Hotel prices have been rising drastically in Birmingham in anticipation for Black Sabbath’s farewell concert “Back To The Beginning” which will be taking place in July. The concert, now fully sold out, was announced earlier this month and includes a lineup of metal icons which will be gracing the Villa Park stage to bid farewell to the Black Sabbath stars, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, whom will be reuniting to say goodbye to each other and to fans, playing their first show together in over twenty years.
The concert will also include a small set from Ozzy Osbourne himself, and will be closed by the iconic band. The lineup also includes musicians from around the world will also be on hand to pay tribute, including Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), K.K. Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), II (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen, and Zakk Wylde.
Because the concert, which is already sold out, will draw an extensive amount of people to Birmingham, Birmingham Live reports that hotels near Villa Park, where the legendary metal band will perform their final show on July 5, have increased their rates by as much as 725%.
The article offers a comparison of The Apollo Hotel on Hagley Road, which is a prime example of this surge. A ‘superior’ double room without breakfast was listed at £619 for the night of the concert on Hotels.com. In contrast, the same room for the previous Saturday, booked through the same platform, was priced at just £75.
Birmingham Live also notes a Travelodge at Broadway Plaza, 14 minutes from the venue, where a room priced at £53.99 on June 28 surges to £319.99 on July 5. Likewise, in Yardley, a 22-minute drive from Villa Park, a Travelodge room that costs £47.99 the week before Back to the Beginning will rise to £303.99 on the night of the event.
Skyrocketing hotel prices are just the latest challenge for fans hoping to attend Back to the Beginning. According to the BBC, when tickets went on sale on February 14, the online queue exceeded 60,000 people—far more than Villa Park’s 42,000-seat capacity. Those who managed to secure a spot faced ticket prices ranging from £200 to several thousand pounds.
All profits from the night will go to the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
