On July 14, 1974, Black Sabbath played the first show of their Sabotage album tour, at the Sports Arenas in Toledo, Ohio. They'd spend the next two months traversing the North America before heading across the Atlantic for the European leg of the tour. Then they flew back to the US to do it all again.
Opening up on that first leg were a variety of bands – UK acts like Status Quo and Slade, who'd always struggle to make headway in the US, plus names more familiar to American audiences in Brownsville Station, Peter Frampton, Mahogany Rush and Leslie West. And, in Baltimore, Providence and Boston, a rising band from New York going by the name of Kiss.
Below, Kiss man Gene Simmons recalls those dates, and the impression he left on Sabbath's own bassist, Geezer Butler.
"I’ve always loved and admired Black Sabbath, and can proudly say the early days of touring together will be a lifelong memory.
“The Sabbath of 1975 had all the adrenalin of a band in a strange land doing what they believe in. There was no question Sabbath was going to do things their own way. Love them or hate them, this would be a band that would mark its own territory like an animal.
“Kiss got an opening slot, thankfully, on the Sabotage tour, but only for three or four shows. On the first night, I was backstage, fully made-up and ready to go out on stage, and standing next to me was the great Geezer Butler – all five-foot-six of him. In my platform heels I stood at about six-foot-nine tall.
"It’s in my DNA – once the war paint was on, I became the Demon. And Geezer didn’t quite know what to make of me. As he stood next to me, he looked me up and down. I looked down at him, glared at him and stuck out my tongue. I lowered my head so we were face-to-face with each other and said: ‘Aaahhhh!’
“Many years later, Ozzy told me that Geezer had said he felt threatened by the bass player in the opening act. He didn’t think that was a good sign. And he was right. Our intention was to go out on stage and destroy all living things.
“All of the above comes with a great deal of admiration, respect and love for one of the few bands who forged the way for countless others to follow.
“I will never forget the first time I ever heard the name ‘Black Sabbath’. It was an advertisement for their first album. It appeared in Rolling Stone. It said: ‘Black Sabbath – louder than Led Zeppelin!!!’ Louder and prouder, indeed.”
