Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.
Halloween week and Ozzy Osbourne. They used to go together like mom and apple pie.
But after a year spent peeking into the heavy-metal veteran's private life, it might seem more appropriate for the 53-year-old Osbourne to spend the final week of October helping his kids select costumes and shopping for candy to hand out at the front door.
As it turns out, the former Black Sabbath vocalist will first spend one night doing what he is best known for: rocking out onstage. Osbourne plays tonight at Rain in the Desert at the Palms.
The show, a special engagement between tours, will be a rare non-Ozzfest appearance for the legendary performer. It remains to be seen whether MTV's cameras will be rolling, so the event can be featured on a future episode of the hit series set to resume this fall.
Osbourne had taken a hiatus from Ozzfest shows during the summer while his wife, Sharon, began undergoing chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. Ozzy then returned to the road sooner than expected, with Sharon Osbourne's cancer reportedly in remission.
Who: Ozzy Osbourne.
Where: Rain in the Desert at the Palms.
When: 8 tonight.
Tickets: Sold out.
Opening band: None.
Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Zakk Wylde (guitar), Robert Trujillo (bass), John Sinclair (keyboard), Mike Bordin (drums).
Latest release: "Live at Budokan" (Epic, 2002).
Album feedback: "After months of of bumbling around the house on national TV, cursing with his wife and children and cleaning up doggy poop, Ozzy is no longer convincing when he's barking at the moon. 'Live at Budokan' may be his best performance set since 1987's 'Tribute' ... but by now the Prince of darkness has fully metamorphosed into the Court Jester." (Rolling Stone, 3 stars.)
Essential releases: Black Sabbath: "Paranoid" (1971), Black Sabbath: "Master of Reality" (1972), "Blizzard of Oz" (1980), "Diary of a Madman" (1981), "Tribute" (live) (1987), "No More Tears" (1991).
What to expect: Hard to say, considering the show is a "one-off" performance (i.e., not part of a tour) and that Osbourne rarely gets the opportunity to play in such an intimate venue. Suffice it to say, those fortunate enough to get into the sold-out concert should be in for a wild ride.
Recent setlist: Post Gazette Pavilion, Pittsburgh, July 24: "I Don't Know," "War Pigs," "Believer," "That I Never Had," "Mr. Crowley," "Gets Me Through," "Suicide Solution," "Iron Man," "Change the World," "Road to Nowhere," "Crazy Train," "Mama I'm Coming Home," "Paranoid."
Tour feedback: "Age hasn't stopped him from plowing through his act, even if he's slower and his hands are shakier. He still dumps water on himself for laughs, hops on cue and moons the audience." (billboard.com); "His Sabbath hits aside, it was pretty dull stuff." (Boston Herald.)
Known Las Vegas appearances: March 19, 1972 (Convention Center, with Black Sabbath); Sept. 8, 1975 (unknown venue, with Black Sabbath); June 20, 1981 (Aladdin); June 11, 1986 (Thomas & Mack Center); June 28, 1997 (Sam Boyd Stadium, solo and with Black Sabbath); Jan. 2, 1999 (Thomas & Mack Center, with Black Sabbath); June 15, 2000 (The Joint).
Says Osbourne: "Two years ago, I'm thinking, 'I'm 52. I'll peter off doing Ozzfest once a year and bow out gracefully.' All of a sudden, someone throws a success grenade in the room."
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