Ok let me start out by saying that I really underestimated this year’s Ozzfest cause of the line up of the main stage but…. By the end of the night it turned out to be in my opinion one of the best Ozzfests yet.
Ozzfest Signing ScheduleI planned on getting there around 9:30 but of course my alarm clock ruined that idea, so I woke up around 11 and to make a long story short I arrived while Atreyu was playing. I didn’t really stick around to see them. I walked around the Village of the Damned and then checked out the main stage during Atreyu’s set and most of BLS’s set but the little I heard of BLS was just phenomenal. Zakk Wylde is a hell of a guitarist. I can’t even describe the words for that man.
On to Ozzy. He came out there smiling and left smiling. He was in great shape and sounded great. He looked as if he were 20 years younger, he hit all the notes and remembered all the words. He just was running around on stage pouring buckets of water and shooting the water cannons. There isn’t much I can say but wow, not to mention his band which is made of Zakk Wylde (guitarist of BLS), Blasko (bass of Rob Zombie) and Mike Borden (drummer of Faith No More) just made the performance perfect. With a new album in the works the Prince of Darkness is back and better than ever…
DragonforceOn to the main stage, the first act was Dragonforce. They have a vintage sound but nonetheless they still kick major ass. With an awesome line up of guitarists and a singer that reminds me so much (vocally) of Bruce Dickinson . . . you have to check these guys out, not to mention they have a “key-tar.” All in all Dragonforce is a great band that had little fan support at Ozzfest, so if you have a chance check out some of their music…
Dragonforce - The "Key-tar"
Lacuna CoilNext is Lacuna Coil which is a band I got screwed out of seeing due to the hailstorm at the Zombie show, but damn did they make up for lost time. From Italy this band really knows how to rock. They have a unique sound that no one can ever remake. With two sets of vocals, one being male and the other female the sound that they produce is almost hypnotic. I really see this band opening the doors for other foreign rock bands. By the time this band was halfway through their set the crowd couldn’t help but to sing along and rock out to this band.
Lacuna Coil - Cristina
HatebreedThe hardcore ones out of the bunch: Hatebreed. This band really “brought it” to Ozzfest. They got the crowd moshing and having the first crowd surfers of the night. This band’s roaring vocals got everyone intense and out of their seats. This was only the 8th time that the band had performed with their new guitarist and he hit every punishing riff to perfection. By the time “I Will Be Heard” played you couldn’t help but to… get mad.
Hatebreed - Chris Beattie
Avenged SevenfoldNext up is the “mystery band” Avenged Sevenfold. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing this band. To me they seem more of a “Warped Tour” type, but by God did they prove me wrong. All around a good performance, but the thing that really got me going is they played “Walk” as a tribute to Dime and not only did they do that but they also used the same background similar to Pantera’s a few years back when they played Ozzfest, not to mention they brought out the Confederate Flag guitars. But it was just an awesome cover. Avenged Sevenfold also has a very talented guitarist who did about a 5 minute solo which also blew me away. After watching their performance they proved to everyone that they do belong right here on Ozzfest.
Avenged Sevenfold doing "Walk"
DisturbedAfter that it was time for David Draiman and the boys of Disturbed. Disturbed hands down stole the show. Through their entire set there wasn’t one ass sitting down (except for wheelchairs). Which reminds me that I saw Disturbed do one of the nicest things I have ever seen a band do. There was a wheelchair-bound fan in the crowd at the very front row, who didn’t let his “Sickness” stop him from enjoying Ozzfest. The people around him lifted him and the wheelchair up for a once in a lifetime crowd surfing experience and when they did that, it caught the eye of David, so he invited that man on stage by saying “Any man brave enough to be crowd surfing in a wheelchair can share our stage anytime.” So the security lifted up the man and David greeted him and rolled him right by the drum set and continued rocking. Disturbed had the most energy and crowd interaction you could ever ask for. They literally were perfect, everyone hit their notes, but most of all everyone was having a great time.
Disturbed - John Moyer?
System of a DownLast but not least the headliners of Ozzfest 2006, the band who is taking a hiatus when this tour is over: System of a Down. I guess it would be hard trying to top Disturbed’s performance but musically System of a Down was great. I mean BYOB was perfect, they were hitting all their notes most of the night but the only thing that really bummed me out about their performance was that they really seemed bored. It didn’t look like they were having any fun at all out there, but I guess everyone gets tired. I just wish they would be the System of a Down that I have seen in the past with a bunch of energy and just nonstop fun. But on a good note they played everything really well so I guess I was expecting too much out of them. They closed with Sugar and by then everyone was also singing along.
SOAD - Shavo OdadjianIn closing Ozzfest 2006 was an awesome concert and an awesome experience. The only thing I regret is not being able to see the second stage, but oh well I bought a new alarm clock today. Hope to see you next year….