Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath) Explained

Concert Tour Name:Never Say Die! Tour
Artist:Black Sabbath
Album:Never Say Die!
Number Of Shows:100
Last Tour:Technical Ecstasy Tour
(1976–77)
This Tour:Never Say Die! Tour
(1978)
Next Tour:Heaven & Hell Tour
(1980–81)

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.

Background

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]

Support for the end of the UK leg of the tour was from psychedelic punk group Tanz Der Youth who received a hostile response from the audience.[4]

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."[5]

Tour dates

Date[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] CityCountryVenue
Europe
16 May 1978SheffieldEnglandSheffield City Hall
17 May 1978SouthportSouthport Theatre
18 May 1978GlasgowScotlandThe Apollo
19 May 1978AberdeenCapitol Theatre
21 May 1978NewcastleEnglandNewcastle City Hall
22 May 1978ManchesterManchester Apollo
23 May 1978StokeVictoria Hall
25 May 1978PortsmouthPortsmouth Guildhall
26 May 1978BristolColston Hall
27 May 1978LewishamLewisham Odeon
28 May 1978IpswichIpswich Gaumont Theatre
30 May 1978CoventryCoventry Theatre
31 May 1978LeicesterDe Montfort Hall
1 June 1978HammersmithHammersmith Odeon
2 June 1978OxfordApollo Theatre Oxford
3 June 1978SouthamptonSouthampton Gaumont Theatre
5 June 1978BirminghamBirmingham Odeon
7 June 1978BradfordSt George's Hall
8 June 1978PrestonPreston Guild Hall
10 June 1978HammersmithHammersmith Odeon
12 June 1978BirminghamBirmingham Odeon
13 June 1978
14 June 1978ManchesterManchester Apollo
15 June 1978
16 June 1978BridlingtonRoyal Hall
17 June 1978LiverpoolLiverpool Empire Theatre
19 June 1978HammersmithHammersmith Odeon Theatre
North America
22 August 1978MilwaukeeUnited StatesMECCA Arena
23 August 1978ChicagoInternational Amphitheatre
24 August 1978
25 August 1978Terre HauteHulman Arena
27 August 1978New York CityMadison Square Garden
28 August 1978HempsteadNassau Coliseum
29 August 1978PhiladelphiaSpectrum
31 August 1978ErieErie County Field House
1 September 1978HamptonHampton Coliseum
2 September 1978PittsburghCivic Arena
4 September 1978South YarmouthCape Cod Coliseum
5 September 1978PortlandCumberland County Civic Arena
7 September 1978UticaUtica Memorial Auditorium
8 September 1978Niagara FallsNiagara Falls Civic Center
9 September 1978BaltimoreBaltimore Civic Center
10 September 1978New HavenNew Haven Coliseum
12 September 1978IndianapolisIndiana Convention Center
14 September 1978DetroitCobo Center
15 September 1978RichfieldRichfield Coliseum
16 September 1978St. LouisCheckerdome
17 September 1978Kansas CityKansas City Municipal Arena
18 September 1978TulsaTulsa Assembly Center
21 September 1978
22 September 1978FresnoSelland Arena
23 September 1978AnaheimAnaheim Stadium
(Summerfest)
24 September 1978
26 September 1978VancouverCanadaPacific Coliseum
27 September 1978PortlandUnited StatesVeterans Memorial Coliseum
28 September 1978SpokaneSpokane Coliseum
29 September 1978SeattleSeattle Center Arena
30 September 1978
Europe
9 October 1978HamburgWest GermanyAudimax Theatre
10 October 1978EssenGrugahalle
11 October 1978OffenbachStadthalle Offenbach
13 October 1978UhingenHaldenberg Hall
14 October 1978LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle
15 October 1978KuernachKuernach Hall
17 October 1978
18 October 1978Bad RappenauBad Rappenau Sports Hall
20 October 1978CambraiFranceGrottos Palace
North America
3 November 1978St. PetersburgUnited StatesBayfront Center
4 November 1978JacksonvilleJacksonville Coliseum
5 November 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood Sportatorium
8 November 1978BirminghamBoutwell Memorial Auditorium
10 November 1978MemphisMid-South Coliseum
11 November 1978CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum
12 November 1978NashvilleNashville Municipal Auditorium
13 November 1978 AtlantaOmni Coliseum
14 November 1978MobileMobile Municipal Arena
15 November 1978
17 November 1978AustinAustin Municipal Auditorium
18 November 1978MidlandChaparral Center
19 November 1978 HoustonSam Houston Coliseum
20 November 1978Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention Center
22 November 1978Corpus ChristiMemorial Coliseum
23 November 1978HoustonSam Houston Coliseum
24 November 1978San AntonioSan Antonio Convention Center Arena
25 November 1978DallasDallas Convention Center Arena
26 November 1978
28 November 1978DenverMcNichols Sports Arena
29 November 1978Ogden
1 December 1978San BernardinoSwing Auditorium
2 December 1978OaklandOakland Arena
3 December 1978San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena
4 December 1978Long BeachLong Beach Arena
5 December 1978PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
7 December 1978AbileneTaylor County Expo Center
8 December 1978El PasoEl Paso County Coliseum
10 December 1978AlbuquerqueJohnson Gymnasium
11 December 1978

Box office score data

Date
(1978)! scope="col" style="width:13em;"
CityVenueAttendanceGross
September 4South YarmouthCape Cod Coliseum7,100$53,888[11]
September 5PortlandCumberland County Civic Center7,744$57,606
September 8Niagara FallsConvention Center8,186$62,267
September 9BaltimoreCivic Center9,253$65,887
September 10New HavenColiseum7,438$52,289

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Michael. Heatley. Michael Heatley. The story behind the album. . 12. March 2000. 30.
  2. unsourced clipping, reproduced in Sabbath fanzine Southern Cross #12, January 1994, p6
  3. Web site: Don Airey revealed . The Highway Star . 13 December 2022.
  4. Web site: Tanz Der Youth & Bryan James & The Brains . punk77 . 3 March 2022.
  5. Cathy. Napierala. The Crowds Are Wild. . 193. 10 October 1978.
  6. Web site: 47 Ozzy Osbourne Wallpapers & Backgrounds for FREE.
  7. Web site: 1978 Tour — Black Sabbath Online . 7 October 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130629163510/http://www.black-sabbath.com/tourdates/1978tour/ . 29 June 2013 . dead .
  8. Web site: Van Halen: Joint Tour with Black Sabbath in 1978 (Matter+Dates+Reviews+Photos).
  9. Web site: Van Halen: Van Halen: Turnê Conjunta Com o Black Sabbath em 1978 . van-halen5150.blogspot.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120806212423/http://van-halen5150.blogspot.com/2011/01/van-halen-turne-conjunta-com-o-black.html . 2012-08-06.
  10. Web site: David Lee Roth on van Halen's 1978 tour with Black Sabbath. 9 November 2013.
  11. Billboard Top Box Office . Billboard . September 23, 1978 . 90 . 38 . 52 . February 22, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.

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