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A Look at the "Free" OzzFest

Written by Art Michalski

Tuesday, 04 September 2007

Sharon Osbourne and the other creators of the OzzFest tour threw out a shocking, but potentially groundbreaking idea when they stated that the 12^th edition of the heavy metal fest would be free. So, I got a chance to check out this “free” OzzFest as it hit Detroit at the insanely packed DTE Energy Music Theatre. A full house of at least 15,000 were there to revel in one of the craziest OzzFests in years. So, here are some of the highlights and somewhat bizarre moments at the granddaddy of all metal festivals:

Most Overblown Product Plug: I know Jagermeister has been a sponsor of OzzFest for years, but with corporate sponsorship flipping the bill for OzzFest, most fans realized that this year was going to be all about the sponsors. If roadie “Big Dave” (roadie for Ozzy Osbourne) plugged Jager one more time on the second stage, I was going to lose my mind. Also, major sponsors Monster Energy Drink and FYE got their fair share of plugs in there as well.

Second Stage Madness: Even though many of the pure Ozzy fans wanted to knock the second stage, the stage actually yielded one of its best lineups in a few years. If you get a chance, check out Vancouver’s 3 Inches of Blood. Their 20-minute set reminded fans of early high-pitched Judas Priest and it was amazing to watch their lead singer hit the vocal range that he did. Also, recent MCB interviewees The Showdown and Atlanta’s Daath put on very strong sets. The Showdown won the crowd over with a medley of hard rock classics, while Daath’s pure brutality and anti-establishment lyrics got the crowd on their side.

Other recent MCB interviewees Devildriver bashed their way through their set, but their set could have used a few more songs and seemed a little short. The pits on the hot pavement were absolutely nuts for Hatebreed’s headlining, hour long set. During songs like “Destroy Everything” and “This Is Now,” the fans spent more time watching people wail into each other than watching Jamey Jasta and the rest of the band.

Get This Band An Arena Tour Right Now: Lordi. The Finnish band that may or may not rip off GWAR brought the noise, pyro and monster costumes in their 45-minute set had the feel of a big headlining rock show. With ultra catchy tunes like the opener “Bringing The Balls Back to Rock” and “Who’s Your Daddy,” lead singer Mr. Lordi controlled the stage and had indifferent fans converted by the end of the set. Anybody who has a song title of “Hard Rock Halleujah” has a fan in me.

Most Intense Mosh Pits:Hatebreed’s pits were intense, but Lamb of God’s 65-minute set probably flooded the first aid booth at DTE. The band put on their usual firey and incidenary set, but the mosh pits must have taken up half of the already overpacked lawn. During the finale “Black Label,” swarms of people headed towards and began to start moshing up the lawn. Not always the smartest move.

Wildest Moment/ Nicest Save: In an ode to OzzFests of the past, the crowd on the lawn decided that the topsoil looked better and decided to start launching the sod at each other during Static-X’s set. The band’s industrial meets what they call “evil disco” songs like “Cannibal” and “Bled For Days” made the perfect soundtrack for festival chaos. Their track “Destroy All” was the ironic moment where the sod throwing was at its worst. Lead singer Wayne Static made a huge and almost redundant statement about the sod throwing, saying “Just to make it clear, we didn’t tell you to throw the grass.” Static was obviously saving himself from a lawsuit.

Weirdest Sight: Seeing a group of about 15 middle aged Taiwanese fans cheering on their countrymen in Chthonic. The corpse paint and black leather didn’t match the group of fans (could have been their family) waving Taiwanese flag and maps of the country, in case you didn’t know where Taiwan is. My guess is that about 80 percent of the people in the crowd didn't.

Was Ozzy Coherent? It seemed to be that way. In Osbourne’s 70-minute set, he seemed to focus way more on his solo material versus the Black Sabbath material he has heavily focused on in the past. Songs like the opener “Bark At the Moon” and always classic tracks like “Over The Mountain” and “I Don’t Know” had the fans in awe of the immortal Osbourne. At this point in his career, Osbourne is passable as a performer, but seems like a pull-string doll, only reciting 4 or 5 lines as banter. A friend of mine noted that the line “Let me see your f---ing hands” was counted at least 10 times during the set. So, it seemed to be a triumphant OzzFest return for the namesake of the festival, and is having fun touring behind the new record Black Rain.

Even with the free OzzFest attracting a lot of naysayers, the festival seemed to be business as usual. Osbourne and other organizers did their best to make sure the fans were getting the same quality without the usual high prices, and succeeded for the most part. If Sharon Osbourne kept her end of the bargain, venue organizers did not. Understandably, concession prices were the same, but parking was a whopping 20 dollars and ticket upgrades ran anywhere from 20 to 40 dollars. I don’t know if Sharon Osbourne would be too happy about that and she’s definitely not the person you want to cross. The free OzzFest was run far too well for venue organizers to start making a quick cash grab. But once again, free or not, OzzFest carries on as the Alpha and Omega of heavy metal shows.

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