I've been hearing some contradictory stuff, outside of the concert report that HMI linked. One story says Sharon was being a total bitch throughout most of the tour, cause Maiden was overshadowing Sabbath. On the other hand, I've also been hearing that Bruce was being an egotistical ass, snubbing most of the other bands and Ozzy in particular at almost every turn. So who knows what's what really. Maiden's part of the tour is done and Velvet Revolver replaced them. Ozzy has announced he's only going to be doing select cities for now on during Ozzfest due to his deterioating health.
I was at a show a couple weeks ago, the Gigantour show w/ Megadeth & Dream Theater headlining here in Chicagoland. Was a pretty solid show, the problem was the sound system at the venue, the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, IL sucks major ass. The first main stage act was Nevermore, and at first I thought they weren't using the main sound system or something, because they sounded really weird. They have a bit of a unique sound to them, that was completely drowned out. Then later on Dillenger Escape Plan came out, and the sound was just as bad. Not to mention the fact that their music sucked.
When Fear Factory hit, everything sounded nice and clear, so I figure the problems came and went. FF btw sounded pretty good, first time I've seen them since Dino left the band a few years back, but they were alright. Dream Theater hit next, and most likely more than half the crowd was there to see them. But the problems with the sound system returned and made for some difficulties understanding James Labrie's voice, which is beyond stupid, because he has such a high pitched clear voice. Instrumentally though, you could hear things just fine, and as always Petrucci and Portnoy were stellar on guitar and drums respectively.
Finally, out came Megadeth who rocked, despite the fact I really still have no clue who the new band members are. The worst part though was no one knew or was interested in any of their new songs, the crowd didn't come alive until they started to play some of the classic songs, most notably starting out with In My Darkest Hour. It was a high impact set from them overall, despite the unfamiliarity with the new members/songs
I had also checked out the 2nd stage, a band called Bobaflex was there, neat SW-inspired name, but crappy band. They were too infatuated with their own inane homoerotic shenangians to get the crowd going. Saw Dry Kill Logic, who were nothing to sneeze at, and Symphony X who musically sounded really good, but I wasn't familiar with their work. Overall, it was worth the $50 for the tickets and was a good time, but could have been a lot better if not for the sound system. It'll make me 2nd guess going to this venue again.