Twisted Sister Play Last-Ever Concert, Black Sabbath End Final U.S. Tour
Twisted Sister said farewell Nov. 12 with a performance billed as their last-ever show — the same night Black Sabbath played the last U.S. date on their own farewell tour.
The night was understandably bittersweet for Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who described himself the day before as "glad to cross the finish line, sad to see it end." They crossed that finish line in front of a festival crowd at Corona NorthSide 2016 in Monterrey, where they shared the bill with a long list of acts that included Lamb of God, Sepultura and Kiss.
That last act's presence on the bill should have created some interesting moments backstage between Snider and Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley, who engaged in a war of words last year that culminated with Snider publicly questioning why Stanley is, in Snider's words, "such a d---." Whatever happened behind the scenes, the band's 13-song set list seemed to go well enough on stage as far as Snider was concerned.
As previously reported, the death of drummer A.J. Pero preceded Twisted Sister's decision to embark on a farewell tour. His spot was filled by Mike Portnoy, who thanked the band and its fans for the experience — thanks warmly returned by Snider.
Black Sabbath, meanwhile, still have some dates remaining on their The End tour, but their stop in San Antonio looks likely to have been their last on U.S. soil. As the band told Twitter followers, "This is #TheEnd for North America."
"Thank you North America for coming out to #TheEnd," the group's social media account read after their 13-song set. "We're off to South America and Europe before it's all over."
"It will be bittersweet," bassist Geezer Butler recently said of the tour's final stretch. "It has been a great achievement lasting so long and still being relevant — it’s something to be proud of, but my life will be very empty without the band. I hope our music will be around for a very long time after we’ve gone."
Check out the evening's show-closing performance of "Paranoid" below, and visit Black Sabbath's site for ticketing details for the final shows remaining on the tour.
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