Ozzy Osbourne @ Roundhouse, Chalk Farm

It was something of a surprise when the Prince of Darkness was announced to be playing as part of the iTunes festival at the Roundhouse. Live music for this event is usually aimed at people who rarely look into the murky world of metal. The mainly ticket winning crowd were a mix of full-time rockers and the curious music fan, interested in seeing Mr Ozzy Osbourne in the flesh for the first time.

First of the two openers BLACK SPIDERS (7.5/10) seem to have been here, there and everywhere recently and their Sabbath-esque grooves were perfect for this support slot tonight. Songs such as 'St Peter' appeal to both the young and the old, the classic solos going down a storm with the early crowd.

THE SWORD (7.5) are heavier than their predecessors and even more indebted to Sabbath for the influence they have had over their music to date. When they supported Metallica at the O2 there were fears they would be swallowed up by the sheer size of the stage. That never happened though as their music's muscular riffs cling to the crowd like dying hands, the likes of 'Freya' sounding simply enormous in the 360 degree surroundings of this Chalk Farm venue.

As well as the support bands did they were never going to outshine the Prince of Darkness himself. Opening with the timeless 'Bark at the moon' OZZY OSBOURNE (8) reminded everyone (as if people need reminding...) why he is still such a popular figure in heavy metal. New track 'Let me hear you scream' follows with plenty of crowd participation during the chorus. This was the only track taken from new album ‘Scream’ but expect more in September when the band return to these shores. When you see the double O live you again realise how much classic material he has at his disposal, the likes of 'Mr crowley' still sending shivers down the spine twenty years after its release and hearing 'Suicide solution' is always a pleasure. Unsurprisingly, Ozzy Osbourne's history will always be weighted in favour of the Black Sabbath years. Tonight 'Fairies wear boots' and 'Iron man' are aired during the main set, Ozzy having every body in the house firmly in his palm.

Ozzy gets up to his usual mischief, throwing enough buckets of water into the crowd to fill a hundred baths or drown a hundred squirrels. When he isn't doing this he is clapping or shouting at the thousands ahead of him, always moving like a never ending ball of energy. The only time he stops is when he departs the stage to allow the band members their own slots. Newest member Tommy Clufetos is a powerhouse on drums and leaves people open mouthed with one of the best drum solos performed in a long time. A lot has been said over the past year about the departure of Zakk Wylde and even more about the new guitarist, Firewind's Gus G. In truth his classical European style playing is a near match made in Heaven for a lot of the Ozzy classics such as 'Shot in the dark', with Adam Wakeman's keyboards providing that eerie backing that was such an important part of the 80s material.

We all know Ozzy can be soppy. His love for big ballads has always been present and tonight both 'Road to nowhere' and 'Mama, i'm coming home' provide the quieter moments. The combination of 'Crazy train' and 'War pigs' inevitably goes down a storm. The power of 'War pigs' be it in front of three thousand or eighty thousand people is simply electrifying, providing the evening with it's first mass sing-a-long moment. 'Paranoid' draws things to a close in apocalyptic fashion, with arms and legs’ flying through the air as the mosh pit overheats to possibly the most famous metal song of all time.

It seemed over too quickly. Ozzfest can't come soon enough.