Diary of a Madman albums, even though that was mostly because of Randy. So they offered him money as well as promised him that he would get credit & royalties just to get him back in the band, and Bob reluctantly agreed to rejoin the band (The 1983 portion of the tour can be seen as a pre-cursor to the "Bark at the Moon Tour" & confuse people since it is the Jake E. Lee phase of Ozzy, the fact the Setlist changed to appear more like "Bark at the Moon Tour" Setlist even though it doesn't contain any songs from "Bark at the Moon" as it wasn't made yet obviously, & the fact that the "Bark at the Moon" line-up commenced before the US Festival). With the Bark at the Moon line-up now in tact, the band performed an awesome show at the US Festival (1983) on May 29, 1983 with "Tommy Bolton" (the opener), "Quiet Riot," & "Mötley Crüe" as support acts as the band supported Judas Priest, Triumph, the Scorpions, & then the Mighty Van Halen as the headliner. The whole show itself was a success. Overall, the tour was huge success & that the live album itself was a huge success as well.

Personnel

US Festival '83

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

Setlists

Tour Dates

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References