PowerTrip, the hard-rock and metal version of the Coachella music festival that's set to go down later this year, boasts a completely bonkers lineup of heavy hitters: Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, TOOL and Iron Maiden are headlining the three-day event. But as it turns out, the mega-fest could have been even bigger.
Appearing on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk yesterday (June 22nd), the mighty Tony Iommi confirmed that Black Sabbath — the heavy-metal godfathers themselves — was originally approached to play the festival this fall.
Asked if there'd been talk of Sabbath playing PowerTrip, Iommi said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), "Yes, there was. But I didn't, at that point… It's hard, because Ozzy's been going through a lot of stuff lately. He's in hospital and out of hospital, and he's really been fighting it; he really wants to get out there. But in my mind, it's very difficult to sort of say yes. I've gotta think of the people in the band as well. I've gotta think of Ozzy, if he's gonna be all right to do a show and whatever.
"So I wasn't that comfortable with it. But I didn't know Ozzy [chuckles] would be doing it on his own. But it's great. I hope he can do it and that it'll be really good. He really wants to do it. And he's really trying to pull to get himself back. He's had to go through such a lot of hard stuff lately. It's such a shame, really. But he's still fighting there."
Pressed to confirm that the OG lineup of Sabbath had actually been offered a slot at the festival, Iommi responded, "Yeah. Sort of, yeah. I mean, we hadn't approached the others as far as doing it. They might have said no. But it didn't get much further than me, really. But, yeah, that's the way it is.
"If you're gonna go out, I want to do a good show," he added. "I want to go out on the top and do it. I don't wanna just go and slap something together. And I'm not saying it would have been, but it could have been difficult.
"I've certainly done the Commonwealth Games [in Birmingham last August] with Ozzy, and that sort of happened. But to do a full show, you've gotta make sure everybody's in good shape because people are gonna remember you by that show. And I don't want our reputation to go downhill all of a sudden. If something goes wrong or somebody can't make it and we have to cancel… 'Cause I don't know everybody's health; I don't know how Bill's [Ward, original Sabbath drummer] feeling these days. You just don't know. So I'd like to be sure," Iommi concluded. "If you're gonna do anything, it's gotta be good or [you should] not bother."
PowerTrip will take place the weekend of October 6th-8th in Indio, California.
