It was an emotional 10-minute version of Sabbath’s “Changes” that stole the show last night at the sold out Utilita arena in Birmingham, on the ninth night of Yunblud’s current 11-date” Idols” UK tour.
Just over half way through the 14-song set, Yungblud paid a very emotional tribute to his late friend and mentor Ozzy Osbourne.
Visibly holding back the tears as the piano intro tinkled away, the rest of the band waiting while he composed himself; as he viewed the packed arena and all the DIY banners and placards, such as “Ozzy Would Be So Proud”, amid the rousing chants of “Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy…”
After he takes a few deep breaths, he looks up to the ceiling, blows a kiss upwards and tells the fans he is dedicating this song to “a dear friend in the sky” tonight.
“This next song goes out to Mr f*****g Ozzy Osbourne. I’ve been sh*tting myself for days to play this in Birmingham tonight.” He points up and says: “Because you f*cking changed my life man”.
Then beating his shirtless chest near his heart and mouthing the words :”I love you”, he asks the circa 16,000 fans if they are ready to sing as loud as they can, and with lots of animated flying white doves on the giant video screens, the band strike up for “Changes” and it still takes a few deep breaths to curb the emotion and begin to sing this classic rock track.
A glorious and tear-jerking moment which will stay indelibly etched in the memories of all of us there. It was not showbiz schtick.
It was a sincere and emotional tribute to his friend who he is still grieving for; his mentor and biggest influence. I must mention the blistering guitar solo half way through “Changes”.
Yungblud tells the crowd, to huge cheers: “He is here with us in this room”.
Towards the end of the song, Yungblud thanked the fans for “being here, from the bottom of my heart” and said this has been the most surreal year of his life. He also made a promise: “I promise I will come back every year until I drop”. Almost 16,000 people here would hold him to that.
His reference to a “surreal” year must include the fact that he is the first British artist to get three Grammy nominations in the rock categories in a single year: Nominated for Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance. Winning his first Grammy for “Changes”.
Setlist
- HELLO HEAVEN, HELLO
- THE FUNERAL
- IDOLS PT.1
- LOVESICK LULLABY
- MY ONLY ANGEL
- FLEABAG
- LOWLIFE
- CHANGES
- I NEED YOU (TO MAKE THE WORLD SEEM FINE)
- FIRE
- LONER
Encore - GHOSTS
- ZOMBIE
- SUBURBAN REQUIEM
Ozzy thought so highly of young Dominic Richard Harrison aka Yungblud, he wanted him to be part of the historic, “Back To The Beginning” concert back in the summer of 2025 at Villa Park football stadium, a stone’s throw from this venue.
That amazing day/night on 5th July last year was the final performance of Ozzy and of his iconic Brummie band Black Sabbath, who pretty much created heavy metal as a music genre circa 50 years ago.
At that star-studded event, Yungblud sang “Changes” to the assembled Ozzy/Sabbath fans and if the place had a roof, he would have blown it off! All of the globally known rock stars there as part of the event were stunned. It really was a show stopper.
So here we are some nine months later – sadly Ozzy died of a sudden heart attack at 76-years-old just 17 days after that Villa park show – and Yungblud is back in Ozzy’s home city and about to sing that iconic song again – admitting to the crowd he was nervous.
A few hours before the show here, he visited the canal-side Tap & Spile pub in Gas Street [which has a Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne feature wall inside], for a quiet drink and some reflective time
Close-by that bar he sat on the famous “Black Sabbath” bench next to the images of Ozzy, Geezer, Bill and Tony. Ozzy’s affection for the gifted 28-year old rock kid from Doncaster prompted him to take off his trade-mark gold chain and cross and hand it to a stunned Dominic as a gift. Sharon Osbourne has said that Dominic reminds her of a young Ozzy.
True to the end with his infamous humour, larger than life John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne, known as The Prince Of Darkness, made sure on his death certificate under “Occupation” that it reads “Rock Legend”. No one can argue with that.
I will say that one day, Mr Yungblud could maybe earn that same coveted accolade if his career continues to ascend, and his songs and performances maintain the same quality as tonight and of his performances of “Changes” in particular, at Villa Park and here at the Utilita arena.
One day he may well be filling that same stadium in his own right. He has broken through in the US and he is adored here in the UK by his loyal fans who are more of a community than just individual fans.
Here he includes six of the dozen tracks from his current album “Idols”, opening with “Hello Heaven, Hello”, which is accompanied by a blast of confetti shot into the air.
Then “The Funeral” and “Idols Pt 1”. “Lovesick Lullaby” and “My Only Angel” and the fan-fave “Fleabag” precedes “Changes”. How to follow that? With “I Need You (To Make The World Seem Fine)”, then “Fire” and “Loner”. A three-song encore kicks off with “Ghosts”, then “Zombie” and closes with “Suburban Requiem”.
A faultless, exciting and adrenalin-inducing experience that Yungblud fans will never forget and enough to create a new fan in me.
- Honurable mention to the two excellent support bands tonight: The Molotovs – the Cartlidge siblings Issey (bass and backing vocals) and her brother Matt (lead vocals and guitar), with drummer Noah Riley. Plus the Mexican Villarreal Vélez sisters trio The Warning: Daniela, Paulina and Alejandra.
- Unfortunately we were unable to get pix of The Molotovs when our ace snapper Jason was stuck on the motorway en-route and arrived too late for the band’s 7pm short set.
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