{"id":212176,"date":"2025-06-25T04:09:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212176\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T04:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:09:19","slug":"birminghams-biggest-weekend-since-the-commonwealth-games-as-black-sabbath-and-jeff-lynne-return-to-the-live-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212176\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham\u2019s biggest weekend since the Commonwealth Games as Black Sabbath and Jeff Lynne return to the live stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Excitement is building in Birmingham<\/a> with the return of two of the city\u2019s biggest music icons<\/a> to the live stage.<\/p>\n

Black Sabbath<\/a> and Jeff Lynne<\/a> are both playing in separate shows on July 5 – with ELO frontman Lynne also performing on July 6.<\/p>\n

In addition Birmingham is also celebrating some of its greatest food heroes across the two days of the weekend at Colmore Food Festival 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"BlackMany Black Sabbath fans have struggled to get tickets for the band\u2019s reunion (Ian West\/PA)<\/p>\n

Everywhere you turn in the city there are tributes to Black Sabbath and its frontman legend Ozzy Osbourne ahead of their last ever Villa Park gig.<\/p>\n

Birmingham has turned into a living museum in tribute to the pioneers of heavy metal with some of the greatest rock stars from across the world joining Ozzy and crew on stage in Aston.<\/p>\n

Lynne, renowned for his Brummie cool is not quite getting the same attention, but he\u2019s added an extra night to his ELO shows at Utilita Arena.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the band\u2019s farewell tour which has featured a legion of special guests including The Doobie Brothers, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison since it began – with the final date at Hyde Park on July 13.<\/p>\n

\"JeffJeff Lynne of ELO<\/p>\n

Colmore Food Festival will see some of the city\u2019s best restaurants showcase their best dishes, including Pasture, Plates by Purnell\u2019s, Loki Wine, Adam\u2019s and Asha\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The outdoor event in Victoria Square attracts thousands of food fans each year and is one of the most popular summer festivals in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surely the biggest weekend in Birmingham since the 2022 Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

\"ColmoreColmore Food FestivalWhat Heavy Metal Stars are attending the Black Sabbath Concert?<\/p>\n

The original Black Sabbath line up – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will be playing together for the first time in 20 years.<\/p>\n

The concert will also feature sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Tool Lamb of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.<\/p>\n

The all-day event will also feature a supergroup of musicians. Artists announced so far include Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns \u2018n Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen and Zakk Wylde.<\/p>\n

Please note: All profits will be donated equally to the following charities Cure Parkinson\u2019s, Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital and Acorn Children\u2019s Hospice, a Children\u2019s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.<\/p>\n

\"AcornsAcorns Children’s Hospice is giving Black Sabbath fans another chance to be part of rock history.How is Birmingham celebrating Black Sabbath\u2019s Back to the Beginning last show in the city?<\/p>\n

From nostalgic pictures of the band adorning The Crown pub<\/strong> (now disused) outside New Street Station, to the Mr Mural\u2019s street art shrine<\/strong> round the corner on Navigation Street you can\u2019t miss Birmingham\u2019s pride in its heavy metal heroes.<\/p>\n

Not forgetting Ozzy the Bull in New Street<\/strong> itself!<\/p>\n

Over on Broad Street there\u2019s the Black Sabbath Bench<\/strong>, on the aptly named Black Sabbath Bridge.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t fancy the 10 minute walk, you can hop on the Ozzy Osbourne tram<\/strong> – although West Midlands Metro are unable to give an exact timetable of when that particular tram is running over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Over in Aston, where Ozzy grew up, the Aston Villa shop<\/strong> has a host of special merchandise in honour of the star.<\/p>\n

Ozzy went to Prince Albert Junior School and the band rehearsed at the nearby Barton Arms, so there\u2019s plenty of opportunities to retrace his footsteps.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Villa Park concert, there\u2019s a Metal in the Midlands show<\/strong> on Wednesday (July 2) at the Town Hall.<\/p>\n

Black Country comedian Darren Harriott is presenting the evening which will feature fast-rising young metal stars including headline act Defects. You can get tickets at Metal in the Midlands<\/a><\/p>\n

Selfridges<\/strong> has unveiled an immersive fan experience with special merchandise and another dedicated Mr Murals artwork for shoppers to enjoy.<\/p>\n

A host of other smaller venues are also celebrating metal music including The Flapper<\/strong> on Cambrian Wharf and Scruffy Murphy\u2019s<\/strong> on Dale End.<\/p>\n

Last, and by no means least, Black Sabbath\u2019s original manager, Jim Simpson, has arranged a series of performances dubbed the Visit of Oz\u00a0<\/strong>across pubs, bars – and even a canal boat.<\/p>\n

Check it out here: Visit of Oz<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Excitement is building in Birmingham with the return of two of the city\u2019s biggest music icons to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,77,920,4884,379,12,20,693,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-212176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-events","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-local-hubs","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-search","17":"tag-showbiz","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}