On July 5, the original lineup of Black Sabbath—Geezer Butler, Tonny Iommi, Bill Ward, and the late Ozzy Osbourne—reunited for the final time in their hometown of Birmingham for a tour-de-force philanthropic benefit. The heavy metal spectacular, dubbed “Back to the Beginning,” was supported by a who’s who of legendary bands and performers, including Mastodon, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Gojira, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, and Metallica, who all used the Cohesion audio system rigged for one remarkable day at Villa Park in Aston.
The iconic show raised tens of millions of dollars to be donated to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s. Osbourne passed away on July 22, only seventeen days after his performance at “Back to the Beginning.”
“I think he really held out just to do that show,” said Iommi to ITV News the day after Osbourne’s passing. “He was determined to do it, and fair dues, he’d done it. The gig was for him, really, and for us, Sabbath, to say goodbye. It was the end of the band, and we’ll never do that again.”
“This was a very special one-off show. Black Sabbath were national heroes playing in their backyard,” said Greg Price, FOH Engineer for Metallica, Black Sabbath, and Ozzy Osbourne. “I took out Cohesion on Black Sabbath back when it was first launched, so how fitting it was to do this show on Cohesion, one of my favorite PAs.”
The audio system comprised eighteen Cohesion CO12 left-right on the main hangs, sixteen CO12 on the house right side hang, and eighteen CO12 on the house left side hang. The longer line length for house left was to provide coverage for the steeply raked upper bowl situated approximately 35’ higher than house right in the asymmetrical design of Villa Park.
“We had a powerful show that kept the tonality the same on either side without the need to hang massive amounts of cabinets,” said Rich Schoenadel, Clair Global Engineer, who collaborated with Price on the system design. “We kept the low and the mid drivers working together and muted high drivers to minimize reflections off any metal or roof of the shorter side of the venue.”
Six Cohesion CP218 II+ subwoofers were flown left-right next to the mains, and three more CP218 were hung vertically adjacent to each side hang. Thirty total CP218 II+ were placed on the ground and steered symmetrically on either side of a small central thrust and camera platform. All subwoofers were in cardioid configuration.
“Traditionally, we’d do a flown end-fire sub array behind the main array, but the direction from Greg was to go downstage and push out to have as much SPL from the front of the stage and thrust,” explained Schoenadel. “That way Ozzy could be out there, and we could do the most with our design from a gain-before-feedback standpoint, allowing the mains to be off-stage a bit and splayed a little further, along with the flown subs on the stage, to keep the low end consistent in the horizontal for the grandstand seating.”
A dozen CO12 hung from each of two delay towers. The initial system design called for three delay towers, but changes in the layout required the removal of one tower.
System Engineer Leon Fink noted that the team “didn’t really miss” the third delay because each of the two remaining towers received an additional raised stack of four CO12 on the ground. Schoenadel added that a simple “tilting in” of the two delay towers covered the seating sections appropriately.
Twelve Cohesion CO10 provided front fill in stacks of two atop the CP218 II+ on the ground. AudioRent Clair crew deployed the PA.
Villa Park has hosted many charity events, special gatherings, and rock concerts over the past few decades, ranging from Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Guns N’ Roses, and Bruce Springsteen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. With its open-air design and location in Aston, the densely populated urban area of Birmingham, keeping energy inside the venue and not leaking out into the neighborhood is a constant consideration.
“There’s a dB limit at Aston Villa, and the health and safety people were absolutely thrilled at the show and what we delivered,” said Price. “We just did one of the biggest shows they’ve ever had, and I stayed within the city’s dB limit. The audio was perfect. It helped the community, and not one person complained.”
The festival atmosphere was apparent from the first minute of the ten-hour extravaganza, and each subsequent act catalyzed the palpable energy of Villa Park in powerful performances. The crowd reached a fever pitch as the day drew closer to the impassioned conclusion.
“The crowd really took off when Pantera came out with, ‘Cowboys from Hell,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah, we made this right,’” relayed Fink. “The crowd got really, really loud for Metallica too, but when Ozzy sang, ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ that was it for me. You could tell Ozzy was emotional too.”
Osbourne, seated on a custom throne, closed his solo set with “Crazy Train,” before Butler, Iommi, and Ward rejoined him for the ultimate Black Sabbath performance. The showstopping hits “War Pigs,” “N.I.B.,” “Iron Man,” and “Paranoid” brought tears to the eyes of the 45,000 gathered and assuredly the millions streaming online.
“I can’t say enough about what a great job everyone did. Every person at FOH executed like I’ve never seen before,” summarized Price. “To be at FOH mixing Sabbath, Ozzy, and Metallica, and to be able to deliver that message, that texture, that moment for people was totally amazing.”
A 100-minute cut of the show, titled Back to the Beginning: Ozzy’s Final Bow, is slated for a theatrical release from Mercury Studios in early 2026.
