I know I went to this show with Jason but I cannot remember if Lucinda drove up with me from Portland for this or not. Endfest was an annual festival put on by the Seattle radio station 107.7 The End. I made to trek to see four bands. I ended up seeing three…Powerman 5000 was the first band playing that I wanted to see and they played the second stage. I had been a fan since the album Tonight the Stars Revolt! but never got the chance to see them until this concert, which was about a month after they released the album Transform. They played their set with a lot of enthusiasm and I remember thinking that they should have been playing the main stage but I guess that would have created too much of a challenge to change gear between each band. Cold was supposed to be the first band on the main stage but right before Powerman took the stage someone from the radio station informed us that Cold would not be playing because the bassist broke his hand. That meant the next band up was Staind. I had seen Staind four times prior to this but I was still excited to see them again because they had just released a new album called 14 Shades of Grey about a month earlier. Closing out the show with no shortage of pyrotechnics was Godsmack. They were touring for their album Faceless that had been released just a couple months prior to this show. Although I had seen Godsmack three times prior to this, it was the first time I saw them with their new drummer Shannon Larkin. This band was made for the big stage and took full advantage of their headlining slot, tearing through the hits and deeper cuts that I do not normally get much of at a show like this.
Main Stage: Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, Rob Zombie, P.O.D., Adema, Black Label Society, Tommy Lee
Second Stage: Down, Hatebreed, Meshuggah, Soil, The Used, Chevelle, Mushroomhead, Seether
Where to start here? All that really needs to be said is two words: Ozzfest and Gorge. I believe the first band playing that day I really wanted to see was Down. The day was overcast but Down came out and darkened the day even more with their version of Rock N’ Roll. They were touring for Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow that had come out in March. I wish I could remember seeing Chevelle and Seether but I think they happened to be on when I wanted to be at the main stage. The other strong memory from this show was System of a Down playing a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind.” Toxicity had come out almost a year before this show so by this point they were huge. I do not remember a lot of talking from them on this night. They just came out and let the music do all the talking that was necessary.
Aerosmith are one of those legendary bands that I never thought I would get to see live. That all changed when they went on tour for their recently released album Just Push Play. I realized their importance in Rock N’ Roll but never really got super into them until I met Lucinda because they are her favorite band, so naturally we had to make the trip happen. My cousin Earl was good friends with the grounds manager of the Gorge and was able to hook him up with two free tickets, which was great except he was coming down from Seattle to use one of them. It was a risky venture since it was a sold out show and because we would have to drive four hours from Portland but my past experience told me that this would not be an issue. I was right. Within one minute of arriving in the Gorge parking lot I was approached by a scalper and offered a ticket at less than face value. Problem solved. In addition to the two free tickets, Erik’s friend also bestowed quite a few free alcoholic beverages upon us and Lucinda wasn’t even 21 years old yet. We watched the opening band Fuel from a clubhouse that I never even knew existed. They were good enough but I think it is safe to say that nobody was really there to see them. Earl’s friend put us in a VIP section for Aerosmith, which was further than I was used to seeing concerts at the Gorge but turned out to be a blessing in disguise. First of all Lucinda could actually see from our spot but more importantly she was about to experience one of the highlights of her life. There was a smaller stage set up on the hill in the middle of the lawn section. Earl’s friend came over after Aerosmith started playing and told us they were going to play a few songs up there and walk right past us on the way. Joe Perry reminded me of a boxer as he walked by because he was wearing one of those silk robes with a hoodie on. Then came Steven Tyler. I lifted Lucinda up so she could be above the fence and she started freaking out as soon as he came into sight. As he walked by he reached up, locked eyes with her, grabbed her hand, and didn’t let go until their outstretched arms had no more length to give. She lost it. I have never before or since witnessed someone in person freak out like that. They played all the classics and a good portion of the new album before leaving about 2.5 hours after they began. I doubt Lucinda slept much that night…
You can’t tell from the pictures but the Gorge literally had one gigantic black cloud hanging over it for most of the day. It was the strangest thing because everywhere else within sight around the Gorge was a perfectly clear and sunny day. All I really remember about Taproot was that the entire band was clad in all-white outfits. Maybe I just wasn’t that excited about seeing them since I had already seen them twice in the prior year. I was however excited about The Union Underground because of the kick ass show they put on in Portland. I waited for them to go on stage before I sparked up a joint and directly after this the first ray of sunshine poked its head through the nasty clouds. It was a stoner moment worthy of the books. Marijuana aside, these guys were on the mark that day. “Revolution Man” was about as epic as they could’ve been. Next up on the second stage was Mudvayne. I still didn’t know that much of them but they were all painted up in costume and put on a pretty intense show. Moving on to the main stage was Crazy Town. I learned about them at a bus stop in Portland. On the bench was sitting a cassette single. All it said on the cover was “Who the fuck is Crazy Town?” I took it home and it turned out to be the songs “Toxic” and “Darkside.” I ended up buying the album based on this but they turned out to be the only songs I liked on the album, even though “Butterfly” turned out to be a commercial hit. They weren’t that great. They reminded me of a shittier version of Limp Bizkit. Disturbed followed and David Draiman was carried out on stage in a cage. It was novel but this is Ozzfest. They seemed to lose some of the explosiveness they had displayed a year prior on the second stage but nonetheless rocked. After they were done was the first time I got to see Linkin Park. I heard the song “One Step Closer” on KUFO late one night after I first moved to Portland and bought the album Hybrid Theory. They were a good mix of heavy and soft. I don’t remember anything about Papa Roach playing but know they were there. Slipknot was insanity. They graduated from the second to the first stage since I saw them at Ozzfest ’99. They were about a month away from releasing their second album Iowa but I’m pretty sure they played some of that album live. Then came the real reason I was here: Marilyn Manson. I had just seen them at the beginning of the year, on acid no less, but based on the past two times I had seen them and everything else I knew about them I knew they wouldn’t disappoint. And they didn’t. The guitarist John5 was painted up like the joker and besides tearing through their heaviest material they put a new spectacle to the test. During “Cruci-Fiction In Space” Marilyn kept getting hoisted higher and higher into the air until he was damn near the top of the rafters (see photo). The illusion was outstanding thanks to the cape he wore that disguised the actual hoist. This was the first and only time I ever saw them do that. Then to close the show was Black Sabbath. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would get to see them even once, but twice? It had been a few years since seeing them the first time but they didn’t miss a step. The set was short and concise but left everyone in the crowd feeling satisfied.
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.
This concert ranks as my #2 favorite concert of all time right behind Tool at the Gorge. It was a similar set of circumstances in many ways. The three words that come to mind are intense, spiritual, and surreal. Lucinda and I made the approximately four hour drive to meet up with Jason, Roscoe, and Joe. We were armed to the teeth with LSD and ready for the time of our life. This was to be the first time any of us had seen Nine Inch Nails, the first time Lucinda had been to the Gorge and the first time she had taken LSD. To top it off A Perfect Circle was the opener. They had just released Mer de Noms a few weeks prior to this show and by the time of the show we were already in love with the album. I remember laughing hysterically on the hill with Lucinda before either band came on because the acid was starting to take hold. It was creeping up on us progressively the whole time A Pefect Circle was on stage. They played almost every song on the first album. Maynard was clad in a long dark wig and commented that it was “a nice day for a picnic” as the sun set behind them with the beautiful backdrop of the gorge. During the breakdown in “Magdalena” he began to spin around in a circle faster and faster as the musical landscape intensified. Then came time for Nine Inch Nails. They were touring for their double album The Fragile, which had come out the previous September. Their show was just absolutely amazing and not just because I was on acid. They had these three giant screens that moved about, accentuating every little thing. The band reminded me of army ants onstage because there were times when the band was moving around the stage as frantically as the music was fierce. The guitarist Robin Finck was aptly nicknamed “Lizard Man” by my friends and I from this point on because of his costume and general stage presence. I swear he was shaking guitar notes out of his leg. Incredible. There is a wonderful DVD out called “And All That Could Have Been” that documents the entire tour, with snippets from this actual concert. It is a great reminder for me of one of the best nights of my life and will give all those not in attendance a little glimpse of what they missed out on.
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.
Two great concerts within a month at the Gorge? Yep. Rage Against the Machine in their heyday a little more than a year after Evil Empire was released. I had heard Rage Against the Machine once again through Claude. His sister turned him onto them right about the time “Freedom” was getting airplay. By now we were used to the Gorge pretty well only this time as we approached the parking lot we passed about 10 huge news crew trucks to the side of the road. The reason why is because the sheriff of Grant County thought there were going to be riots and a general trashing of the place. We had both cars parked side by side and one person stood on the bottom door sill to watch for cops while the rest of us were drinking beer. There was a greater police force roaming the aisles of the parking lot than ever before. At one point a huge military plane also flew over us, which to this day was also the only time I’ve seen any plane while at the Gorge. I remember going crazy at the front of the stage when Rage opened with “Fuck Tha Police.” The most memorable thing about this show is that the whole floor seemed to turn into a big pogo stick for pretty much the entire show. The show went on without any issue but somehow I lost the ticket stub to this concert, which is why the ticket looks photocopied from a friend (it is).
This summer was pretty uneventful with the exception of taking full advantage of our party place. There was a plentiful source of alcohol, marijuana, and girls. I didn’t take advantage of the female part because for some stupid reason I was convinced to try to do the long distance thing with Rose. This show was definitely one of the highest points of not only the summer but also my life. At the time of this writing it is my #1 favorite concert of all time and I don’t expect that to ever be surpassed. This was to be our third Lollapalooza in a row and another chance to visit the beautiful Gorge Amphitheater. It also ended up being the last Lollapalooza until 2003. The reasons we wanted to go were simple: Korn and Tool. I was lucky enough to find out about Korn right after their first album came out and we played the shit out of that album. I remember Korn played really small venues in Seattle for about $10 to support both their self-titled album and Life Is Peachy but nobody was yet old enough to drive. The curse of Korn concerts carried on as they were not at this Lollapalooza show due to a case of meningitis in Munky. My friends and I pretty much just took it easy all day on the lawn in anticipation of Tool. By a random stroke of fate we ran into Brian, a guy we had known by association of a few other people we knew. He asked us if we wanted some acid and without hesitation said “hell yes.” Normally I cannot be around anyone else that is not on acid with me so this was to be quite the experiment but I couldn’t think of any more perfect circumstances to drop. Concerts are a place where anything goes and you are in like-minded company. Snoop Dogg performed right before Tool came on and I took the acid when he first came out. The acid came on quickly and before Snoop left the stage I was laughing my ass off. He was one funny guy that night and I don’t think my acid ingestion was the only reason. Immediately after Snoop left the stage my friends and I ventured down to the floor section to stake out a spot for Tool. The acid was kicking in hard now and it was difficult to act normal in the crowd with nobody on stage to divert their attention. After what seemed like an eternity Tool finally made it to the stage and launched into “Hooker With A Penis.” Maynard came out in a woman’s wig, bra, and had his face painted white. Tool came on when it was still light outside and brought us completely into the darkness. It was a very clear night and the stars were beautiful out there in Central Washington. At one point in the show Maynard said, “Is anyone out there trippin’?” and he hit an effect to make the word “trippin’” echo. We went nuts. Were they trippin’ that night? Only they would know the answer to that. I also came away from that concert with the greatest concert souvenir anyone could ask for. My friend Ross is about six foot six and skinny as a sign post but made it to the front of the floor section. He was snapping pictures and at one point Maynard turned to him and said, “please stop, the flash is hurting my eyes.” Ross snapped a picture at that very moment and somehow managed to escape the wrath of the whole security force that was after that camera. That picture has since been blown up and resides on my wall to this very day. This was the last time I would ever see Tool with Maynard performing front and center. Sometime after this he retired to the back of the stage and though their shows have progressively got more elaborate through the years, nothing will ever compare to that moment in time at the Gorge.
Fast-forward 7 months and a lot has changed in my life. I started seeing a girl named Rose at the tail end of the 1996 summer and she ended up being the one I lost my virginity to (late bloomer). Jack had also moved out of the townhouse because he had somewhere to live for free. The guy that was sleeping on our couch, Chip, took over Jack’s room. Once Jack’s free stay ended he persuaded me to get another place with him across town where rent was cheaper. That second residence with Jack lasted all of about 4 or 5 months before we moved out. It wasn’t exactly our choice but everything turned out alright. What happened was about a month after we moved in we had a new apartment manager and she decided to move into the apartment that shared a wall with ours. Not ideal for a couple of 19 year old males who like to party. After several warnings and an illegal run in with the cops the final straw came when our buddy Joe backed into my downstairs neighbor’s car in the middle of the night. Joe was drunk and therefore fled the scene. These people could barely speak English but went up to the manager’s place and proceeded to complain. We were to be evicted but luckily for us the assistant manager of the place was the mom of someone we knew by association. She also happened to be the manager of the apartments right down the street. She loved us and not only prevented us from technically getting evicted but put us in a place down the road with no upstairs neighbor, a drug dealer next door, and a huge field outside the back sliding glass door. She said we could be as loud as we wanted to and nobody would mess with us. She was right. I also started working at a place called Autobahn Autocare Center. It was essentially the same job I had at Super Lube but it paid more because now I had the title of “Supervisor.” Right about this time Rose and I also broke up because she decided to move with her family to Corvallis, Oregon.
As far as the concert I don’t remember too many details. I remember Weezer opened for No Doubt and that was the real reason I wanted to go to the show. They were still touring for Pinkerton and had these creepy trees on the stage. They played many songs from the Blue Album and Pinkerton because those were the only albums they had to choose from at the time. No Doubt was touring for the album Tragic Kingdom and played all the hits from the album. I feel lucky to have seen them again at this point in the time before Gwen Stefani became a mega-star.
