Ozzfest 2007
Written by David Baldwin
Published on 08/05/2007
Originally from Binary Culture / [the-lowdown.net]
http://www.binaryculture.net

I went to my first Ozzfest yesterday, July 12, and there’s only one word I can use to describe it: incredible.

Seeing Ozzy himself for free is awesome enough, not to mention the 14 other bands that played. And even though it was free, the show included a few big-name bands: Static-X, Lamb of God, Hatebreed and 3 Inches of Blood. Lordi, who is big in Europe ever since they brought Finland their first victory at Eurovision, was also there.
Unfortunately, it was pretty hot for Washington’s standards and now I’m suffering from a wicked sunburn.

But my buddy Justin and I somehow got away with bringing in about eight bottles of water in our duffle bag of goodies. Any water was supposed to be poured into cups and no other drinks were allowed in. The checker let us through with just a glance inside the bag.

Monster was there giving away free energy drinks and they had a nice shaded area to sit and enjoy it. Normally I don’t drink Monster (I’m not a fan of the taste), but damn did it hit the spot.

We had a lot of fun just watching people. There were all kinds of outfits – everything from everyday clothes to fishnets, platform boots, mohawks and even gas masks. It seemed like we were the only ones without tattoos. I was sporting an “I Beat Anorexia” shirt, which, surprisingly, a lot of people commented on. One guy even wanted my picture. I gave him my email so he can send it to me.

There were two stages – the main stage, where Lordi, Static-X, Lamb of God and Ozzy played, and the second stage for everybody else. Hatebreed was on the second stage, even though I heard they were on the main stage last year.

We didn’t watch a lot of the bands on the second stage, so I’ll just skip ahead to the main one. Lordi started it off and got a very bad response. Since this was their first show in the U.S. and they only have one album released on this side of the Atlantic, not even half the audience knew who they were. People around us were sitting down, talking, even sleeping. A few booed at them. Justin and I, who love Lordi and sang along to all of their songs, couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

Static-X was next. They did really well and I enjoyed them, even though I only know maybe two of their songs.

Lamb of God fared even better, even though Ozzy stole the crowd’s attention from them. During one of their songs, he ran into the lawn area (behind the seats of the amphitheatre – where Justin and I were). Everybody crowded around him and weren’t paying attention to Lamb, who was still playing. I was less than 50 feet away from him. Saying I was as giddy as a schoolboy is an understatement.

Ozzy was, of course, the highlight of the show. He only did a couple songs from the new album. His set included Bark at the Moon, Mr. Crowley, Suicide Solution and War Pigs. He only faltered a little bit and was able to sing all of the songs just fine (that we heard - we left early to beat traffic). After one of the songs, Zakk Wylde played a sick solo that lasted at least five minutes. He played with the guitar behind his head and with his teeth, reminding me that I came to the show for Zakk as well as Ozzy.

So now that I’ve covered myself with Aloe Vera, my vocal chords have recovered and I’ve slept the better part of the day away, I can honestly say that Ozzfest was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been to. If you can, go. And if you do, give Lordi a chance.