01st August 2025
And just like that the lights went out. When I heard the news about Ozzy initially I felt no shock, it was really expected, but as the night wore on and the out pouring of true grief flooded the internet I reflected on just how John Osbourne has affected my life and up-bringing. In my last diary I talked about our ‘metal club’ and how we all live by the rules of metal, well Ozzy made the rules.
I can remember my obsession with Black Sabbath and how every band I played in during my formative years would cover something like Paranoid. China Beach covered N.I.B as a live band. Sabbath were the soundtrack of my early years and then as I moved on, realistically at first with his solo material and Diary Of A Madman, his persona was forefront of everything we stood for and loved well before his TV Persona was born. I was obsessed with Blizzard of Oz, I still am, and when Jake E Lee entered the scene I was in love with his guitar playing. Sadly on the night of Ozzy’s Bark At The Moon show in Manchester he had to cancel the show at the last minute due to having a bad throat. My friend Jo and I were gutted. I had to wait until the Ultimate Sin to witness the Lord himself live. He did two shows in Manchester. I had tickets for the first night and won tickets for the second night in a radio competition. I then saw them at Donnington where they were simply awesome. What a band and what a show. I was and am a huge fan of the now late Randy Castillo, Ozzy’s drummer, and he made such an impression on me I looked at my drumming differently from then on trying to make my playing tight but interesting but always about the song.
For me personally that was a pinnacle and I never felt the same about the band after that but in my heart Ozzy was always there. I can remember in late 1985 seeing the Ultimate Sin dates being advertised with the excitement and anticipation of getting tickets for his shows. I think the instant nature of social media has taken that excitement away from us.
I wore an Ozzy vest in Bergen last night and will tonight in Poland as a tribute. Life will never be the same again. The world without Ronnie James Dio, Lemmy and David Bowie seems a lot less interesting. Rest well Prince Of Darkness. You will be missed by so many and I hope you knew the influence you held.
**Deep breath**
Who is feeling excitement and anticipation for the new Paradise Lost album? Have you pre-ordered yours yet? Get it ordered, the album is killer and the artwork pretty special too.
So, Jeff Lynne was ill and cancelled the London ELO show. I was pretty gutted as that was my last chance. We lost quite a bit of money on trains and hotels etc, but this was really about the realisation that the cancellation was really final and he will never tour again. Get well soon Jeff.
So what exciting things have we been up to since Athens? We packed our factor 30 and headed to Malaga for the Sun and Thunder festival on the beach in Fuengirola. The festival was over several nights with bands and artists as diverse as 30 Seconds To Mars, The Prodigy, Bonnie Tyler and Lionel Richie making appearances but ours was one of the metal days with appearances by ourselves, Opeth and Kreator. The setting was pretty spectacular with set up looking out over the beach and sea behind a big stage and beyond the audience area was a large stand of seating completing the amphitheatre vibe.
We didn’t start off well. Our flight from Leeds was so delayed we missed our connection and had to stop in Amsterdam for the night. We had a really nice hotel provided (lovely breakfast) and set off early on the show day. There was a huge temperature rise obviously in Malaga but it felt bearable. I spend a lot of time in Spain as we have a family house there so try and head out once or twice a year. My kids have pretty much grown up there. They see being there as normal, not lucky as they know no difference, but I know they are very fortunate. They now head there with the girlfriends to spread the legacy and write their own chapters of the story.
In true tradition, Will and I headed out to a beach-side restaurant for a dirty burger and an ice cold Coke. Small things make me happy. I wanted to get in the pool which I did but my third wish to get some Spanish Sidra didn’t happen. The couple of days did feel like a holiday mini-break.
I really enjoyed the show. The audience were superb and loud with lots of singing to be heard. A big shout out to Raul from the backline company for helping Will and me out. I also got to meet up with my childhood friend Rick who lives out near Malaga. I appreciated the opportunity.
After the show we had a drink in the gardens of the hotel as it was Matt, our guitar tech’s birthday. Who should be there…the awesome Frederik from Kreator, sat listening to some Cliff Richard on his speaker. He was telling me how the 80s music had been around very much in his childhood, much like mine. And so began an 80s night with Don Henley’s Boys Of Summer being the top of my pops! I always thought this song was like the ultimate hedonistic teen summer song promoting all things about 1980s Americana. I felt this last year when we visited Santa Cruz, in California, where the film Lost Boys was set. We rode the Big Dipper and spent a fun evening on the pier soaking in real America. I then found out from Rachael that the hedonistic video for Boys Of Summer depicting American teen life was actually filmed in Valencia, Spain!
We had a great time. Frederik is so much fun and he and Will have got on like a house on fire which I have loved seeing. I got to bed at 3am and we were out of the hotel at 9am. We flew Malaga to Amsterdam, had a 6 hour layover before flying to Leeds where I drove home to Manchester for 1am and was in the gym at 9am for Body Pump. Not bad for an old man!
I moved on to two shows with Kill II This. Saturday night at a new festival in Lincolnshire, a long drive and another late night before Sunday saw us head home for a headline show at Rebellion in Manchester. The show was good fun. I have to approach Kill II This differently to Paradise Lost. The songs are intense but we are very tight as a band. It was a good night full of ‘bangers’.
8.30 on Monday I am sat shell shocked at my desk in the office. This dual life is so crazy, but I am very lucky and I have the best of two important worlds for which I understand the gravity and am very grateful.
And that leads me to our final meet up with King Diamond at Beyond The Gates festival in Bergen Norway. What a beautiful place. We had a lovely old hotel and I used my day off to catch up on work, holiday booking and making AI Pixar pictures of the family.
Despite some issues, the show was great. As well as the KD team, I got to catch up with their drummer Matt Thompson properly. I feel a real affinity to Matt and I have been able to help him with some things drum related. I will miss him and the crew we have spent the last two months with. Opeth’s Walt and drum tech Saso were in attendance, more of our extended family and that was pretty much it.
I am currently on a flight from Bergen to Amsterdam with all of the King Diamond crew who are heading to Wacken while we are heading to Pol and Rock in Poland for a huge show. We are on a very long day which is a little daunting and we are set to hit the stage at 01.10 tomorrow morning…ouch!
We have four more festivals including tonight before I get to head off on a holiday with Rachael and Alfie for some much needed one on one time. So my last diary of the summer will fill you in on the final shows from these miserable Boys Of Summer.
As Ozzy said..alot….we love you all