The Return of Ozzfest
Main Stage: OZZY OSBOURNE, MOTLEY CRUE, HALFORD (Live Photos), DEVILDRIVER (Live Photos), NONPOINT (Live Photos)
Second Stage: DROWNING POOL (Live Photos), KINGDOM OF SORROW (Live Photoss), SAVIOURS (Live Photos), GOATWHORE (Live Photos), KATAKLYSM (Live Photos), SKELETONWITCH (Live Photos)
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Rob Halford
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August 22, 2010
Susquehanna Bank Center
Camden, New Jersey
By GREG MAKI
Oh, Ozzfest, how I missed you. Sure, others have stepped in the three years since you were last a touring festival. But they’re just not the same. As great as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is, it always feels like something is missing without the Prince of Darkness finishing off a hot, sweaty day of metal—even after he jettisoned longtime cohort Zakk Wylde in favor of Greek guitarist Gus G. of Firewind.
Speaking of Gus, he played everything just fine—the riffs of classics like “Bark at the Moon” and “I Don’t Know,” the solos of “Mr. Crowley” and “Suicide Solution.” But he has huge shoes to fill, and he just doesn’t have that larger-than-life presence Zakk brings to the stage. That puts the focus squarely on Ozzy himself, and maybe that’s exactly what he—or, perhaps more accurately, Sharon Osbourne—wants. Osbourne is holding up surprisingly well. Yeah, his voice cracked here and there, but his performance was as lively and energetic as I’ve ever seen it. Mixing up the set list a bit—throwing in “Killer of Giants,” a seldom-played gem from The Ultimate Sin (1986), for example—provided a welcome breath of fresh air.
The day started in the early afternoon, with a trio of bands more on the extreme side of metal—Skeletonwitch, Kataklysm and Goatwhore—kicking off the second stage action. Though my tastes don’t go that far, Goatwhore in particular seemed to deliver the goods—clichéd though it may be at this point, “brutal” is the most appropriate word that comes to mind. Saviours, a band I had no knowledge of previously, followed with more of an old-school thrash/stoner metal sound—a welcome change of pace.
Kingdom of Sorrow, sans Kirk Windstein (Down, Crowbar), who checked himself into rehab (Kenny Hickey of Type O Negative filled in), played the best set on the second stage. Handling both his and Windstein’s vocal lines, Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) had his work cut out for him, and he was up to the task, bringing the energy of his hardcore background to the band’s sludgy, riff-powered metal.
Given the bands that preceded them, Drowning Pool seemed almost like a pop band, but their high-energy performance and the first hit songs anyone heard all day easily won over the crowd. The rain that had threatened to fall all afternoon came in hard and fast a couple songs into the set, sending fans running for cover. An alleged tornado sighting a mile away kept Black Label Society from playing its headlining set on the second stage, leaving a long wait for the action to pick up on the main stage.
Nonpoint and DevilDriver opened things up with solid sets, though both bands probably are better suited to smaller stages, where they can feed off the energy of the crowd and vice versa. It felt like the crowd wanted to wake up for the Metal God, Rob Halford, and his eponymous band, but a set list that heavily favored Halford tunes few were familiar with over classic Judas Priest songs kept the fans at a distance.
Co-headliners Mötley Crüe, touring with Ozzy for the first time since 1984, finally succeeded in bringing some life to the big stage. The Crüe has been one of my favorite bands for more than 20 years, so of course I enjoyed their show. But they need to spice up the set list. Aside from maybe the two songs from Saints of Los Angeles (2008), they played nothing that everyone there should not have expected. Ozzy, too, has encountered that problem over the years, and just a few changes this year managed to enliven his entire set.
Ozzfest 2010 was not perfect, especially at this stop with the lack of Black Label Society. But it was a welcome return of a heavy metal institution. Let’s hope Ozzfest 2011 is even bigger and better.
www.ozzfest.com |
