Ozzfest was an amazing experience! It was my first outdoor music
festival, and I'm hooked! I didn't even care about most of the bands
on the bill, but I wanted to live the experience, and it was
fantastic. It was certainly the roughest looking crowd I've ever
emersed myself in...luckily for me it was all-ages, so there weren't
many tall people, so I actually got to see the bands for a change! I
even saw a guy overdose, which was really creepy...his eyes were wide
open and his friends were slapping him around but there was no
reaction, like he was dead.
Anyways, The Docks was a great place to have it...the main stage
(which was huge) was set up in the parking lot facing the city
skyline with the lake right behind it. And there was so much stuff to
do there! Lots of merchandise booths (in case you're one of the
suckers who would actually splurge at least 40 bucks for a t-shit),
huge patios behind the club itself where you could chill, drink or
eat, lawn chairs in the sand right by the water's edge, a pool, a
drive-in, a golf driving range, arcades, an inflated jousting
matress, a bungee swing ride, and even sprinklers to cool off! Or you
could hang out in the air conditioned main building, right on the
dancefloor...it was really dark in there and they had all sorts of
neat psychedelic lights...I betcha a lot of people were tripping in
there!
The weather was great too, if a bit on the hot side. At least that
forced all the hot chicks I saw to dress more skimpily ;) I got there
around 2:30 pm, at which point it was already quite packed.
Now I'll give you a run down of the bands I saw. First up was Black
Label Society...you know Zakk Wylde right? He's been Ozzy's solo band
guitarist since about 1988, the guy with the really long blonde hair,
that I'm sure you all remember from the "No More Tears" video. Well,
Black Label Society is his own band on the side, and I gotta say they
weren't bad at all! Really heavy band, but with lots of creative
guitar playing and insane solos...man that guy can play! Then
Disturbed came on, and they weren't too bad either, but got kinda
repetitive. After that Crazy Town came up with their rap metal
style...they bored me, at which point I started wandering the grounds
again. Then came Linkin Park, more boring screamed teenage rap
metal...by this point I really started to understand why Ozzy said
that in his opinion most of the bands on his own festival suck. At
least he's honest! Then Papa Roach appeared with yet more completely
unoriginal sounding rap metal, but they were a bit better than the
previous few; still didn't stop me from wandering and staring at T &
A though.
Then Slipknot came on, and I have to say they were the most insane
out of everybody who played. Just imagine 6 guys in one-piece orange
boiler room outfits with each one wearing a distinctive ghoulish
mask. They've gained a huge following over the past year or two, and
nobody has ever seen them without their masks. Sounds kinda like
Kiss, eh?? Well, they certainly don't sound like Kiss! Their music is
insane. They have to be one of the most uncommercial, heaviest
mainstream bands in history...the aggression was absolutely
relentless. We're talking grinding, detuned thrash speed metal, kinda
like Slayer in a way. Mostly barked or screamed vocals, blistering
riffs, and insanely fast double bass drumming, on every godamn song!
And they even had some guy bashing a bunch of differently sized steel
drums all the time. You know, I was impressed by their energy,
presence, and brute force, but the music just isn't interesting. It
all sounded the same, with barely a melody in sight...a perfect
example of sacrificing songcraft for naked aggression. Not a shred of
musical talent. After a few minutes I was bored because it was all
noise to me. Does that mean I'm getting old??
Then Marilyn Manson came on (timed perfectly with the setting
sun...boo, scary!), and in all honestly I have to say that after the
assault of Slipknot, his songwriting sounded Beatle-esque in
comparison. I mean that in the best way, because I was so relieved to
hear actual SONGS with melodies again, instead of an hour long
earthquake. This was the third time I'd seen Manson, and as usual he
put on a great show. Great song selection, costume changes, and he
has great charisma on stage. Needless to say, my friend and I got
right into the thick of things for his performance, getting as close
as about 10 meters or so to the stage. The funniest part was when
Manson stopped the show halfway through because some guy in the crowd
threw a water bottle at him. He was quite enraged and said he
wouldn't continue unless the guy who threw it would come up on
stage...much to our shock, the guy actually went up there! At that
point Manson challenged the guy to try and hit him again from across
the stage with another bottle. The guy lobbed it over Manson's head,
obviously purposely missing him, at which point Manson hurled a
bottle back which smacked the guy right in the chest! He seemed
really pissed off and looked like he was going to go after Manson,
but security threw him into the crowd!
Then of course, the moment I had been waiting for, Black Sabbath.
What a bunch of savvy veterans...they easily outplayed and
outperformed all the bands half their age. How do a bunch of guys in
their mid 50's do that?? They just had an air of supreme confidence
about them that was just infectious...they gel together so well, and
they truly looked like they were enjoying every minute of the show. I
can't imagine how these guys managed to not get along for such a long
time...it really must have been the drugs! Geezer Butler and Bill
Ward were their usual brilliant selves as the ever punishing, yet
melodic, rhythm section (as most older bands are...remember, back in
the 60's and 70's you actually had to know how to play an instrument
to be successful). Judging by his brilliant, intense, and unorthodox
drumming style, you'd never guess poor Bill Ward actually suffered a
heart attack during practice sessions for their 1999 tour.
As for legendary guitarist Tony Iommi, what can you possibly say at
this point? His playing remains as unique as ever, despite the fact
that 33 years ago he essentially invented a musical genre that has
spawned literally thousands of cheap imitations...his demonic note
bending and patented riffs were in full force; NOBODY sounds like
him. He barely stopped smiling for the entire hour and a half that
they played, winked at the crowd, and threw tons of picks into the
open arms of adoring fans. His playing was note for note accurate,
even on the solos, which traditionally are improvised in a live
setting...and how the hell did he manage to avoid sweating despite
playing the entire show in a long black leather trench coat? An
imposing, stoic, almost Dracula-like figure, he seems more like a
musician than a rock star...it's like he has become an older English
gentleman of sorts.
Ozzy looked good, if a bit pudgy, and was hyper as usual, running
from side to side almost non stop and doing his trademark frog jumps.
He dumped countless buckets of water on the crowd, and the ones he
couldn't reach with the buckets, he drenched with 2 high powered
super soakers! Over and over! The guy is such a lovable goof...at one
point he even grabbed a fan's hat and wore it for a whole song. Huge
water jets shot out from the top of the stage too, which simulated a
downpour quite nicely...everybody got completely soaked, but that
wasn't so bad because of the heat, and we were covered in sweat and
grime at that point. They also had really neat video clips and images
playing on 2 huge screens during the show, and a lot more pyro than I
was expecting!
Aside from all the obvious songs (War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man, NIB,
Black Sabbath, and Children Of The Grave), they pulled out a few
surprises, like Into The Void, and The Wizard, complete with Ozzy
pretending to play the kazoo! Man, when's the last time they
performed The Wizard? 1975?? Biggest surprise of all though was a
brand new song that's going to be on their next album (the first one
by the original band members since 1978's Never Say Die), called
Scary Dreams...what an awesome tune! It's a slower, very bluesy song
that sounds eerie, easily recapturing the magic of their early 70's
classic material. Tony just doesn't run out of great riffs, does he?
If this song is any indication of how the whole album will sound
like, then it's going to be very, very strong material. The album
comes out next year, after Ozzy gets his new solo album (in stores in
October) out of the way. How about that eh? An equally successful
double career...seems Ozzy can do no wrong these days.
When I saw Sabbath at the Skydome in 1999, I sat so high up that it
was hard to fully enjoy the show...if I hadn't brought those
binoculars along I think I would have really missed out. So naturally
I felt I had to make amends this time around, making sure to get up
close and personal with the legends. I could even see Iommi's rubber
finger tips! Great way to enjoy a show...I'm so glad I didn't wimp
out and just stay at the back. If I never get to see them again, I'll
at least have seen them properly now at a close distance, the way
it's meant to be. The funniest part was right at the end, when Ozzy
said: "Please listen people...before we go, I just want to say that
if you've been drinking alcohol, smoking dope, or injesting whatever
other fucking shit's out there, and you're driving a car...then don't
drive the fucking car! God bless and good night!" He's one to talk,
having been drunk and high for years on every substance imaginable.
Still, that's probably the very reason why he said it...he's been to
hell and back so he knows what it can be like, and I think it's
pretty nice of him to voice some concern and try to influence young
people with a positive message. He seems like a really nice guy...too
bad he fucked up his life so much in the past. The statement seems
all the more hilarious though when you take into account that it was
said by a mumbling, stuttering old Englishman with a baby face that
looks eerily like Benny Hill.
So all in all it was a wonderful experience for me. There were a few
things that annoyed me however. Stage banter. Why on earth do all
these bands feel the need to spew as much pointless profanity as
possible? Just shut up and play for me, bitch. And they all say the
same things over and over. I think I heard the word "fuck" uttered
more times in that one day than in the combined previous 26 years of
my life...man, that teeny angst testosterone bullshit is so godamn
old and tired...it has to be rock's biggest cliche. It was actually
embarrassing to listen to because they sounded like such fake,
predictable doofuses who think they need to put on that act to
be "hip", especially that colossal LOSER who went on stage between
bands, drilling holes in his nose while hoarsely screaming rehearsed
profanity laced rants (seemingly based on variations of all the
applications of the word "fuck" known to man) in a forced, ridiculous
attempt to pander to kiddie angst ridden drivel. I considered it
pretty insulting to anyone who has a brain. He seemed to desperately
try to come across as angry and shocking, but the audience (to their
credit) seemed to either yawn, smirk, or roll their eyes. Who was
that insufferable cretin??
The other thing that really irritated me was body surfing. I had 2
people dropped right on my head! What the fuck is that?? I almost
blacked out and thought my neck snapped for a second, and I actually
saw a girl have to be dragged out of the crowd by security because
she collapsed after some idiot fell right on her head. What's the
bloody point of that? I hated that so much...I couldn't concentrate
on the show because I was constantly looking behind me to see when
the next body surfing imbecile was coming my way. Fucking idiots.
Man, was being in the middle of the pit ever disgusting as
well...everybody was sweating like a pig, you're crammed like
sardines, the smell was horrendous, and then we got repeatedly doused
with water. Now I know what a maggot feels like! I got home and had
about 5 showers. Don't get me wrong though; it was still a great
experience and I don't think I'd really do anything differently if I
could do it again, but I'll be quite hesitant to enter any mosh pits
at future concerts!
review by
roland
August 1st 2001
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