For those who’ve been living under a rock, or just been partying extra hard for Halloween and didn’t notice, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held the Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear this past Saturday (October 30) at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The rally featured a lot of comedy and musical performances. But one of the best surprises from the two hour event came from the Prince Of Darkness himself. In order to fight Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) and his “Peace Train,” Colbert brought out Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Gus G. to perform “Crazy Train” with The Roots. Insanity ensued … and then was followed by The O’Jays performing “Love Train.” You can check out video of Ozzy’s appearance above.
I was fortunate enough to have actually been at the rally in person. To make it better, my friend and I were in a spot where we could actually see what was happening on the stage (most of the 250,000 people in attendance weren’t as lucky). Was it worth losing a crap load of sleep and gaining a sore back from standing in the same spot since 7 AM? Hell yes it was! Where else would I get to see The Daily Show and Colbert Report “live in concert” and for free? Sure there were some low points (like Sheryl Crow) and it got a tad annoying when a poster would block my view here and there (there was one particular guy who even when everyone stopped raising signs kept raising his. It wasn’t even a funny sign either…jackass). But the moments that were great, including appearances from R2D2, Mick Foley and Sam Waterston just to name a few, made it a fun rock/comedy type festival to be apart of. And not to sound cheesy, but Stewart’s closing remarks really rang true to me and most of the large audience in attendance. However, the highlight of the entire rally was seeing Ozzy Osbourne and Cat Stevens take part in a musical battle. For music nerds everywhere, that was truly a sight to see.
