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OZZFEST 2004: The State of Heavy Metal I found a comfortable vantage point and prepared to maintain my position, which is when I started looking around. Huge drunk men surrounded me. As the realization dawned on me that there was no escape, Hatebreed frontman Jamie Jasta appeared and incited a riot. As the waves of MORE drunk men surged forward from the back, the crowd opened up around me and there I stood, the accidental mosher, scurrying to get out of the way. Soon I found myself in the safer environs back by the soundboard only to experience a sobering epiphany -I'm not 16 anymore. So
why was I there? Mainly through a series of circumstances that I won't go into
here, but partly on assignment from the REVIEW to check out the 'Current
State of Heavy Metal.' The
second stage is starting earlier and earlier every year - Devildriver,
the new project from ex-Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara opened the show
at 8AM! We didn't make it there until 11:30, so by that time we'd also missed
Darkest Hour, Otep, and the band I'd wanted to see-Lacuna Coil,
because I am a sucker for female-fronted, gothic
neo-classicism-with-shades-of-middle-eastern-tonalities metal, and I think LC is
the only practitioner of this form. Changeovers between bands were done in ten minutes flat, with the sets running exactly 20 minutes. Things were rolling right along up until the end - it seemed like it took Slipknot half an hour to get on stage. While we were waiting, one of the percussionists (or so we thought) was wondering around in the crowd in full regalia, including his personal mask, which featured an overly long, Pinnochio-esque schnozz. As people gasped when he passed by, he was soon accosted by a young lady who proceeded to perform mock-fellatio on the nose of the mask. But she wasn't stopping there - Down she went. I wish I coulda' seen the look on her face when the real guy from Slipknot emerged from backstage! Slipknot was definitely the highlight of the second stage, although the front of house mix was the worst I would hear all day. But then, mixing a chaotic 9-piece band o' clowns probably isn't the easiest thing in the world. I should also mention the band Magna-Fi - they were the only ones who didn't seem pissed off about anything, and any band that opens their micro-set with Van Halen's "Eruption" with S***-eating grins on their faces gets my vote! The
main stage was a mixed bag - much more so than in previous years. It was opened
by Ozzy's guitarist Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, who did an
admirable job of kicking things off. Superjoint Ritual was next, and they
were fairly intense, tho frontman Phil Anselmo spent most of the set
babbling incoherently about I'm not sure what. I pretty much sat down for their
set-I had other things to attend to. Next
up was a dose of European black-metal in the form of Dimmu Borgir, who
looked and sounded like the Miscreants on Halloween, with a hefty dose of
Defcon 666. The local chapter of The Guys Who Yell 'SLAYER' In Bars (TGWYSIB)
was out in full force for their heroes-so let's hope they got it all out of
their systems! I was surprised at how many of their songs I knew, and even more
surprised to find out I actually liked a lot of them! I don't know the name of
it, but whatever song they did right before "Dead Skin Mask"-that's my favorite
Slayer song. Then came the set I'd been waiting 22 years to see -Judas Priest with original frontman Rob Halford. Although Halford didn't quite interact with the crowd as much as I would have thought (he lurked in the upper corners of the stage so much, it was the third song before I saw him) his legendary voice was in fine form, and the rest of the band seemed to have not lost any of their intensity in the years past. A
special treat for the faithful came in the form of Defenders of the Faith's "the
Sentinel"-I never thought I'd get to hear that song live! Of course, they had to
whip out "Living after Midnight" and "You Got Another Thing comin'", but for me,
it was all about "Electric Eye", "Touch of Evil", and "Victim of Changes". Which of course leaves Black Sabbath. As I mentioned in the Cooper piece, the last time I saw them in 1999 was a major disappointment, and I braced myself for more of the same. But it was not to be. After a musical montage of all their greatest hits blared thru the PA, the original lineup (Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and of course, Ozzy Osbourne) proceeded to annihilate all that came before them with a timely rendition of "War Pigs". "I don't know if you heard," smiled Ozzy,"but I had a little accident awhile back. The doctor told me, 'Ozzy, you can't go out and perform again for at least 18 months'-guess what I told him?" and with that, the entire capacity crowd at DTE erupted in one gigantic" F*** YOU!" From there, the Sabs kicked out the jams-the avant-fusion of "Faeries Wear Boots"; the love-song-from-Satan "N.I.B."; the obligatory "Paranoid" and "Iron Man"; and a pleasant surprise- a barn burning reading of "Children of the Grave". Ah, Black Sabbath-thou hast redeemed thyself in mine eyes! All in all, Ozzfest 2004 had something for everyone-which was evidenced by the diversity of the crowd. Hardcore skinheads, little Goth kids, mohawked little punks, smelly longhairs, even yuppies in Izods mingled peacefully, and I saw no fights all day. Who would have thought metalheads could behave themselves so well?
Pictures left to right -- Hank Williams III
of Superjoint Ritual, James Lomanzo from Black Label Society, Rob (click to enlarge) Photos by Kay McEntee |
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