TORONTO - Metal matchups don't get much better that last night's monster pairing of headliner Ozzy Osbourne and opening act Rob Zombie.

It was like the metal sweepstakes as the frequent touring partners upped each other's games and showed off their particular strengths as showmen.

Ozzy actually started his 90-minute set by making fun of himself in a series of TV and film parodies.

As Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Caribbean, he screamed "I'm back!' before he bit the head off a parrot, for example.

But despite the jokes at his own expense, music's so-called Prince of Darkness, now 59, shows no signs of retiring judging from his first song, I Don't Wanna Stop, from his first solo record in six years, Black Rain, followed by another new one, Not Going Away, later in the show.

"It's been a f---ing long time! Let me see you go f---ing crazy," said Osbourne, dressed in head-to-toe black including a headband that briefly kept his long hair off his face.

And even if Osbourne has aged -- his child-like jumping on the spot, clapping with his hands over his head and shuffling around the stage recalled his MTV reality show's doddering persona -- he's still lovable whether he was throwing buckets of water on the crowd during Crazy Train or gleefully hosing them down with white foam during Suicide Solution and Mr. Crowley.

"It feels good to be f---ing crazy," he said after casually mooning the audience. "Are you having fun?"

The answer would appear to be a resounding yes.

Osbourne was aided in his demented musical mission by a tight-sounding four-piece band including twirling bassist and former Zombie player Rob "Blasko" Nicholson and ear-shredding guitarist Zakk Wylde, although Ozzy's late guitarist Randy Rhoads, who died in 1982, was acknowledged on a banner displayed onstage

Even band introductions were done with enthusiasm as Osbourne had the audience chant the names of each member with Wylde -- he later began and ended an extended guitar solo by pounding his chest -- getting several hugs from Ozzy.

Music from Osbourne's days as the frontman of '70s metal pioneers Black Sabbath was kept to a minimum although he did choose to end the show with the chugging Sabbath classic Paranoid, bringing out the white foam hose again, after performing his own ballad, Mama, I'm Coming Home, a song about his wife and manager Sharon or "Sharon!" as he might say.

Zombie, 43, earlier set the performing bar high, opening his hour-long multi-media extravaganza set with a clip from Werewolf Women of the SS, his fake horror movie trailer that ran with the Grindhouse double bill.

That, of course, was before the success of Zombie's own Halloween remake this past fall which set a new Labour Day weekend box office record.

Zombie, who has been touring with Osbourne since October in support of his album, Zombie Live, wrapped up his opening gig duties last night after a final string of Eastern Canadian dates.

"We saved the best show for last, we thought it would be the best audience -- we'll see," he said. Turns out he was pretty much on the money.

Zombie and his three musicians made a staggeringly loud noise with their full metal assault aided by strobe lights, fire bursts, multiple video screens, two dancing girls, including his own wife Sheri Moon, an 8-foot high drum riser with a red devil face, and a guy in a B-movie monster suit with the words "Kick me" on the back.

But it was Zombie's own aggressive, in-your-face performing style, which included going into the audience for a superb rendition of More Human Than Human, or later doing a crowd walkabout shining two hand-held spotlights that really won everyone over.

More often than not he was just a hyper presence, pacing the stage or standing on top of one of his video monitors, whipping his long hair while he sang.

"This is an exciting place to be right now isn't it?" said Zombie during one wild crowd scream-along and nobody could disagree.

Sun Rating: 4 out of 5