There's a reason fans of Ozzy Osbourne think he rules.

Because he does.

Osbourne delivered a full on rock 'n' roll spectacle at the Winnipeg Arena last night in front of 8,000 frenzied fans who bowed at the altar of the godfather of heavy metal.

With more than 30 years of material to choose from Osbourne covered all the bases, performing songs from his days in Black Sabbath to tunes from his last album, 2001's Down to Earth.

"This is a night to be remembered, are you up for it? Let's go crazy," he screamed before his band launched into their first song, War Pigs.

From then on Osbourne, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Mike Bordin did no wrong, ripping through versions of I Don't Know, Flying High Again, Gets Me Through, Bark at the Moon and Goodbye to Romance.

Osbourne even played the harmonica during The Wizard, the first song of a Black Sabbath medley.

With the exception of more Black Sabbath material, much of the set was the same as his show here last year. Not that it mattered. Mr. Crowley and Iron Man still sound good no matter how many times you hear them.

He may come across as a little befuddled on his television show, but when the music is playing Osbourne has it all together, even if he has to read the lyrics on a teleprompter.

Osbourne resembles a hyperactive kid on a sugar rush when he performs, jumping up and down on the spot, getting down and hopping like a frog and mooning the crowd.

But when he's not singing he's as hard to understand as ever. After saying the concert was being recorded for a live album, he tried to get the audience to chant some unintelligible gibberish no one understood.

Newsted pulled double duty on the night, playing with Montreal veterans Voivod to start the show.

The band delivered an exciting, intense set of material from throughout their 20-year history, proving they are one of this country's best metal bands ever.

The quartet, with original vocalist Snake back after an eight-year absence, played a too short 35-minute set of experimental prog-metal and straight out thrash, finishing with a cover of Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine.