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Ozzfest in Hartford, CT By Tokemaster General, Contributor Friday, August 6, 2004 @ 1:06 PM
The Ozzfest is always something to look forward to. I always have faith in Ozzy to put on a great show each year and have great line-up, and this year was one of the best. I got to see the Hartford show on July 10th; the first show of the tour! It was the kind of concert that had something for everyone: many different bands with many different sounds, but all rock and roll. 21 bands, 14 hours of music, the Ozzfest is always the best fucking event of the year!
I got to the Ozzfest at about 8:45 am. I got in the gate about 20 minutes after the doors opened (damn guards made me return my backpack). Once I got I there I watched the show as it started. The opening band was Gaiah, which I hadn’t heard of from the Ozzfest website. I didn’t really have much of a chance to see them, just heard them as I was walking in.
Then was Darkest Hour. They were pretty good in my opinion. The first band that played that stood out in my mind was Throwdown. They put on a good show with their attitudes of having fun. That’s when I decided to start to go in the pit.
I haven’t been in a metal pit for a while so it felt pretty good to be back in one. I noticed that everyone helped each other up when someone gets knocked over a lot; it’s just something that doesn’t usually happen to me, so I thought that was kind of cool. Magna-Fi was an okay show -- I thought they did well. I heard later that people were booing them, but from where I was I didn’t notice
that.
DevilDriver put on an expectedly good show. People were starting to really wake up by that time. God Forbid and Unearth also put on a good show, once again bands that like to have fun when they play, and that’s the reaction that they give out to the audience. Every Time I Die was an okay band, I didn’t like them as much as the other bands.
During the time of the concert I had time to explore the amphitheatre. Got to go buy little stuff and all that stuff you get at the Village of the Damned. But they next two bands player had the girl power in them. Lacuna Coil came on, getting the crowd more excited, and put on a good show. It’s always fun to have a band from another country play.
After they played, Otep was next on the bill. Otep is band I really love and was very happy to be seeing them. The crowed started to chant “Otep, Otep!” while Otep kept coming out on the stage during the sound check. When they started, Otep
came out with a pig’s head on a stick and launched into “Blood Pig.” I really loved their performance, they have so much power and rocked the hell out of the place. And Otep is insane, and I love her for that! “My Confession” is my personal favorite and I was glad when they played it. They closed with “Warhead.”
After that was Bleeding Through, which I missed most of because I had to get water, it was really fucking hot out that day! Then I went to go meet Otep, while in line watching Atreyu’s set. They were a really good band and they put on a good show. Lamb Of God also put on a great show. I wasn’t in the pit during the “Wall Of Death,” which I kind of was disappointed about, but I was off to the side too far to get there at that time.
Hatebreed was next, and I was excited for that set. It was cool to see them in their home town. Lots of people were into them and really went off in the pit. They came on starting with “Tear It Down” and blasted with many good songs like “Empty Promise,” “Burry the Lies” and “Last Breath.” They closed their set with “I Will Be Heard.” That left one more band for the second stage: Slipknot!
Slipknot’s set change took a rather long time for usual second stage set changes. This was my first time seeing Slipknot and I was really fucking pumped, as well as the rest of the crowed. After waiting and waiting, the time came for them to play. They all came out on the stage as a very extended “742617000027” played. Cory came out in a plain white mask over his face, then too it off to revile his... mask! Then “(sic)” started to
play. Immediately the crowed went fucking wild. It was everything that people say about Slipknot pits -- fucking insane! But of course the craziness of the pit was made because of the craziness of the band! Slipknot is just nine musicians giving everything to put on a fucking heavy metal show! They played songs from their new album such as “The Blister Exists” and “Duality.” “Disasterpiece and “The Heretic Anthem” got great crowed responses too. When they got to play “Spit It Out,” people knew what to do.
Cory had everyone sit down on the ground (as he did in the Disasterpieces
DVD, but Sid didn’t come in the audience like in the DVD) and once he said
“JUMP THE FUCK UP!” everyone jumped up and went crazy. It really was an intense moment, but just really fun to be a part of. Them they went in “Wait and Bleed.” During this song, the dust on the ground got to me too much and I had to stand on the side for a minute or two. After that was finished, “515” played which of course launched into “People=Shit.” Then I went right back into the pit. That is one of my favorite Slipknot songs and regained my energy. After that they had one more song to play, our new
nation fucking anthem! They roared through “Surfacing” making everyone sing along and go crazy in the pit. Once they were done, the all left, Corey put the white mask back on. People were chanting and chanting for an encore, but there was none. The second stage was defiantly the best second stage Ozzfest has ever had!
I tried to move as fast as I could to the main stage to see Black Label Society. I got to my seats and watched their set. Black Label Society was really good, and the Ozzfest can’t be the Ozzfest without Zakk Wylde! I wish they played longer, but they did a good set with songs like “Stoned And Drunk,” “Stillborn” and “Berserkers.” After that I went to go meet Slipknot, but them I was told I wasn’t allowed to even though I bought the CD (which I already had!) just so I’d be able to meet them. That fucking pissed me off beyond belief.
I went back the stage and watched Superjoint Ritual. I really liked them, thought that they put on a good show. Dimmu Borgir wasn’t too bad. Just they had a thing to them that seemed like it was a little phony, but still I enjoyed the set as I watched it.
Slayer was something else. That is such an intense band. The came on opening their set with “Hell Awaits.” Slayer is an old band, but they do represent speed in metal, and a lot of power, they defiantly have not become “old” yet. Songs like “Threshold,” “Payback” and “South Of Heaven” were very rocking out. There were a lot of Slayer fans and they did not let their fans down at all. The closed with “Raining Blood.” Also that was my first time seeing Slayer, and they were even better than I expected, and I had good expectations. They have that power that’s hard to describe, but something you can feel.
Judas Priest played their first US show with Rob Halford in 12 years.
Opening with “Electric Eye,” they proved that they were back! They played songs like “Touch of Evil,” “Breaking the Law” and “Painkiller.” Their performance was very good I thought. Rob Halford was very happy to be back playing with them. They just did a classic Judas Priest show with the leather, motorcycles and all. Their fist encore set was “Hell Bent For Leather” and “Living after Midnight.” Rob kept making people make a lot of noise, as rock stars do. When they left they were chanted for another
encore, so they came and closed their set with “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.” I was very happy with their set, as was most of the rest of the crowd. Twenty more bands have played and one more to go: the band that is the reason for the other entire bands that played that day, and at all the Ozzfests…
Black Sabbath was such an amazing show! Behind the curtains Ozzy was saying, “I’m baaack, hahahaha!” An overture of the songs was played before they started. Then the curtains opened and it was them: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, together to make the god of metal, BLACK SABBATH! They Opened with “War Pig,” having Ozzy immediately have the audience sing along. Also there was an anti-Bush thing on the screen comparing him to Hitler and stuff. They played Classic sons like “N.I.B.,” “Fairies Wear Boots” and “Into The Void.” Ozzy commented on how “I didn’t die at Christmas and I’m not going to die now” -- very true words. Ozzy had amazing power for someone who was in an accident as bad as his. When “Sweet Leaf” was played, the screen had pictures of a huge weed leaf, a clock that said 4:20 and people in the ‘60s passing a joint. Then they played the song “Black Sabbath.” That is one of the most original songs of evil sound. The riffs gave me chills when they were played. It was a very powerful performance. Ozzy had the face of evil on him during that song -- classic Black Sabbath signature. Then they played “Snowblind” followed by “Iron Man.” It was cool because they played the song in its entirety, unlike when Ozzy plays it for his solo shows. Then they closed their set with “Children of the Grave.” They rocked out with and had a powerful finish. This was the healthiest, energetic and most state of happiness I have ever seen Ozzy play. The band was very powerful and took modern technology to their instruments, giving a heavier sound to their songs, while not changing them from what they were originally.
When the band left, people were chant and chanting. Some were saying “Ozzy, Ozzy!” and other were yelling “Sabbath, Sabbath!” So they came out to do an encore. It started with the intro of “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath” which quickly turned into “Paranoid.” Confetti came out everywhere for the song, and the crowd went crazy one last time, everyone sang every word of that song as Black Sabbath played it through. When they were done they bowed and said goodbye. Then it was over, another year of Ozzfest, another day of fucking metal!
The feeling that you get after going to the Ozzfest is an amazing feeling. The July 10th show in Hartford was something really special. From Slipknot to Black Sabbath, it was intense day! I’m so glad I got to go; it was a day to remember! I’m ready for Ozzfest 2005!
Some setlists:
Ozzfest 2004 setlists:
Otep
BLOOD PIG
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