Ozzy Osbourne & Friends To Play European Dates

Ozzy and Friends will be there for you.

As most of you know, the Black Sabbath reunion isn't going exactly as planned. Still, it's a good thing that its happening at all in some capacity. Despite not being able to fulfill their promise of a full European tour this summer due to Tony Iommi's health, the band will still perform at festivals as well as a one-off date in Birmingham (which sold out in less than 10 minutes).

In order to make up for the missed dates, Ozzy Osbourne will be touring with "special guest" musicians which will be billed as "Ozzy Osbourne & Friends". Among these special guests will be Geezer Butler, Zakk Wylde, and Slash, along with the rest of Ozzy's touring band. Zakk Wylde explained how the setlist would work in an interview with The Nervous Breakdown:

"[Current Ozzy bandmembers] Gus G., Blasko and Tommy [Clufetos] are coming out and doing a bunch of tunes, then I come out with Blasko andTommy and we end up doing a bunch of stuff from the era when I was with The Boss, from 'No Rest For The Wicked' all the way through everything I've ever done with him. Then Geezer [Butler, BLACK SABBATH bassist] comes out and we do a bunch of SABBATH stuff and at the end, Slash and everybody — Geezer, Slash, Gus — and we all play 'Paranoid'."

Again, while this isn't a full Black Sabbath reunion tour, its better than nothing. With Tony's illness and Bill Ward's commitment still unknown, we pretty much have to take what we can get. Hopefully the "Ozzy Osbourne & Friends" will find its way over to America, which seems like a no-brainier. In the meantime, here are the European dates:

May 23 - Helsinki, Finland - Hartwall Arena
May 25 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stadium
May 27 - Jelling, Denmark - Jelling Festival
May 29 - Bergen, Norway - Bergen Calling Festival
May 31 - Oslo, Norway - Spektrum
Jun. 02 - Malmo, Sweden - Malmo Stadium
Jun. 04 - Dortmund, Germany - Westfalenhalle
Jun. 06 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
Jun. 15 - Vitoria, Spain - Azkena Rock Festival
Jun. 17 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
Jun. 22 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
Jun. 24 - Milan, Italy - Gods of Metal Festival
Jun. 26 - Vienna, Austria - Stadthalle
Jun. 28 - Belgrade, Serbia - USCE Park
Jul. 01 - Athens, Greece - Rockwave Festival – Terra