Black Sabbath Blue Oyster Cult 1980 Tour Concert Ticket Stub Dio Bill Ward Last

Description

Rare concert ticket stub from the infamous August 19th 1980 Black & Blue tour featuring Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult at Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Why "infamous" you ask? Well this happened to be Bill Ward's last show on the tour before abruptly quitting Sabbath. In fact Sabbath had to cancel their next 5 shows until they got Vinny Appice rehearsed (Cozy Powell was asked but turned them down). Bill played every Sabbath show from their formation in 1968 until this one. End of an era. Of course he returned intermittently after that: recording (but not touring) Born Again, performing with the original line-up for Live Aid in 1985, and then the reunion with the original line-up in the 90s.
From the google machine:
Ward was increasingly suffering from substance abuse issues. "Alcohol had become more important than Black Sabbath, our audience, my family, everything, and that included me," he reflected later. "Also, I was absolutely missing [Osbourne]; really missing him and I wasn't coping with my grief that well because I was so drunk. My mother had died and I wasn't coping with the grief for my mother and I was feeling overwhelmed with loss. Lastly, as much as I loved Ronnie James Dio, it [the new band lineup] didn't work for me."
Ward performed his last show with Sabbath at Met Center on 19 August 1980
– and, like Osbourne, would not perform with Sabbath again until 13 July 1985 at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for Live Aid.
The following night, Sabbath were forced to cancel their sold-out show at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver when Ward either arrived late or failed to go on. Blue Öyster Cult did perform and received the sizeable proceeds of the show, while Sabbath were not paid for this show or for subsequent shows that they cancelled due to Ward's unavailability. "I escalated into such oblivion that I just was incapable of confronting my losses and dealing with them in a healthy way…" Ward explained. "I blamed everybody and everything for my problems and I just fell apart… That's why I left the Heaven & Hell tour."
I went to this show when I was 13yo. Riot opened. Blue Oyster Cult was amazing and went on second (the bands alternated closing slots during the tour). Sabbath didn't go on until after midnight...apparently due to a major thunderstorm outside. Memories. Black Sabbath remains my favorite band to this day.
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