Ozzfest 2003
Well I went to my first Ozzfest in 3 years yesterday. I had finally decided to go again for two reasons it had a good list of up and coming bands unlike the past three years which was over commercialized nu-metal bullshit and of course Cradle of Filth. Overall it was ok but certain things dragged me down. The usual festival gripes were present and well some of the bands weren't all that great. Sworn Enemy was the suprise of the day. I didn't think they were that good when I listened to a few songs of theirs a while back, but come live they kicked arse and were on a whole new level. I think I might give them another try. I expected something better from Nothingface but then again I should have known. They were a laughable looking bunch in their new pretty attires and silly haircuts. I dont know what they were going for but they played some really bad music. I wasn't familiar with the entire set they played since it consisted of new crap and I had hoped they would play something from the first album but alas they failed me. Cradle of Filth had the best set overall and blew me away despite them having some techinical problems through out the enitire ordeal. You could tell Dani wasn't too pleased as he was running over to the side of the stage on a constant basis yelling at the sound man which was pretty humorous. In a better world they really should have been on the main stage and replace one of those pall bands like Chevelle and Disturbed but I doubt we will ever see that :\. Speaking of Chevelle and Disturbed I spent their sets snacking on nachos and falling asleep. Marilyn Manson was ok. Im not fond of his new stuff since I find it bland compared to his Spooky Kid era. He had some good props and some naked flexible dancers which was a treat :) and his set was made up of his current radio hits but overall it wasn't bad. Korn jumped up next and had a kick ass screen going on flashing violent images of society and weird trippy stuff but that really didn't save their set since it was made up of some of their MTV faves. A big suprise to me was when they snuck in the song "Faget" from their first album. A personal fave of mine and a real treat. Funny how 90% of the people didn't know the lyrics to it but know the lyrics to everything else. Then came Ozzy that old fart. Man he didn't look good at all and was in bad shape. He needs to call it quits badly. He dragged along through his entire set and I dont think anyone could make out his lyrics despite knowing them. The last time I saw him which was 4 years ago he suprised me how clear his voice was when he sang but this time around it was really bad. His song choices were good ones which was made up of Black Sabbath hits like usual and some of my personal faves of his and not a single Down to Earth song which was a good call in my mind. Zakk Wylde basically carried the entire set and stole the show from Ozzy. Simply amazing as always with his one million solos and brilliant variations of Sabbath hits. Jason Newsted sucked and looked like he was counting notes in his head and had no groove what so ever. He fucked up on N.I.B and a few others which was sad. The set was a little too long clocking in at 2 hours or so which should not have been since most people were tired from standing around all day in 90 degree heat. Ozzys sub-par performance and the long set prompted half of them to leave early and left Ozzy a bit upset from the looks of it which made me feel bad for the guy but then again I dont know what he expects hes just not the main eventer he once was. Overall it was ok but didn't compare to the 98 nor 99 Ozzfests which I really went crazy at but hey it was something to do.