Black Sabbath, Download Festival, review HE'S ONLY 63, but Ozzy Osbourne is rather doddery these days, and so has developed an interesting method of whipping up the crowd. Rather than energetically leaping about or furiously headbanging, as many a frontman would do, he simply berates his crowd until they're making enough noise to satisfy him. He prowls - OK, shuffles - around the stage, yelling "Louder!" before breaking into a wide goofy smile. It's a method that's surprisingly effective, helped in no small part by a back catalogue worthy of such loud cheers. In fact, the fans were just happy that the Birmingham band were there at all. After guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma, Sabbath were forced to cancel their summer tour. Stoically silent throughout the show, Iommi looked healthy, and was touchingly described by Osbourne as the "strongest man I know." Although bassist Geezer Butler was present and correct, drummer Bill Ward was absent because of contract disagreements. Being a group that has had 25 members since 1969 (with Iommi being the only constant), this was not entirely unexpected. Tommy Clufetos proved himself more than capable of filling Ward's shoes. His solo - boldly long and seriously rousing - was met with fierce cheers of approval from the 100,000-strong crowd. Having been given the job of following a stunning set from the comparatively youthful Metallica, the less animated Sabbath relied on their hits to prove their worth and keep their weary crowd entertained. From dark and spooky opener Black Sabbath to bluesy harmonica-driven The Wizard, anti-war anthem War Pigs and megahits Iron Man and Paranoid, each skulking, grinding riff slammed home a reminder that this is the band that invented heavy metal. Taking their bows to a blaze of fireworks, the foursome had proved that neither cancer nor advancing age makes them any less worthy of the last slot at what is now Download's 10th year. Indeed, given the vast number of veteran rock and metal bands showing no signs of retiring, we can expect to see a lot more shuffling frontmen in years to come.