MY OZZFEST 2004 REVIEW
By: Mike Solomon
Ozzfest 2004 - Tommy Hilfiger At Jones Beach Theatre - Wantagh, NY - July 14th, 2004
*WARNING: MANY DETAILS AND SPOILERS*
I got up at around 6:30AM, after having about 1-2 hours of sleep. I got all my shit together, put on some sunscreen, threw on my Finntroll shirt and was ready to leave. Got picked up at around 8:15AM and headed towards Jones Beach. We got there at around 9AM. My friend and I both had the Party Like A Rockstar package, so we walk all the way past the enormous line and go to the VIP entry. The guard sees our tickets/passes and tells us to use the main entrance. I argue with him, telling him we were told that these allow us access through the VIP area, he says “no, those are just trinkets, go to the main entrance”. I turn around, and realize that I’m in the border between main stage and second stage…so I just keep walking and there’s a guard standing there who rips our tickets and lets us right in. Problem is the motherfucker tore the ticket directly in half, as opposed to tearing off the perforation. Anyway, we walk in and look around, it’s still pretty dead, not many people got in yet, we go to the second stage and wait. The sky was very cloudy, and it was nice and cool out. Second stage started ahead of schedule, which threw off all the other bands the rest of the day…
BLEEDING THROUGH – They came on around 9:20AM and really managed to wake everyone the fuck up. They said “this is the earliest we’ve ever played and probably will ever play”. A pretty large pit formed and all the faggot hardcore kids did their faggot dancing. That was pretty fucking hilarious because they were all doing windmills and spinkicks, but weren’t hitting anyone, and it was just like 30 kids dancing around in a circle not touching one another, made me laugh extremely hard. They opened with “Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire” and played flawlessly. The sound was great, guitars were a bit too low however. Brandon was running back and forth and rolling around on stage, really getting the crowd pumped up. Ryan was flinging his bass everywhere and did a couple of his mid-air spinkicks. Marta smiled at me a couple times on stage (most likely because I was staring at her throughout 90% of the set). This was the second time I’ve seen them, they really put on a great live show, sounded almost flawless in comparison to the CD. They woke everyone up at an extremely early hour, and that takes an assload of talent.
Rating: 8.5/10
Setlist:
Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire
Sweet Vampirous
Revenge I Seek
Rise
On Wings of Lead
After Bleeding Through, I walked around a bit and wandered into the PlayStation 2 truck. I haven’t played PS2 in over a year, so I was hoping they’d have some good shit. Everything was pretty much a sequel (Ratchet & Clank 2, Sly Cooper 2, Gran Turismo 4) people really need to think of new ideas. I played the new Syphon Filter for a few minutes, which sucked, and my friend played a first person shooter with incredible graphics, but it seemed pretty boring and I didn’t catch the name. Off in the distance we hear “We’re Atreyu from Orange County” and we rush back to the second stage…
ATREYU – They came on at about 9:40AM to a crowd who didn’t seem to know them very well. They opened with “Bleeding Mascara” off the new album and a few hardcore kids started a very small pit. The sound was flawless, sounded just like CD. I don’t know how Ozzfest managed to upgrade the sound system so well from last year, but they did a damn fine job. Alex was doing his best to get the crowd moving (although he looked pretty stupid due to his new bald haircut and sweatband) and a few kids responded. Not many Atreyu fans in the crowd. It has to be said that Dan is a phenomenal guitarist who is obviously more into metal than punk or anything else. He played some insane solos in the vain of 80’s metal (which according to the shirts he wears, you can tell are his favorite) and that is what got the crowd moving at certain times. Brandon’s drumming was crystal clear and his voice sounded amazing. This was the third time I’ve seen them, and even though I don’t like the new album very much, they still own live.
Rating: 8/10
Setlist:
Bleeding Mascara
Right Side of the Bed
Someone’s Standing On My Chest
Lip Gloss & Black
After Atreyu’s set, the crowd dispersed again and we went to look at the merch booths around the second stage area. I saw a few second stage shirts, but didn’t really check them out (I regret it now because I didn’t see any more all day long). There are two official Ozzfest t-shirts this year. The first one has a big Ozzfest demon face on the front (looking very cartoon-like) and on the back it has the Ozzy Osbourne logo and the Black Sabbath logo, with all the tour stops. The second one has the Ozzfest demon on an ATV holding a peace sign (why?), with just the tour dates on the back (I think they pulled the other one because it was missing Judas Priest, Every Time I Die, and a few more). I saw tons of people wearing a bootleg Ozzfest 2004 shirt though, and picked one up myself for $10. The front has the Ozzfest demon riding an ATV and swinging a chain (now that’s meh-tul), and on the back it has ALL of the bands and all the tour stops. It does not get any better than that. So onto the third band of the day…
DARKEST HOUR – They came on just after 10:00AM and the crowd didn’t seem to know them all to well. They opened with “The Sadist Nation”, the crowd spread apart and some hardcore kids started dancing in the newly formed pit. I would compare their music to early At The Gates, but the hardcore kids seemed to eat them up. John was flailing about and getting the crowd moving, Ryan (most likely the funniest member in the band) was constantly making faces, then during one blastbeat, he holds his sticks like a machinegun and points at the crowd, looked fucking awesome. John went up to play drums in the middle of “Accessible Losses” and Ryan came up front to warm up the crowd in the most hilarious way I’ve ever seen. In Ozzy’s style, gets everyone to follow his lead, then after about a minute of toying with the crowd, he tries to get everyone to do the wave. It was really amazing of him to just interact with the crowd like that. Their sound was incredible, guitars were loud and clear. They also dedicated a song to Dale Earnheart, “One of the greatest American heroes” and had the crowd start a circle pit in his honor. Pretty fucking hilarious. If you don’t like this band on CD, see them live and they will change your mind. Definitely would like to see them again.
Rating: 8/10
Setlist:
The Sadist Nation
Accessible Losses
An Epitaph
Oklahoma
And now, the shitfest begins with Throwdown, Magna-Fi, DevilDriver all on the way. I had to get the fuck away from there so my friend and I went wandering around the village of the damned. I waited in line to play some guitar at the fastest feet/Ibanez booth. People loved my rendition of Crazy Train and Bark At The Moon, I also pulled off all of Bed of Razors by Children of Bodom. A lot of shitty guitarists were sitting there playing for like 15 minutes straight. I just did what I wanted to do and went to scope out the FYE tent.
They had EVERYTHING by every band there, a really great selection including Black Sabbath: Black Box and Judas Priest: Metalogy. I still didn’t see the Bleeding Through DVD though (I want to fucking get it already!). THERE WAS NO JAGER BOOTH. NONE. No drinks are allowed at Jones Beach, no alcohol was being served, meaning Jager booth was not allowed to open up shop. No shotglasses, no free shit, no signings, nothing. I never went to the FYE tent again, never got anything signed.
Anyway, we walked over to the second half of the village of the damned near the mainstage area and finally saw the VIP entrance. A women checked us in for the Party Like A Rockstar thing and told us pretty much that this part of the venue is the lounge, we can go on the elevated platforms for second stage, we get a tourbook signed by a band, and we go on a backstage tour at 3:30.
We wandered around the “VIP lounge” which was all outdoors, there were about 20 other people there, secluded from the sea of mallgoths and hardcore kids, with our own catering section. We were allowed up on the back boardwalk as well, which looked like a chill place to smoke one of the three joints I rolled the night before, just a nice place to go and relax. Tents were also available due to the rain that was scheduled. It was nice and cool outside, and it was very relaxing to get away from the crowd.
We had to go check out Magna-Fi for at least one song to see what the reaction would’ve been…
MAGNA-FI – These guys sounded like a clash of radio rock and emo. They definitely belong on Warped Tour or something. No one booed, but everyone just walked around and talked to each other as if no one was playing. One girl got up on some guys shoulder and flipped them the bird, but they just tried to ignore it and keep playing. It got to the bassist though, who I could tell was near tears after the third terrible crowd reaction in a row. Not only did they not belong on this tour, their music sucked a good amount of ass. I left after one song. I did feel pretty bad for them however.
Rating: 1.5/10
Walked back through the village of the damned and checked out the mainstage merch. They had tons of Ozzy shit, a “Passion of the Ozzy” shirt, and Ozzy bandana, Ozzy thong. All T-shirts were $35 (except a few INCREDIBLE priest shirts that were $40). The bandana was $20. Slayer and Priest had a great selection of shirts, and the Sabbath shirts weren’t worth buying because I could get them online for $25.
I was about to go back for God Forbid when people started saying that they just got into NY a few minutes ago and couldn’t play their set. Every Time I Die switched their set time and got on stage after DevilDriver. They were supposed to go on at noon, but due to the whole day being ahead of schedule, they were already playing by 11:30. I hate Every Time I Die, so I went to the VIP area to grab some food.
My goal for the day was pretty much to eat very little and not have to use the restroom at all. I got my first meal of the day, a grilled chicken sandwich with fries and a coke, which came out to $14.00. Fun. I ate and sat around for a while with my friend. Went back to the village of the damned and checked out some of the jewelry they had there, all pretty cool. My friend said “The village of the damned really needs more attractions, they should have a ‘kill a minority’ booth or something.”
I heard Every Time I Die finishing up, and ran back to the second stage area for next band…
UNEARTH – They came on just around noon, had a great response from the crowd. They opened with “Endless”, and I have to say, Trevor really knows how to work a crowd. They had the biggest pit of the day so far, lots of hardcore kids too. Their sound is a perfect clash of hardcore and metal, and they pull it off very well. They sounded great, guitars were loud and powerful. Set went smoothly and professionally, nothing more nothing less.
Rating: 8/10
Setlist:
Endless
This Lying World
Black Hearts Now Reign
The Great Dividers
One Step Away
Now that they were done, my legs hurt and I was sick of walking around. I went to the second stage viewing area, flashed them the badge, walked in and sat my ass down. The sun started coming out during Unearth’s set so it was pretty sweet to get out of the sun. Now to sit and wait for something that will be in my mind forever, officially, the worst band I’ve heard or seen in my entire existence….
OTEP – The stupid bitch walks on stage with the retarded stuffed pigs head (I saw a bunch of people gasp at the pig head thing, meanwhile I was thinking about the Gorgoroth show with the 12 sheep heads which were torn off just before the show put on pikes…now that’s fucking freaky). All the Slipknot fans cheer and give the devil horns, while the rest of the band comes out on stage. Otep bounces up and down across the stage in a Manson-esque way and the bitch starts whining. Most of the time you can’t understand what the fuck she’s saying when she’s just speaking to the crowd. How can I explain their unique sound…hmm… something like the sounds of a rape scene and a car with engine trouble. The guitar and bass were tuned so low they were bordering subliminal. Most of the sound came from the strings slamming into the pickups so hard (due to them being so loose) that they made a noise. The drummer was the only one who seemed remotely coordinated, and even he looked as if he was improvising. Throughout the twenty minute set (which felt way too long), she did not shut up once. She can not sing, she can not scream, the motherfucking whore could barely speak. At the end of the set, she lets out a long yell, and my friend says “I think she just came”. Earplugs will not save you folks, get into a bomb shelter when these vile pieces of dog shit come on stage. Compared to OTEP, I worship Magna-Fi for being the gods of metal. It baffles me how this band are signed to Capitol Records, I think I should record myself shitting into a tin can and send it to them as a demo, maybe I’ll get on Ozzfest next year, wish me luck.
Rating: 0/10
Setlist:
Only one I can remember is “The stupid whore won’t stop whining”
After that atrocity, I went back into the pit for God Forbid. I saw Dez signing autographs over the fence between the buses and the second stage, the guys from Darkest Hour were standing on top of their van, about to videotape God Forbid, and the guys from Atreyu put a tent out in front of their bus and were chilling there. Anyway, back to the show…
GOD FORBID – The sun was shining bright as hell when these guys hit the stage, they came on around 1:00PM. Although I didn’t like them when I saw them last time, this time was different. I like the new shit so much better than the old, the crowd seemed to love them as well. They opened with “Force Fed” and the pits were huge. Lots of hardcore kids dancing around like idiots. I enjoyed the guitar work, great solos. They too had crystal clear sound. Their set progressed smoothly, not much else to talk about. Byron is a good frontman, helped get more people moving.
Rating: 7/10
Setlist:
Force Fed
Better Days
Anti Hero
Broken Promise
I moved up a tad bit and got a good view for Lacuna Coil…
LACUNA COIL – They hit the stage at around 1:30PM. One thing has to be said about Lacuna Coil, both Andrea and Cristina are great vocalists, but horrible frontmen/women. “How is everyone doing Ozzfest 2004 yea!!!” It’s just the language barrier I guess. Anyway, they kicked off their set with “Swamped”, it seemed like the crowd was enjoying it, no one booed or anything. Cristina’s voice was in perfect shape, Andrea seemed a bit rusty though, all the instruments sounded great. They tried once again to get the crowd going, “How is everybody ready to rock? What do you think of censorship?” The crowd responds “FUCK CENSORSHIP!” Andrea responds “I want everyone here on the count of three to say FUCK. Can you do that? 1, 2, 3…” The whole crowd responds: “FUCK!” Then they move on to the next song. I felt so bad for them, it seemed like they just kept embarrassing themselves, it was pathetic. The music was great though, and still it was a solid performance. Not to mention that Cristina Scabbia is my future wife. All in all, a good set, but they really should just not talk between songs, it’s embarrassing.
Rating: 7/10
Setlist:
Swamped
Daylight Dancer
Tightrope
Heavens A Lie
Now there’s nothing left to do but stand in the crowd and wait for one of the strongest metal bands to come out in a decade…
LAMB OF GOD – At about 2:00PM, their intro (the middle-eastern music with Arabic singing) begins. They hit the stage with a burst of energy and the crowd goes insane, there were a total of about 3 pits going on at the exact same time. The crowd definitely knew these guys. They started the set with “Ruin”, tore the place a brand new asshole. Now, I’ve seen these guys three times before, and I never liked their music. In the past few months I started digging them, now they’re one of my favorite bands. This is the first time I’m seeing them live now that I love their music. Randy had the audience wrapped around his finger, and drove the place insane. The drumming was outstanding and the guitars were spot-on and piercing, very loud, very brutal. Randy dedicated one of the songs to the troops in Iraq, and one of the songs to George W. Bush. I got out in time for the wall of death during “Black Label”. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I ran right back in for the rest of the song. Lamb of God put on an extremely solid performance, led by a fantastic frontman, and backed by a band dripping with talent. They set off a fucking bomb at Jones Beach with their insane set.
Rating: 9.5/10
Setlist:
Ruin
11th Hour
Pariah
As The Palaces Burn
Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion
Laid To Rest
Black Label
Well now that the insanity calmed down, I went back to the VIP area to check in for the backstage tour. They gave us an Ozzfest tourbook (each was autographed) and an envelope to mail it home if we didn’t want to hold it with us the entire time. They let us look through the tourbook, my friend checked out the one that was given to him first, and his was autographed by….JIMMY BOWER?!? What the fuck kind of bullshit is that? He got another one instead, and so did I, and they both happened to be signed by all of Judas Priest. Black Sabbath and Dimmu Borgir didn’t sign, meaning Judas Priest was the best one to get, I’m lucky I got it, hoping it will arrive in the mail soon.
So I get another drink and relax in the VIP area until the tour starts. And can still hear Hatebreed sucking ass from a distance. The tour started just as Slipknot hit the stage at around 3:30. We walked to the mainstage area which just opened up, went all the way to the front and spoke to one of Black Label Society’s guitar techs. We were then led backstage to learn about the set up of everything, and happened to run into Galder and Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir as well as Kerry King. After a brief talk about how the stage set up works, and a glimpse of Halford’s motorcycle, we walk out onto the main stage. It was a pretty sweet view seeing the crowd from the stage, pics we took are in the pictures section.
They brought us to the sound booth/tent and told us how everything works, it all got pretty damn boring. Once we finished, we went back to the second stage area and onto the viewing platform for the band that just started playing…
SLIPKNOT – I’ve hated these guys ever since they started. They were just never my style of music, and I hating their fans made me hate the band even more. Everyone told me however, regardless of whether I like them or not, to see them live and I won’t be disappointed. I came in during “(sic)” and saw the two drummers or whatever (not Joey) beating the shit out of each other on the giant drum thing. Everyone’s just running around, doing their own thing and there are just so many things going on stage at the same time. That doesn’t necessarily mean its any fucking good. The music was shit. Plain and simple. The only reason the live show seems good, is because there are so many people on stage. After a couple songs I was unimpressed. I thought to myself, I’m hot, my stomach is starting hurt a bit, and it’s the last band on the second stage. Not to mention it just happened to be 4:20. My friend and I walk in to the crowd, and blaze a joint. The shit I had in there was so good we were both stoned out of our minds. My friend (an aspiring stand up comedian, when he gets fucked up he does hilarious shit, he put on a comedy act for an Applebee’s wait staff at midnight, he got hired as a cabdriver in Brooklyn at 3AM one night during a prank call). Corey goes “here’s a very old song for you guys” and my friend responds “yea, from 1999, way back when” (my friend likes Slipknot by the way). So by the time “Disaster Piece” started I was high as hell…and the show STILL WASN’T GOOD. When I’m baked, staring at a piece of lint would entertain me for minutes, and this was boring me. All until “Duality” kicked in, one of the two songs that I actually enjoy by Slipknot. The pits were insane and the little Hot Topic kids were everywhere. They performed it well live, but I actually liked the video a lot more. The baseball bat into the keg wasn’t loud enough. The sound was clear however, sounded pretty much CD quality. Anyway, the giant clusterfuck continues on stage with every band member just running around and slamming into each other. The rest of the set was all pretty boring. Even as high as I was, I was only mildly entertained. Their music is terrible, and their live show isn’t anything special. Fuck Slipknot.
Rating: 4.5/10
Setlist:
742617000027
(sic)
The Blister Exists
Disaster Piece
Duality
The Heretic Anthem
Spit It Out
Wait & Bleed
515
People=Shit
Surfacing
By the time Surfacing came on, my friend and I jetted out of there and made our way to the mainstage where Black Label Society were about to come on. We walk down the path and get to the guard by our section to get to our seat. He stares at our tickets and asks “Where’s the other half?” I said “The guy in the entrance tore them in half”, he shows them to another guy and he says “no good.” He hands me the tickets back and I tell him, “the fucking security guard tore our tickets in half, we paid $700 for these tickets, we’ve been here all day and now you won’t let us into our seats?!?!?!”, he tells me to go look for their supervisor and speak to him. I found the guy and told him my story, he takes us back to them and says “They’re good, let them go”. So we get the wristband, avoid our 4th row right seat, and walk to 2nd row center. All this is going on while Zakk has been playing for about 2 minutes already. So now would be a good time to go into…
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY – I respect these guys, and I love Zakk Wylde in Ozzy, but I just could never get into BLS. However, now that I was high off my ass, I realized that this music is meant to be listened to stoned and drunk. With his style of playing and the bass lines they use, they’re a total stoner metal band, and I thought they sounded great. The solos he busted out were absolutely insane, Zakk truly is a phenomenal guitarist. He busted out the Randy Rhoads guitar for a couple songs. He dedicated “Berserkers” to all the troops in Iraq. “Stillborn” sounded amazing even without Ozzy. However, their live show still left a lot to be desired, they’re one of those bands that I respect more than I like. Overall, they put on a good performance.
Rating: 7/10
Setlist:
Funeral Bell
Suffering Overdue
Stillborn
Stoned & Drunk
Berserkers
We sat in our seats while the sun fried our skin and waited for Superjoint Ritual to come on. I’ve seen them twice, last time I saw them was a horrible experience due to a confined area and too many hardcore kids. I was hoping this time would be better, and it was, for me at least…
SUPERJOINT RITUAL – They started their set at around 5:20, they introduced themselves to the crowd and broke into “Antifaith”. I was headbanging like a motherfucker, Superjoint are much, much, much better stoned. I knew some words to a few of the songs, singing along with Phil, just a crazy, fun set. Thing’s started going awry when some 40 year old NYHC looking douchebag decides to start shit. He yells out “FUCK YOU! BRING BACK PANTERA!” to which Phil responds, “Fuck Pantera, it’s fucking over”. The crowd starts booing and yelling “FUCK YOU PHIL, GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE!” and shit like that. Phil told this guy “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you’ve never heard Superjoint Ritual, we’re the fucking hardest, strongest band out there today and you’re stuck in the fucking past and this is fucking now, so keep your fucking mouth shut if you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about” and Phil holds his hand above this guys head, and the guy punches his hand. Phil was pissed off but calmed himself down. That second, a guy screams out “PLAY CBGB’S AGAIN!” Phil immediately responds “Thank you! See, now that was a fucking awesome show, true hardcore fans and not all these assholes. We taped it all and we’re gonna air that shit soon because it came out fucking awesome.” The idiot keeps yelling but Phil just ignores him and goes on to the next song who he dedicated to “everyone, everywhere in the world” (does that really require a dedication?). He also dedicated a few songs to himself because “I’m a fucking hardcore motherfucker”. People need to get a fucking sense of humor and stop taking shit so seriously. Phil’s acting this way because that’s the way he is, no use in getting offended by it, and I was with Phil 100%. The drummer flipped off the crowd several times while playing. I managed to catch one of Jimmy’s picks. Overall, it was a great set, great sound, and was a lot of fun to witness. Fuck the crowd and their shitty reactions, they can all suck Phil’s cock.
Rating: 7.5/10
Setlist:
Antifaith
Fuck Your Enemy
The Alkoholik
Waiting For the Turning Point
Personal Insult
Ozena
So now we sit and wait for my friend’s favorite band, Dimmu Borgir…
DIMMU BORGIR – Their set started at around 6:00PM, and they came out to their usual intro music. They broke into “Spellbound (By The Devil)” which sounded fucking great. My friend and I were both going insane to the intro of the song. Shagrath started singing and it sounded fucking great, the sound was once again spot-on. I noticed the band staring at my friend and I constantly, and didn’t understand why until I turned around to see about 3 other people in the entire amphitheatre headbanging to them. I didn’t give a shit, I was having fun. Nile’s drummer looked absolutely fucking hilarious in corpse paint, a true Norwegian Mexican. However, this guy OWNS Nick Barker. He’s fast as fuck, so much so that at some points you can’t even see him moving. He pretty much DOUBLED the speed of the double-bass in all the songs, which was incredible. Definitely a great addition to the band, for this tour at least. Mustiis’s keyboard sounded flat-out incredible during Vredesbyrd and Mourning Palace. All the instruments sounded great, and Vortex’s voice was incredible. They did win over a few of the people around me after Vortex’s part in “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse”. They put on a great live show, and although they aren’t as tr00 or kvlt as they used to be, they’re still an excellent band.
Rating: 8.5/10
Setlist:
Spellbound (By The Devil)
Vredesbyrd
Kings of the Carnival Creation
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
Mourning Palace
And here we are, the final three, and I’m starting to come down from my high. I was tired, hungry and thirsty, but vowed not to leave my seat until the show was over. Today felt like two separate days and I can’t actually believe that this isn’t just a dream. It still has not sunk in. The eagle flag backdrop is raised…
SLAYER – They took to the stage at about The “Darkness of Christ” introduction starts playing in the background and minutes later, Tom, Kerry, Jeff, and Dave all walk out onto the stage. After a few seconds pause, they start with “Disciple”. I went absolutely insane while headbanging, they sounded incredible. Tom’s voice was crystal clear, the whole place was fucking booming. I was singing along with the songs (as best as I could) and Tom laughed at me a couple of times for fucking up the words. Kerry and Jeff are a sight to see live, the dueling solos that they pull off are just flat out awesome. Zakk Wylde and a few friends (including Goldberg) were staring at Kerry King the whole time and mouthing shit like “Wow” or “Look at that” or “Holy shit”. Zakk later came out with one of the photographers cameras and snapped a bunch of shots of Kerry soloing. A few crazed fans in the seats next to me tried to start a pit in the aisle, by beating each other and slamming into other people. The guards quickly took care of them (by punching one of them and choking the other… trust me, they deserved it) and threw them out. Just as “Raining Blood”, the final song of the night was starting…a light drizzle came over the place. I hoped it would’ve rained for that song, but the rain did coordinate with the next band (hint hint). A perfectly solid Slayer set, and a great performance by the band. If you haven’t seen these guys yet, you’re missing out. Not much else I can say except…”FUCKIN SSSSSSLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!”
Rating: 9/10
Setlist:
Darkness of Christ
Disciple
War Ensemble
At Dawn They Sleep
Payback
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
Dead Skin Mask
Hell Awaits
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
The thunderstorms begin. The sky is dark as all hell, looks almost like night, but the sun doesn’t set until 8:25 and it was just around 7:40. The lightning and thunder starts, the whole crowd went wild every time they saw a lightning bolt. The stage set up crew starts putting the stage together, the drum kit is brought out, and the Electric Eye banner is strung up…
JUDAS PRIEST – “The Hellion” starts playing and the (now soaked) crowd goes fucking wild. The stage lights up and the Electric Eye is now fully lit with a blue light. Just in time, K.K., Glenn, Ian and Scott come up onto the stage and start playing “Electric Eye”. I start going crazy (once again), but Halford is nowhere to be seen. The song keeps playing on and just before the vocals come in, the center of the Electric Eye on stage lights up and Rob is standing in it singing. The whole place went fucking ballistic once again. Halford slowly wandered the stage acting like a robot, not acknowledging the crowd. His voice was better than their recorded CDs, better than their live CDs, and better than any other vocalist in the world. It was absolutely godly. The sound was crystal clear and the guitars were piercing. The weather seemed to fit in seamlessly with the music, it was now pouring heavily and there was lightning everywhere. For example, when Halford sang “Electric Eye, in the sky” a huge flash of lightning shot above the amphitheatre. It was marvelous. By the time the song ended, Halford was on the second tier of the stage in the corner and just after that final word, get sucked down into the stage and disappears. The only word I could think of saying at that point was “WOW”. Everyone in the crowd was shocked at how incredible these guys were. I’ve been into Judas Priest for about a year now, and I never expected such an amazing, professional live show from them. They went through all the classics and made them sound better than they ever have before. It was FLAWLESS. People who skip Priest because “Halford is a homo” or “they’re so old” need to be gutted and lowered into a vat of acid. I have never, EVER, seen a performance as incredible as this one. At one point, Halford gave the mic to a person in the crowd who let out a spot-on Halford scream, and Rob just stared at him in amazement. Although my voice sucks, I was singing along to every word of almost all the songs. During the encore, Rob rode out on a motorcycle and sang “Hell Bent For Leather” while still sitting on the bike. They closed their set with “You Got Another Thing Comin” which was like everything else, executed magnificently. On the last note of the song a huge lightning bolt flew across the amphitheatre. Never have I seen such an amazing performance in my entire life, and I highly doubt I will ever see one that can beat this (and yes, I’ve seen Maiden, this tops it). I strongly suggest whether you love them, like them, hate them, want to kill them…GO FUCKING SEE THEIR LIVE SHOW. JUDAS PRIEST ARE REUNITED AND ALL IS GOOD.
Rating: 10/10
Setlist:
Hellion
Electric Eye
Metal Gods
Heading Out To The Highway
A Touch of Evil
Victim of Changes
Painkiller
The Sentinel
Beyond The Realms of Death
The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
Breaking The Law
Encore:
Hell Bent For Leather
Living After Midnight
You Got Another Thing Comin
I’m soaking fucking wet and more excited then I’ve ever been in my life after that set. It’s still raining out but I don’t feel it anymore, nor do I care. My friend and I both sit down on the (equally wet) seats and spark another joint behind the security guards back. This one didn’t hit me as hard as the last, but it was still fairly decent. A huge Black Sabbath backdrop was pulled over the front of the stage. It had the angel/devil logo, but it was modified (the penis was removed and the star in his hand was replaced with a fireball…the first thing I said when I saw it high was “SHIT! THEY TOOK OUT THE PENIS!” really loudly). The lights dimmed and three giant silhouettes were visible behind the backdrop…
BLACK SABBATH – A video spanning their entire career was playing on the screen with all their classic songs being played over the PA. The sheet is slowly pulled to the left and Tony, Ozzy, Bill, and Geezer all start to play “War Pigs”. The crowd went fucking wild. Ozzy was smiling and looked great. I could tell his voice was much better than last year. The sound, as almost every other band today, was crystal clear and booming. Every instrument was at the right level. They didn’t play “Bassically” before “NIB”, and they didn’t play “Embryo” before “Children of the Grave”…that was a let down because both are some of my favorite songs/intros in the history of music. Black Sabbath’s music, as always, is much better stoned. Ozzy hit a few off notes every now and then, but for the most part it was all solid. After the third song, the rain stops, and Ozzy asks us “Is it still raining out there?” the crowd goes “NO!” So he asks again “Is it still raining out there???” and the crowd responds “NO!!!!” so he says “Well, that’s fucking good.” Anyway, Tony’s solos were perfect, and were eardrum-blowing loud. The screen displayed a clock that changed from 4:19 to 4:20 during “Sweet Leaf”. Images of George W. Bush and Hitler were spliced into the video playing behind “War Pigs”. Bill changed up the drumming in a few of the songs, but still sounded solid. Geezer was sort of standing in the back the whole time. None of them moved around much, but that’s what I was expecting of them. Tony extended some of the songs a bit by stretching out the solos. Seeing them for the first time, it just felt unreal. I had to constantly turn around and try to make myself realize that I’m really there, I just couldn’t believe it. They are probably my favorite band of all time. They ended with the introduction of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” leading directly into “Paranoid”. I was singing along with every one of the songs and just could not have been any happier. The show ended with red, white and blue confetti being shot into the crowd. This is most likely the real Black Sabbath farewell tour, it just doesn’t seem like they will ever tour again. I’m glad I finally got to see them and it was a solid performance with no surprises, I loved every moment of it.
Rating: 9.5/10
Setlist:
War Pigs
N.I.B
Fairies Wear Boots
Sweet Leaf
Into The Void
Snowblind
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Paranoid (with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath intro)
Everyone rushed out after Black Sabbath’s performance and I went to go buy my merch (finally). I purchased the Slayer 2004 tour shirt and the Judas Priest “Electric Eye/United USA 2004” shirt. I’m going to buy the Black Sabbath tour shirt online.
And so Ozzfest 2004 has come to a close. I can honestly say this was the best concert I have or ever will attend (more than likely), and it was officially the greatest day of my life. It was worth every penny I spent on it.