Ultimate Rhoads

I have only seen the Video of Brad with Ozzy but did any of you see them play together?

Yes.....late May of 1982. I really have mixed emotions about this one. This was so soon after Randy's accident, that all you could think of during the show is that it WASN'T RANDY. The difference was just so hard to deal with. I was and still am an enormous Randy fan. At that time, I was playing the "Montreal King Biscuit" about 150 times a day.....so I was keenly aware of every knook and cranny, every nuance, every squeal, every microsonic microbe of Randy's playing........soooo...........when a certain passage of any tune was played and those RHOADS-iactic idiosyncrisis were'nt there.....it was simply WRONG. ----- WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG,WRONG. You were just still in mourning and still so pissed off at the course fate had taken that NO ONE.......and I mean NO ONE........was going to occupy Randy's side of the stage. I know this was completely irrational.....but it was like...WHO DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE HE!!!!! None of this was directed at Sarzo or Aldridge or Osbourne or whoever. Just at Gilles......all of the Randy "fiends" just leering at him. Pretty stupid ...right??? Yup...pretty stupid, allright. But that's the way it was...in this camp, anyway. We were still in such shock and agony over loosing Randy.....that all you could do was pick this "interloper" apart. It was a constant ".....couldn't they have gotten someone better!!! --- ".....couldn't they have gotten someone better???" What was needed was some time....some time to allow this anguish to pass. And slowly, very slowly..... it did. When "Bark at the Moon" came out, we were all ready for it. Everybody loved the new material and Jake's playing. I guess, by that time, we were used to the idea of Randy being gone. Gilles really should be commended on how he helped hold things together for the balance of the "Diary" tour. Many have said that the tour should have been cancelled after Randy's accident. Who knows. I am sure it would have cost billions.....all I know is that Gilles attemted to fill a spot that was really unfillable........I can't imagine what a thankless job that was! Those were very, very dark days for Randy fans.....and I'm sure that whatever they paid Gilles...it wasn't enough!

I have the DVD of the "Diary" show from '82 with Gilles. It is STILL difficult to watch.....all of these years later. I guess it is just what his presence on that stage represents. Oh well.....

Xanadu wrote:I have the DVD of the "Diary" show from '82 with Gilles. It is STILL difficult to watch.....all of these years later. I guess it is just what his presence on that stage represents. Oh well.....

Brad did a wonderful job but I can't help to think someone else should be there on that stage......

Hopefully one day Ozzy find some great 'jittered' footage in his house he forget about.

I always enjoyed Brad and Speak of the Devil was a nice album.

randys roadie wrote:I always enjoyed Brad and Speak of the Devil was a nice album.

Speak of the Devil the album was great, Speak of the Devil the DVD, not so much...

I've only seen Over the Mountain on the SOTD DVD and it wasn't too bad. I'd like to see more. The use of lasers like they did mezmerized me (considering it was 1982)

I've always wondered if they did the same band jam they did when Randy was alive.

This is my first post here, and this particular thread is the most appropriate, since the first time I saw Ozzy live was with Brad Gillis. This also happens to be my greatest "concert story" I've told friends over the years.

I grew up in small northern NY town (Rouses Point) on the Canadien border. I was a senior in highschool and Ozzy was coming to Montreal (June 3, 1982 show). As is typical of my friends at the time, we rarely planned ahead and money was always tight. The night of the show, I got a call from one of my friends (who is now my brother-in-law), telling me he and two other guys were going to go up to the Montreal Forum, buy whatever "nose bleed" seats were available at the last minute and catch the show. I was in. We drove up there (only about 50 miles from home) and drank over half a case of Molson Brador between the 4 of us. We were set to rock out.

We went inside the Forum and went to the ticket office. The opening band was already on stage (if memory serves, they were called "Santers"). This was back in the Ticketron days. I asked for FOUR (4) tickets together. We didn't care what section. Instead of printing out 4 tickets from the Ticketron machine, he opened the drawer and pulled out 4 pre-printed tickets, put them face down on the counter behind the glass and looked at us. Then smiled. Then he said "Boys, I GUARANTEE these are the four BEST seats you will ever get for any concert again" -- all with a huge grin on his face. We thought he was joking around with us so we were like "Yeah, whatever, Man." We are all in a good mood.

We paid for the tickets ($15.00 apiece or something close to that). We took the tickets and couldn't figure them out. Instead of a section with numbers and a color (like for hockey games I'd seen there before), the thckets said ORCH. We took them to the nearest security guard to get help, and he led us down a maze of stairways to the floor. We were freaking out at this point. Another guard took over escorting us, and led us straight to our seats.

FRONT ROW CENTER.

All I can say is the show stands out in my mind as just about the greatest live show I have EVER seen. And Brad Gillis was playing very well, from what I remember.

That's my story.

...And if ANYONE knows of a bootleg of this particular show (June 3, 1982), I would LOVE to get it somehow as a souvenir of that great show.

Hey Workingman,

Great story!
Front row center, wow! Must be amazing!

I have the Speak of the Devil DVD with Brad and for sure he did a fantastic job!

Oh, & welcome aboard!


(are you a Rush fan ? )

workingman wrote:...And if ANYONE knows of a bootleg of this particular show (June 3, 1982), I would LOVE to get it somehow as a souvenir of that great show.

Hi Workingman and welcome to the site

I have been told that a boot of that show was recorded but I have never found it. I am always on the look for new Brad/Ozzy shows if I locate a copyt I will be sure to let you know

T

If you like Brad we have a free Brad/Ozzy download on the free addio section, if you like it be sure to leave a message.

RockyRhoads wrote:

randys roadie wrote:I always enjoyed Brad and Speak of the Devil was a nice album.

Speak of the Devil the album was great, Speak of the Devil the DVD, not so much...

I agree

BIG_P wrote:

RockyRhoads wrote:

randys roadie wrote:I always enjoyed Brad and Speak of the Devil was a nice album.

Speak of the Devil the album was great, Speak of the Devil the DVD, not so much...

I agree

Its sad that Brad never became a bigger star because he sure knew how to play guitar.

Hi Everyone i'm new to the site, i'm very fortunate to have seen Randy in concert back in September 1980 and i seen Brad in December 1982.I don't remember much about Randy in concert as everyone was buzzing about Ozzy he'd not done anything since his break up with Sabbath back in 1978 so he was the star of the show.What alot of people forget is that back in 1980 RR hadn't done much he'd done the 2 Quiet Riot LP's but was still very much unknown.But from what i can remember of the gig it was wild ,the atmosphere was electric and the balcony was bouncing to the beat of Crazy Train that much,that it was scarey to watch from underneath with the thought of the whole lot coming crashing down.The first few rows of people were drenched with Ozzy emptying buckets of water into the crowd on a regular basis.This was a very special time in my life as i was only 14 at the time and i loved going to see Live music.Ozzy returned with his new line up in 1982 but what had he done he'd only shaved all his hair off he looked ridiculous.The funny thing when i think back I took my camera to the gig and i wouldn't take any pics of Ozzy because of his shaven headed appearance which was stupid as i managed to get down to the front row.I have some cool photos of Brad i'd post them up if i had a clue how to do this?? .But Brad for me looked the part and his playing was superb and a very fitting replacement for RR.I couldn't of thought of anyone who could of done the job better at the time,without saying someone like Eddie Van Halen but he was commited with VH.Does anyone have any photos to trade of early Ozzy concerts 1980-82

Hi Guitaridol which shows were you at?

T