Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzfest 7/12/03

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This was the first time Ozzfest was held at the White River Amphitheatre instead of the Gorge. This venue opened about a month before this show so I think the promoters were trying to drive business to it. The promoters probably figured that a large majority of the people who went to concerts at the Gorge were from Seattle anyway so why not move the concert closer to Seattle. The problem is that there is no comparing to the Gorge, especially with a cookie-cutter amphitheatre such as this. I went with my cousin Earl who at the time lived nearby in Renton.

Before they were on my radar Chevelle played the Ozzfest I attended the previous summer, but because they were not on my radar this was my first time actually seeing them. All it took for me to like this band was to hear “The Red” one time from the Wonder What’s Next album that they were touring behind. I remember being highly impressed that it was just three guys on a stark stage rocking out.

Disturbed was still touring for the album Believe and continued where they left off the last time I had seen them with Korn. I believe it was during Disturbed’s set that people up in the lawn section where I was at began throwing water bottles toward the stage for no apparent reason. The bottles got nowhere near the stage and were hitting people that were closer to the stage downhill. It was fucked up but it was probably more fucked up when I started laughing uncontrollably when the people downhill started throwing the bottles back (uphill). Poor people with better seats…

This was the fourth time I had the pleasure of seeing Marilyn Manson. They were touring for The Golden Age of Grotesque that had been released just a few months prior to this show. Both the album and performance gave a heavy nod to 30’s vaudeville and burlesque mixed in with the usual Manson stage antics. Sadly this would be the last time I would see the band with John 5.

Marilyn Manson is a tough act to follow but Korn held their own. Much better than the last time I had seen them with Disturbed. They were still touring for Untouchables but were much tighter this time. I also remember walking through an exhibit that Jonathan Davis had set up in a trailer earlier in the day. The exhibit was basically a freak show with many serial killer artifacts.

I would tell you I remember Ozzy at this show but I really have zero recollection of seeing him here. I know we stayed for the entire show but my mind is drawing a blank. As previously stated I am not all that into solo Ozzy versus Black Sabbath so this does not entirely surprise me.

David Draiman, the lead singer in the Heavy Metal rock group Disturbed, performs at Ozzfest 2003 in Devore, California, late July 5, 2003. Twenty bands on two stages performed during the all-day outdoor concert 60 miles east of Los Angeles, California. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen JR – RTR73L

 

Ozzfest 8/24/00

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Main Stage: Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Godsmack, Static-X, Incubus, Methods of Mayhem, P.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age

Second Stage: Soulfly, Kittie, Disturbed, Taproot, Reveille, Primer 55, Black Label Society

So here I am again returning to the Gorge with my honey Lucinda for some good old rock/metal. Friends Mark and Claude joined us. Taproot was touring for their debut album Gift and the first band up that we were interested in seeing. They seemed pretty polished to be playing on the second stage. Disturbed played next. There was a buzz around them and they did not disappoint. They had just released The Sickness in March and played the finer moments of the album in their set. I remember wanting to watch Soulfly but the distance between the second and main stages at the Gorge is sometimes too great for the time allowed between bands. I didn’t want to miss whoever was up next on the main stage. Speaking of the main stage, Queens of the Stone Age should have been there but for some reason our show was the first they were not at (they took a break from Ozzfest August 24th-30th). Methods of Mayhem were the first band there that we watched on the main stage instead. Tommy Lee did a great job as a frontman/guitarist for being known as a drummer. He had a funny narrative about crawling back home after a night of heavy drinking. Incubus was next and this was the first time I had got to see them perform songs from Make Yourself. After seeing them open for 311 I forgot about them until I heard an acoustic version of “Pardon Me” that blew my mind. They definitely impressed the crowd. Static-X followed with almost the same setlist as the year before but had pumped up their stage show a little. Wayne’s hair may have grew a little longer too, which for those who are unfamiliar with it is about two feet of hair sticking straight toward the sky. Godsmack was after Static-X. Their debut album slowly grew on me after hearing Lucinda play it a number of times to the point of me actually looking forward to seeing them. They rocked their ass off and even played the then unreleased song “Awake.” As the theme of the summer seemed to be, I was once again really at this show to see one band: the almighty Pantera. I was turned onto them by Claude right after Vulgar Display of Power came out and have been a fan ever since. I was lucky enough to be able to buy Far Beyond Driven and The Great Southern Trendkill the day the albums came out. For this show they were on tour for the album Reinventing the Steel that had just been released a few months prior. I remember the crowd going crazier than I have ever seen a crowd go. They were fucking going off. I remember trying to protect Lucinda from the debauchery since she was so small and we were in the floor section. Dimebag was a showboater but with his level of talent had every reason to be. We stayed around to watch Ozzy but weren’t really that stoked to be there. Pantera kicked our ass and I’ve never really been a fan of Ozzy’s solo efforts because I have Black Sabbath to compare to. Don’t get me wrong, he was nuts but unfortunately he had the displeasure of playing after Pantera and competing against my previous year’s experience of watching Black Sabbath. If you are fan of Pantera then unfortunately you know how the rest of their story unfolded, which is why I never got to see them again.

 

Ozzfest 7/18/99

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Main Stage: Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie, Deftones, Slayer, Primus, Godsmack, System of a Down

Second Stage: Fear Factory, Static-X, Slipknot, Puya, Drain STH, hed (pe), Apartment 26, Flashpoint

This was the first Ozzfest that had come in my proximity. Ozzfest had been going since 1996 and kind of filled the summer void that Lollapalooza had left. I was pretty excited about this show because every band on the main stage was a band I wanted to see even though I had already seen some of the bands before. A girl in one of my classes named Tawni turned me onto System of a Down. I was lucky enough to sit next to her in my math class and we had similar musical musings. My cousin Earl really liked them too and gave me their first album on CD for my 21st birthday. They were the first band on the main stage and touring for their eponymous album. Claude strikes again though. Bless his soul but the guy’s just not all there sometimes and this time he didn’t quite comprehend the importance of leaving at a specified time. Long story short we arrived just in time to see the last 3 songs of System of a Down’s set. By we I mean Earl and I only because we ran all the way down to the floor from the moment we arrived inside the Pearly Gates. I believe Roscoe was also with us? The next band up was Godsmack who was also touring for their eponymous album. They were on it. They played pretty much their whole first album. Primus was next and let me just say that Les Claypool is a badass. They were still a few months away from releasing Antipop so they technically touring for their EP of cover songs Rhinoplasty. This is probably about the time in the show we started shifting from the first stage to the second stage all the way up on the hill. We saw Static-X up there, who was on tour for their new album Wisconsin Death Trip! We also saw Slipknot who had just unleashed their debut eponymous album on the world a few short weeks earlier. I wasn’t really into them at the time but did find it quite entertaining to see nine guys dressed up in fucked up masks rocking their ass off and just flat out going crazy onstage. Back to the mainstage was Slayer whose newest effort at the time was Diabolus in Musica. I love their fat ass guitar riffs but at the time just could not get with Tom Araya’s voice. Next up was Deftones. This was the third time I was lucky enough to see them and they were nothing short of amazing. Deftones are a hard act to follow but Rob Zombie somehow managed. It had only been three months since the last time I saw him but I think this performance was much better. Maybe it was just because I knew Korn wasn’t following him this time. The closing band was none other than Black Sabbath! I’m not talking about that shit with Dio, I’m talking about the real Black Sabbath with Ozzy. I was as excited about this as any other band of the day. Never in a million years did I think I would ever get the opportunity to see a band that was huge in the 1970’s. I really got into Black Sabbath when I was about 16. It started with the album Paranoid and then I bought the whole catalog one album at a time. They did not disappoint me. Ozzy was still as crazy as he was made out to be, Tony Iommi was razor sharp on his riffs, and the rhythm section was holding down the groove. Little did I know that this would not be the last time I would see them.