# Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath)

The Never Say Die! Tour was a concert tour by the English rock band Black Sabbath. The tour began on 16 May 1978 in Sheffield and ended on 11 December 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the last full tour with Ozzy Osbourne until the band reunited for Ozzfest 1997.

## Background
### Europe (1st leg)

Van Halen opened. "We did 23 shows in 25 days," recalled Eddie Van Halen. "I didn't know they had that many places! But to meet Tony Iommi when I was so into him was really incredible." David Lee Roth summed up the experience as "a real shot in the ass". The Liverpool Empire Theatre date was attended by future members of Apollo 440 – who, in 1997, issued an adaptation of Van Halen's 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love' as 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub'.
"We had a great time with the Sabbath guys…" recalled Alex Van Halen. "It was really special because Ed and I were big fans of the band. Every time they came to LA, I was out there in the audience, fighting tooth and nail to get to the front so I could get my eardrums destroyed. But I learnt a lot from them about audience participation… One time, we were up near Leicester, about half an hour before showtime, and Ozzy and Bill Ward were out there on the front lawn with the punters, having a beer. I thought, 'Fuck me, none of this star-type shit.' I was really impressed."
"Ozzy used to tell a funny story…" recalled onetime Osbourne sidekick Don Airey. "Sabbath had done a tour for a year [sic] with Kiss… and it nearly killed him because Kiss had been so good. And he said, 'We're never doing that again. Next tour, we just want a bar band from LA. That's all we want.' And then he got to the first gig. Ozzy said they walked in as 'Eruption' was going on. Ozzy said, 'We just went into the dressing room. We sat there going, That was incredible… and then it finished, and we were just too stunned to speak. Then there was a knock on the door and the best-looking man in the world walked in and said, Hello' – you know, David Lee Roth. I think they only lasted about two months on that tour. Then the record broke… I went to see them at the Rainbow when they supported Sabbath. By the time they played the Rainbow again a month later, they were headlining. Incredible!"
Support for the end of the UK leg of the tour was from psychedelic punk group Tanz Der Youth who received a hostile response from the audience.

### North America (1st leg)

"At all our shows on this tour," Ozzy told Circus, "there's one guy that gives me the evil eye. It's not the same guy at each show – at least I don't think it's the same guy. But it's kind of frightening to feel those vibes." Of the tour, he said: "The crowds are going fucking wild. In Cape Cod the other night [4 September], they were going fucking insane. Man, it was scary up there. We didn't expect this response." Van Halen, he said, "are so good they ought to be headlining the tour."

## Tour dates

List of 1978 concerts :
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| 16 May 1978 | Sheffield | England | Sheffield City Hall |
| 17 May 1978 | Southport | England | Southport Theatre |
| 18 May 1978 | Glasgow | Scotland | The Apollo |
| 19 May 1978 | Aberdeen | Scotland | Capitol Theatre |
| 21 May 1978 | Newcastle | England | Newcastle City Hall |
| 22 May 1978 | Manchester | England | Manchester Apollo |
| 23 May 1978 | Stoke | England | Victoria Hall |
| 25 May 1978 | Portsmouth | England | Portsmouth Guildhall |
| 26 May 1978 | Bristol | England | Colston Hall |
| 27 May 1978 | Lewisham | England | Lewisham Odeon |
| 28 May 1978 | Ipswich | England | Ipswich Gaumont Theatre |
| 30 May 1978 | Coventry | England | Coventry Theatre |
| 31 May 1978 | Leicester | England | De Montfort Hall |
| 1 June 1978 | Hammersmith | England | Hammersmith Odeon |
| 2 June 1978 | Oxford | England | Apollo Theatre Oxford |
| 3 June 1978 | Southampton | England | Southampton Gaumont Theatre |
| 5 June 1978 | Birmingham | England | Birmingham Odeon |
| 7 June 1978 | Bradford | England | St George's Hall |
| 8 June 1978 | Preston | England | Preston Guild Hall |
| 10 June 1978 | Hammersmith | England | Hammersmith Odeon |
| 12 June 1978 | Birmingham | England | Birmingham Odeon |
| 13 June 1978 | Birmingham | England | Birmingham Odeon |
| 14 June 1978 | Manchester | England | Manchester Apollo |
| 15 June 1978 | Manchester | England | Manchester Apollo |
| 16 June 1978 | Bridlington | England | Royal Hall |
| 17 June 1978 | Liverpool | England | Liverpool Empire Theatre |
| 19 June 1978 | Hammersmith | England | Hammersmith Odeon Theatre |
| 22 August 1978 | Milwaukee | United States | MECCA Arena |
| 23 August 1978 | Chicago | United States | International Amphitheatre |
| 24 August 1978 | Chicago | United States | International Amphitheatre |
| 25 August 1978 | Terre Haute | United States | Hulman Arena |
| 27 August 1978 | New York City | United States | Madison Square Garden |
| 28 August 1978 | Hempstead | United States | Nassau Coliseum |
| 29 August 1978 | Philadelphia | United States | Spectrum |
| 31 August 1978 | Erie | United States | Erie County Field House |
| 1 September 1978 | Hampton | United States | Hampton Coliseum |
| 2 September 1978 | Pittsburgh | United States | Civic Arena |
| 4 September 1978 | South Yarmouth | United States | Cape Cod Coliseum |
| 5 September 1978 | Portland | United States | Cumberland County Civic Arena |
| 7 September 1978 | Utica | United States | Utica Memorial Auditorium |
| 8 September 1978 | Niagara Falls | United States | Niagara Falls Civic Center |
| 9 September 1978 | Baltimore | United States | Baltimore Civic Center |
| 10 September 1978 | New Haven | United States | New Haven Coliseum |
| 12 September 1978 | Indianapolis | United States | Indiana Convention Center |
| 14 September 1978 | Detroit | United States | Cobo Center |
| 15 September 1978 | Richfield | United States | Richfield Coliseum |
| 16 September 1978 | St. Louis | United States | Checkerdome |
| 17 September 1978 | Kansas City | United States | Kansas City Municipal Arena |
| 18 September 1978 | Tulsa | United States | Tulsa Assembly Center |
| 21 September 1978 | Bakersfield | United States | Bakersfield Convention Center |
| 22 September 1978 | Fresno | United States | Selland Arena |
| 23 September 1978 | Anaheim | United States | Anaheim Stadium (Summerfest) |
| 24 September 1978 | Anaheim | United States | Anaheim Stadium (Summerfest) |
| 26 September 1978 | Vancouver | Canada | Pacific Coliseum |
| 27 September 1978 | Portland | United States | Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| 28 September 1978 | Spokane | United States | Spokane Coliseum |
| 29 September 1978 | Seattle | United States | Seattle Center Arena |
| 30 September 1978 | Seattle | United States | Seattle Center Arena |
| 9 October 1978 | Hamburg | West Germany | Audimax Theatre |
| 10 October 1978 | Essen | West Germany | Grugahalle |
| 11 October 1978 | Offenbach | West Germany | Stadthalle Offenbach |
| 13 October 1978 | Uhingen | West Germany | Haldenberg Hall |
| 14 October 1978 | Ludwigshafen | West Germany | Friedrich-Ebert-Halle |
| 15 October 1978 | Kuernach | West Germany | Kuernach Hall |
| 17 October 1978 | Neunkirchen | West Germany | Hemmerleinhalle |
| 18 October 1978 | Bad Rappenau | West Germany | Bad Rappenau Sports Hall |
| 20 October 1978 | Cambrai | France | Grottos Palace |
| 3 November 1978 | St. Petersburg | United States | Bayfront Center |
| 4 November 1978 | Jacksonville | United States | Jacksonville Coliseum |
| 5 November 1978 | Pembroke Pines | United States | Hollywood Sportatorium |
| 8 November 1978 | Birmingham | United States | Boutwell Memorial Auditorium |
| 10 November 1978 | Memphis | United States | Mid-South Coliseum |
| 11 November 1978 | Cincinnati | United States | Riverfront Coliseum |
| 12 November 1978 | Nashville | United States | Nashville Municipal Auditorium |
| 13 November 1978 | Atlanta | United States | Omni Coliseum |
| 14 November 1978 | Mobile | United States | Mobile Municipal Arena |
| 15 November 1978 | Huntsville | United States | Von Braun Center |
| 17 November 1978 | Austin | United States | Austin Municipal Auditorium |
| 18 November 1978 | Midland | United States | Chaparral Center |
| 19 November 1978 | Houston | United States | Sam Houston Coliseum |
| 20 November 1978 | Oklahoma City | United States | Myriad Convention Center |
| 22 November 1978 | Corpus Christi | United States | Memorial Coliseum |
| 23 November 1978 | Houston | United States | Sam Houston Coliseum |
| 24 November 1978 | San Antonio | United States | San Antonio Convention Center Arena |
| 25 November 1978 | Dallas | United States | Dallas Convention Center Arena |
| 26 November 1978 | Dallas | United States | Dallas Convention Center Arena |
| 28 November 1978 | Denver | United States | McNichols Sports Arena |
| 29 November 1978 | Ogden | United States | Dee Events Center |
| 1 December 1978 | San Bernardino | United States | Swing Auditorium |
| 2 December 1978 | Oakland | United States | Oakland Arena |
| 3 December 1978 | San Diego | United States | San Diego Sports Arena |
| 4 December 1978 | Long Beach | United States | Long Beach Arena |
| 5 December 1978 | Phoenix | United States | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| 7 December 1978 | Abilene | United States | Taylor County Expo Center |
| 8 December 1978 | El Paso | United States | El Paso County Coliseum |
| 10 December 1978 | Albuquerque | United States | Johnson Gymnasium |
| 11 December 1978 | Albuquerque | United States | Johnson Gymnasium |

### Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references :
| Date (1978) | City | Venue | Attendance | Gross |
| September 4 | South Yarmouth | Cape Cod Coliseum | 7,100 | $53,888 |
| September 5 | Portland | Cumberland County Civic Center | 7,744 | $57,606 |
| September 8 | Niagara Falls | Convention Center | 8,186 | $62,267 |
| September 9 | Baltimore | Civic Center | 9,253 | $65,887 |
| September 10 | New Haven | Coliseum | 7,438 | $52,289 |

## Personnel

* Tony Iommi – guitar
* Geezer Butler – bass
* Bill Ward – drums
* Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals