System of a Down Honored Ozzy by Playing “Snowblind” Live for the First Time in 23 Years

Yesterday, System of a Down‘s short run of six arena shows kicked off with their first of two consecutive shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Korn, Polyphia, and Wisp were also on the bill, but a moment during SOAD’s headlining performance was set aside to remember the late Ozzy Osbourne with a special performance of their version of the Black Sabbath song “Snowblind.”

Prior to playing the song, System of a Down’s Daron Malakian reminiced about the band’s beginnings and how Ozzy Osbourne and his traveling festival Ozzfest had a direct impact on the band’s success.

“When we first started out, they put us on the road and we toured. And New York [and] New Jersey are some of the first places we toured in the United States. And there was one tour that never did more for System of a Down: the Ozzfest. We did a few Ozzfests. Some of you are old enough that you were there. Some of you weren’t even born yet.

“I wanna thank Ozzy Osbourne. We wanna thank Ozzy Osbourne.”

As the crowd chanted Ozzy’s name, Malakian said “we’re going to do a number now about cocaine. It’s called ‘Snowblind’.”

Originally featured on Black Sabbath’s 1972 album Vol. 4, “Snowblind” is a spaced out metal track about cocaine, which the band was famously abusing the shit out of while working on the record. System of a Down eventually covered it for the Nativity In Black II compilation back in 2000. Prior to last night, the most recent time they played this cover live was 2002. That’s 23 years ago and now I feel ancient.

Of course, this was all in rememberance of the great Ozzy Osbourne, who sadly passed away in his U.K. home on July 22 at the age of 76. His death from both coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease came weeks after the massive career-ending ‘Back to the Beginning’ show that took place in Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham.

You can check out SOAD’s performance of “Snowblind” in the following video clips. As for their remaining live dates, you can check out their stops in Chicago and Toronto in the dates listed below.

The post System of a Down Honored Ozzy by Playing “Snowblind” Live for the First Time in 23 Years appeared first on MetalSucks.