I know it's probs a bit tasteless to say this, and I do not know if it was entirely Heck's doing, but by having the Sabberf farewell gig happen at Villa Park, with the gigantic worldwide coverage, and prior to that, hitching Ozzy to the Villa bandwagon (the shirt launch last year), plus stuff like the tifo - even though we all know he didn't care too much about football - someone at the club has absolutely pulled a blinder.
They obviously didn't know he was going to pass away quite so quickly, but it feels like the club, with the concert and even the funeral today, has all of a sudden found a deep source of cultural relevance.
And the city, even more so.