Folkestone Bar that once hosted Ozzy Osbourne prepares for tribute weekend

KentOnline / KMTV

As the music world mourns the passing of the Prince of Darkness, Tofts Cafe and Bar are making sure they honour the rock star's legacy.  Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00Music has been in mourning as Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, passed away earlier

00:11this week. A global music star known for his wild on-stage antics and roaring vocals, but

00:17before selling out stadiums he actually performed in a nightclub in Folkestone only a year after

00:22joining Black Sabbath. Now Tofts has turned from a club into a bar and cafe and are holding

00:27a weekend tribute to honour Ozzy's legacy. When we heard of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne

00:32I think no matter what music you're into, we're talking about the passing of an icon,

00:37and a pioneer in music, and to have that direct link that he played here in his early days

00:41when he was just starting out, we just thought it was really fitting that in Folkestone that

00:46we host something for the fans. We've had reunion nights where people that used to club

00:51here in their heyday, in their teenage years, they're now sort of running into their 60s

00:54and 70s, and they all come here and get together, share stories, we play, you know, playlists

00:59from things like Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, lots of different ones. People have just given

01:04us reams and reams of stories, as you'll see, about the people that have played here, when

01:08they played here. And you'll see here as well, where Black Sabbath played on the 11th of April

01:151970. So again, this was a local that used to frequent the nightclub, and he kept a diary,

01:22and all his tickets, and all his flyers, and so was able to give us a sort of itinerary

01:26of all the artists, and when they played, which was fabulous.

01:28Now this would have once been Toft's nightclub, where Ozzy Osbourne performed to a massive crowd

01:33of about 12 people. But from humble beginnings, he forged a dynamic global music career, cementing

01:39himself as one of the icons of heavy metal and hard rock. He also inspired many around

01:44the world, and some bands that might perform right here in Kent.

01:47Well, we kind of got into it, because one of the guys that we were in a band with at the

01:53time, not that we've been in bands for many years, but we was in a band, and one of the

01:58guys had been harbouring this desire to do an Aussie tribute. So he kind of kicked it

02:07off. And really, when you look at Black Sabbath, they've influenced so much of the rock and

02:13metal scene anyway. You can't help but just be influenced by that.

02:20Ozzy passed away only 17 days after his final performance, and many of his fans around the

02:25world have been playing his songs that now hold a different meaning, like his 1996 hit,

02:30See You on the Other Side.

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