Ozzy Osbourne / Def Leppard Concert 9-9-81

What Is This?
I was asked by many about my musical influences when making stamps and asked to share some of the stories behind the concerts I have seen. I have been to 1200+ live concerts (all national touring bands/singers with albums, not local club bands or tribute/cover bands, have seen plenty of those too) and have saved every ticket stub and backstage pass (when I had one) and kept notes (like a journal) on every show I have ever seen. So from time to time I will scan in the ticket stub from a show I saw (going in no order, skipping around) and talk a little about the show and my opinion. All information property of dA--stamps/dA--bogeyman (me). This is entry#1.

The Concert:
Ozzy Osbourne
Def Leppard (Opening Act)
September 9, 1981
Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida (USA)

Just So You Know:
This was the tail end of the BLIZZARD OF OZZ tour ("Diary of a Madman" would be released in Nov. 1981) and Randy Rhoads was Ozzy's guitarist (sadly he would be killed in an airplane accident in March 1982). Def Leppard was touring in support of their "High 'N' Dry" album.

Personal:
I was very young and this was my third concert. I had two older sisters (at the time of this show ages 16 and 14) and they were rock chicks and my parents made them take me to shows to "babysit" me. Lucky me, unlucky them LOL. They both had boyfriends and were holding hands/making out the whole time with them at this concert - I drank a coke and enjoyed the concert. My sisters bought me an Ozzy tour t-shirt and patch at this concert and I still have them both. At intermission (in between live sets) my sisters boyfriends went to the bathroom and some guy grabbed my 16 y/o sisters butt while they were gone and when they got back of course my sisters told them and they went after the guy that grabbed her butt and slammed him to the ground and kicked him a few times. Security was nowhere around and it was a general admission show in a large high-school like auditorium and no one cared at all that they slammed the guy (freaked me out a little at the time).

The Live Concert (Opener):
Def Leppard opened that night and I liked them right away. That had a huge British flag on the stage and the crowd went crazy when one of them would pick it up and wave it. Def Leppard had released their second album ("High 'N' Dry") and they were touring with Ozzy in support of it. They played for about 40-45 minutes and the memorable song that stuck with me was "Bringin' on the Heartbreak". The crowd liked them very much and clapped and cheered for an encore but they did not come back out for one.

The Live Concert (Headliner):
So I am very young and have no idea who Ozzy is at this point but would never forget him or Randy Rhoads after this night. When the stage lights went out the crowd went nuts and I heard the intro to "I Don't Know" by Randy and the spot lights came on and the stage exploded with minor fireworks as Ozzy was now front and center singing and the band rocking. Ozzy seemed like a god to me instantly, like a bolt of lighting hit me right in the head. After "I Don't Know" they went straight into "Crazy Train" and the crowd erupted even more. Again, the ripping intro to that song just stunned me and Rhoads on guitar was like a wizard with a musical instrument just hypnotizing everyone as he played on. The show was amazing and lasted about 85-90 minutes before Ozzy and his band left the stage but came back out for encores, Ozzy saying "Ready for some old Black Sabbath stuff!" and of course the crowd went nuts as "Iron Man" began. Again Randy on guitar jamming the Black Sabbath songs was amazing. I became an instant Ozzy fan and of course bought the "Blizzard of Ozz" album the next day and wore out the vinyl pretty quick (would end up re-buying it a few more times). I wore the Ozzy concert t-shirt to school the next day and all my friends loved it and were jealous of course.

Check out my 'Concert Memories' dA gallery for more of my concert musings da--stamps.deviantart.com/gall…