a little fact like ozzy (sharon?) deciding to leave dallas outta their ozzfest tour schedule definitely didn't keep
Doug (see his blog for pictures) and i away this year.. instead, we packed up the car with our metal cd's and our jenny craig wanna-be-food and made the 5 hour drive south to san antonio..
this was our 3rd ozzfest.. usually we attend with our metal-cool friends secrit and danny (you can see last year's ozzfest review
here), but since the concert wasn't in town and they couldn't get some time off, Dougalas and i went alone..
we stopped along the way in waco (home of the baylor bears and a few of the infamous "girls of the southwest conference" featured occasionally in playboy - meooowww) at the wal-mart of all places because i had the brilliant idea of advertising on my car that we were heading to ozzfest.. we also found our self-appointed not too official mascot of this year's mascot: sparky! we displayed him proudly on the antenna, and he watched over us, groovin' in the breeze, throughout the trip as we proclaimed "ozzfest or bust" and "don't hate us 'cause we rock"..
we had decided to leave the day before the show so that we could spend some fun time at the famous riverwalk and see the alamo (and can you believe there isn't a basement there???).. we definitely had a great time that first night - mucho tequila and jennyless mexican food! omg we got silly, and took some funny lit pics of ourselves.. it's very good that our hotel offered a free shuttle to/from the riverwalk, because we definitely would not have been able to drive.. the food was great, but the tequila was even better, and as we wandered thru the winding walk, we continued drinking tequila even when we went into an irish pub where the entertainment is a guy playing the piano engaging the crowd in rowdy sing-a-longs.. the shots there were a whopping $6.75 a piece!! it would have been worth it if the dude playing the piano had even ONE clue as to how to involve an audience.. get this - he was playing jazz and BOBBY DARIN (who???) and boring the hell outta every single person there.. we got our check and headed out and soon we found another mexican place with mucho yummy margaritas.. mmmmmm!!
the next day was the hallowed ozzfest concert, and we were excited to see some of our favorite bands.. although we got there in time to watch the second-stage bands, the sun was already so in-fuckin-credily hot that we honestly couldn't bear it, and after checking out all the rock wares, we finally had to make it over to the ampitheater where we sat in our covered seats til the main stage show started.. from afar, we heard Atreyu, Black Label Society, and Ozzy himself, who headlined the second stage - and he sounded great..
the opening act on the main stage was a band called Dragonforce, and they were pretty cool.. although we had never heard them before (well, except for seeing their video for their single "Through the Fire and Flames" seven thousand times while waiting for the main stage show to start), we loved their dual guitars.. damn, those guys can play!
the next two bands, Lacuna Coil and Hatebreed, were ok.. the former's music was very repetitive, and the latter's screaming seemed to last for hours (i actually prefer music in my metal - what a concept)..
Avenged Sevenfold followed, and the show really started then for me.. Doug and i had discovered them for ourselves last fall at a concert here in dallas, and had seen them again earlier this year.. they brought the crowd to their feet when they started Pantera's "Walk".. but i loved hearing the songs from their latest album the best..
Disturbed followed, and omg they kicked ass! they have an incredibly tight band, and David Draiman is a very strong presence as their front man.. they played lots of my favorites - my verrrrrrrrry favorite is "The Game" - and they didn't disappoint me there.. one special point in their show near the beginning of their set was when david noticed a severely handicapped man in the PIT, and asked his crew to help the guy up on the stage with the band so that he could have the supreme concert experience! he remarked that anyone in a wheelchair in the pit deserved to be up on stage with them.. that was really cool! the guy just was beaming, and the audience loved it.. of course, they closed with "Down With the Sickness" and everyone went crazy.. great show!!!
the headliner for the main stage was System of a Down.. i had never seen them before, and was just beside myself when they took the stage.. since they will be "on a break" after ozzfest, i think they were the reason we decided it was important to drive to see them.. they definitely brought down the house.. they played the whole "mezmerize" album and i found myself screaming and singing right along with them.. i love their agressive, frantic, operatic, and totally bananas abandon they give to their music.. the audience came alive when they took the stage.. this band will truly be missed.. SOAD - what is another adjective for AWESOME??
as we drove home the day after, we talked about the show, and the great time we had.. i love the connection that Doug and i share in music - it's just one of the million reasons we fit so well together.. we already have tickets for Rob Zombie/Godsmack on august 25th, and then for Nickelback/Hoooooooobastank/Chevelle on august 26th.. and i am always keeping my eyes open for other favorites who may be passing thru..
so i put to bed another fantastic ozzfest experience, and just plead with the powers that be that they will remember the rockers in dallas next year!
