Rock's `dark prince' lights up DCU Center.

Byline: Scott McLennan

WORCESTER - Though bestowed the title of rock 'n' roll's dark prince, Ozzy Osbourne is still very much the clown prince, too, injecting his 80-minute show at the DCU Center last night with ribald spoofs and occasional attacks on the crowd with a high-powered foam gun.

Of course with a catalog full of such darkly crafted nuggets as "Mr. Crowley" and "Suicide Solution," both highlights of Osbourne's set- the iconic singer could let his music take care of the more morbid business his fans appreciate while the man himself could be a near-hapless cheerleader for a style of music he both lords over and nurtures with an annual summer music festival that bears his name.

Osbourne typically does his road work with the aforementioned Ozzfest, which made his concert stop into the DCU Center a bit more of a special event, a chance for the man to really stretch out. Not only did Ozzy pick through his catalog for some nice song choices, but he also sweetened the dark deal by having Rob Zombie along as his opener.

Zombie was near perfect. While not doing too much to change up his stock set list or alter the myriad visuals he has long poured into his performances, Zombie just had the right nuance to his delivery. The electro-thrash underpinning to his sound was pulled tight, and the man was razor sharp with his timing, even when hopping into the crowd to stir up the fan base. Zombie's guitarist of the past few years, John 5, is also the best he has had with him since leaving the band White Zombie, and the ax man shined on "More Human Than Human" and "Thunder Kiss '65."

While Zombie delivered sensory overload in his set - running multiple quick-cut videos; bringing out giant robots; presenting demonic go-go dancers, and so forth - Osbourne kept his show comparatively simple. The Ozzman did have his tricks, though, such as the smutty video homage to pop culture aired before his arrival. And the way he projected his image onto screens shaped like a cross, creating a creepy "last temptation of Ozzy" look for his delivery of "Mr. Crowley" was downright brilliant, or silly depending on your point of view. But aside from the occasional blast of pyro and megawatt lighting display, Osbourne was content to simply deliver the songs with the assistance of his longtime guitar cohort Zakk Wylde, bassist Blaskio, drummer Mike Bordin, and keyboard player Alan Wakeman.

The band took the stage with "I Don't Wanna Stop," one of three songs Osbourne pulled from his new album "Black Rain." The show's only clunker came from the new record and that was when Osbourne turned in the generic ballad "Here For You." Making that song especially pale were the night's other slow songs, namely "Mama, I'm Coming Home," and "Road to Nowhere."

But how were people supposed to go "(bleeping) crazy," as Osbourne commanded at least 10,000 times, to ballads? No, the Ozzman fueled the craziness instead with "Crazy Train," "Bark at the Moon" "I Don't Know" and "I Don't Want To Change the World." Stick a lengthy Wylde fire guitar solo in there, and the Osbourne experience proved complete. Well, not at least until the Ozzman went back to his Black Sabbath roots for an encore reading of "Paranoid." After that bit of darkness came the pop and flash of indoor fireworks. Even the prince of darkness knows enough to leave 'em dazzled.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Rob Zombie opens for Ozzy Osbourne last night at the DCU Center.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA