OzzFest XI Review

OzzFest 2006: XI Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI) 7/22/06 Reviewers: Karma E. Omowale & Erika Kristen Watt Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

“Ozzfest XI was all about rocking out with cocks out…and cocks there were!”

Last year’s focus was on the Second Stage, this year for Ozzfest XI, our focus was on the first stage. Primarily because we pretty much missed all of the acts on the Second Stage after getting lost, AGAIN and having our time being eaten up by security having to call the PR folks to come and escort us in. It was clusterfuckitis like you have NEVER seen! What we can tell you is that Unearth was TRULY AMAZING! Like you were expecting less? Puhleeze!! You could hear vocalist Trevor Phipps voice booming across the valley as it spilled out into the parking lot/will call area. Mike Justain was on fire. Too bad we couldn’t see the fabulous string battle from bassist John “Slo” Maggard and guitarist Ken Susi and Buz McGrath. By the time we made it over to the Second Stage, it was officially 1:35 pm. From what we understand, the show was running approximately thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Hell we even missed DragonForce due to the interview with Phil LaBonte ran a little longer than expected and the skies opened up (as in a downpour of rain from Hell). All’s not lost on the DragonForce tip because they are coming back in September with ironically enough with current tourmates, All That Remains and Horse the Band (???). See how karmic life is! At least we got in all of our interviews…for the exception of you guessed it, Bleeding Through. Was scheduled to talk to Brandan but since we could not make the early time slot Mr. Schieppati was unable to accommodate us, go figure! Before we go any further, we have TWO (2) Tales From The Pit reviews for you. Click here to check out the Chicago review written by staff writer Maggie Solum and here for the Off-date show at the Tremont Music Hall written by our other writer, Josh Thorne! We've got more Ozzfest coverage than you'll know what to do with!! Don't forget to check out last year's coverage too!

There was one band out of the fold we were sorry we missed, Bad Acid Trip. Chris from Norma Jean spoke very highly of the band and said that he admired their tenacity for vanning it. How cool is that? Some brotherly love and mutual admiration!! One thing that can be said about Ozzfest, the institution, is the vast difference between the two stages. The First Stage historically has had very little interaction with the Second Stage, like the First Stagers can’t mingle with the “dregs of society” as Mr. LaBonte, lead singer of All That Remains coined it. There is hardly any sense of unity, why is that? DragonForce seemed to enjoy the company of America’s wayward children of Metal. We even spotted Brother Draiman (as in frontman for Disturbed, in case you didn't know) giving support to the little leaguers, shaking hands, and flashing smiles like a well-groomed but less filthy politician, outside of that, nothing more. 

Oddities and gripes: There have been reports where women were being molested in the parking lots of Ozzfest shows prior to ours…not that we are advocates of violence by ANY stretch of the means BUT “ladies”, you need to put your goodies up! Stop flashing your shit after the shows, making out with crew members, etc. We are all tired after a long day in the sun (some WAY drunker than others with raging libidos to match) SOOOO if you have your ass, boobs and snatch hanging out and some passerby sees this (in which we sure as hell weren't appreciative), they feel if you didn’t have enough respect for yourself then why should they? Do not make yourself an easy target! Now for those who did not participate in this ill behavior, STILL shame on the perpetrators BUT alcohol is usually to blame in situations such as these…Bottom Line: learn your limits, period!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another disgrace to women was this years’ “Miss Ozzfest Competition”. WTF is this? Has Sharon taken complete leave of her senses? It perpetuates more connotations that are negative for women, like we need more?! Too bad these chicks do not have higher goals or standards than to bare their naked asses (and worse) for the world to see. What are they hoping to achieve asides from notoriety…oh right, perhaps a "seat" at the Playboy Mansion? The Red Chord’s vocalist, Guy Kozowyk shares our sentiments, “they get the skankiest, grossest people on the face of the Earth who get onstage and whip their boobs out! I kind of hate to be a part of it. I know they’re gonna do it in Massachusetts and my mom and dad are going to be at the show. I’m gonna be like, ‘Yeah mom, don’t worry about it! We see this everyday”!” Can you say out of control? Nice to see musicians with a moral code!! Another gripe is that "chosen one" section! What’s with this first 3,000 people in the venue get a wristband shit? Who came up with this lame brained idea; it is much worse than the Miss Ozzfest business. We understand the “powers that be” decided that if they had a big section of kids in the front, it would make it less likely for them to get trampled…umm…yea right. Looks good on paper, or could it be an automatic filler for those venues where ticket sales were lagging? …Now we’re on to something!

Now on to a positive piece on Women in Metal/Hardcore. It’s so cool to see a woman do her thing, commanding the respect of the crowd; we have nothing but mad respect for these women! Last year front woman Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy led the fold along with Jada Pinkett from Wicked Wisdom to back it up. This year’s Major/ass kicker is the reigning Queen from the Second Stage, Walls of Jericho’s Candace Kucsulain. Of course, she shares the spotlight with the Queen of the first stage, Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia. We had the pleasure catching up with General Kucsulain in the backstage area! After several attempts, WOJ is now able to live out the dream of gracing the second stage, goes to show you persistence pays off! The band was more than elated to be there, she had this to say about the band’s stay on Ozzfest, “It’s been pretty amazing, pretty brutal! It’s everything we asked for! People are going insane and it’s nonstop energy the whole time! We’re really excited we got this opportunity! It’s been working out well!” Curious as to how Ms. K keeps her voice in “tough-as-nails” shape, she told me, “I’ve been doing this for eight years now, so I don’t really have to do much anymore unless I want to sing. I sing as well (on the new album) but on stage, I don’t.” Well there, you have it! She makes it look so effortless, and now we know why!

By the way, WOJ is coming out with a brand new album on Trustkill Records due to hit the shelves on August 22^nd entitled With Devils Amongst Us. From what we hear, the band wowed the hell out of the fans as they performed songs off the hot to-be-released aforementioned CD. With all smiles, she had this to say: “The shows have been amazing, we play two songs [“A Trigger Full of Promises” and “I Know Hollywood and You Ain't It"] off the record at Ozzfest and they are going over really well! They’re great party songs…I call them party songs. You have those that are into, [voice deepens] “Oh it’s brutal you need to mosh!” But you can shake your ass to it!” Nice to see Ozzfest is running their video in heavy rotation on the big screen (as in the First Stage area). It won’t be long before the band will band itself will see that side of the spectrum live and in person, mark our words!! Of course, Ozzfest, itself serves as a great starting point for a plethora of new fans to get kicked in the teeth by Walls of Jericho for the first time. Here’s Candace’s take on it, “What’s totally amazing is that so many people have never hear of us before, never seen us…they have no idea what’s going on. All of a sudden, a girl jumps out off the drum riser onto the stage as I’m screaming, ‘Let’s fucking go!’ I’m screaming and yelling at people…they just don’t expect it!!” You should catch this hardworking act on tour, after Ozzfest they will be heading out on the Trustkill Takeover Tour with Bullet For My Valentine and Roses Are Red. Candace had these final words for you, “Buy the record, come on out and have a good time!”

News: After Ozzfest, Boston’s The Red Chord will finally go home after one hell of a long road stint. When we caught up with the band’s screamer after chasing around Unearth’s tour manager…well hey, they have to entertain themselves somehow, we talked about the long awaited follow up to their critically acclaimed album, Clients. The band recently re-released the CD, the Deluxe Edition, with some enhanced features. We then were made privy to the name of the album and the band’s approach… Kozowyk had this to say, “We took a different approach with the new stuff where we named our next record and we named songs on the next record; we just don’t have any songs! The new name of the album is “Birdbath!” Why Birdbath you may ask? The singer explains the method to his madness, “Because primarily I wanted to name a record Birdbath. I’m going to build up a concept around the title and some song titles are going to include, “Keep it Wolf”, “The Robot From the Future”… By the end of it all, I would have pretended like it was a big, well thought out process…” This should be MORE than interesting. No matter what, it is sure to be the biggest beat down this side of the Potomac!

Setlists: Just in case you cared or wondered what everyone played, here are the other band's lists that we missed:

A Life Once Lost: Rehashed; I Give In; Pain and Panic; With Pitiless Blows; Vulture.

Walls of Jericho: All Hail the Dead; Trigger Full of Promises; Playing Soldier Again; Through the Eyes of a Dreamer, I Know Hollywood, and You Ain't It.

SHOW REVIEWS

Atreyu Lineup: Alex Varkatzas – vocals; Brandon Saller – drums; Dan Jacobs – guitar; Travis Miguel – guitar; Marc McKnight – bass

We were only able to stick around for three songs, in no particular order: “Right Side of the Bed”, “The Crimson”, and “Five Vicodin Chased with a Shot of Clarity” because we had to rush off to interview the magnanimous leader of Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend. From what we heard, the band rocked. They were totally on point and captivated the fans in back of the "chosen ones" section. Damn good job!

Atreyu Partial Setlist: Right Side of the Bed; The Crimson; Five Vicodin Chased with a Shot of Clarity, Creature, Ex’s & Oh’s, Someone’s Standing On My Chest, You Eclipsed By Me, Bleeding Mascara, Lip Gloss & Black.

Black Label Society Lineup: Zakk Wylde – lead guitar and vocals; Craig Nunenmacher – drums; John “J.D.” DeServio – bass; Nick "Evil Twin" Cantanese - guitar

Zakk n’ friends were who we had to see! While we were getting our bearings, we observed that the crowd was just happy to see the freaking BLS banner waving overhead! The black cloak with skull blanked the stage to unveil a hyped Zakk Wylde. His cool demeanor demanded respect and awe. The crowd ate up everything the band was dishing out. Guitarist Nick Cantanese teased the crowd with a shit eaten grin, winding them up just a little tighter. Guess he's living up to his moniker "Evil Twin". He was so happy to be there with every chord plucked. Zakk came out with his guns a blazin’, asked the crowd if the “Wisconsin Chapter of Black mother fucking Label” was ready to tear the place apart during song #1. It is official, the jury is in… we would like to declare that Zakk is crazy, insane and/or just a all around bad ass mother fucker for headlining the second stage then to pull double duty and shred for Ozzy… it’s suicide!!! Or is he just that great? The crowd thought so with each banging song belted out. Stay tuned for more Zakk Chronicles when he takes to the road with Black Label in October/November. In the meantime, BLS has a new CD coming out, Shot to Hell, pick it up!! Oh wait, speaking of bad ass MF's did we mention Zakk also contributed his axeness and vocals to the new Derek Shernian CD Blood of the Snake "Man With No Name".

Ozzy Osbourne Lineup: Ozzy Osbourne – vocals; Mike "Puffy" Bordin – drums; Zakk Wylde – guitar; Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass; John Sinclair – keyboards

One massive teletron sparks the arrival of The Great and Powerful Ozz. The highpoint of Ozzfest 2006 will go down in history as the year Ozzy came up from the river of flames (or as the case maybe, Valley) to and it is he who is the real reason you crawl from your caves to endure the heat n’ other hideous flying creatures year after year to experience what could be the last time you ever see Ozzy perform. Seeing him on the Second Stage was a bit surreal. We must admit, it is the best ploy Sharon’s group could have conjured! Perhaps this ploy reminds the masses that Ozzy IS still the King of Darkness. Wise move considering that must are well on their way home when Sabbath hits the main stage on normal occasions. Zakk pulling double duty for BLS and BS is phenomenal to say the least. It’s a testament to his tenacity, something that’s heard through each chord. Most who had been out there since dawn were running out of steam but stuck it out to catch this phenomenon. But when it was close to DragonForce to take the main stage, people were leaving in droves. OR maybe it was thee most bazaar weather we have faced this summer happened within 11 minutes mindset. The sky opened up like, one minute the earth was turning brown from thirst to drowning in rain! Everyone ran for shelter, crowding the row of buses to capacity and cramping our interview space with ATR even tighter. Made for interesting commentary but hark… is Ozzy off stage? We are now ass out on checking out DragonForce’ set! Our photographer flees the scene with our interviewer left to get the scoop from Walls of Jericho and The Red Chord. All efforts for the main stage are in vain despite a cool attempt by a wannabe race cart driver. The roads were just too wet to make the valley’s descent.

Ozzy Osbourne Partial Setlist (in no particular order): Crazy Train, Mama I'm Comin' Home, I Don’t Know, Mr. Crowley, Bark at the Moon, Suicide Solution, Into the Void, Guitar Solo, I Don’t Want to Change the World, Road to Nowhere, Crazy Train, Paranoid.

Onto the main stage...

Dragonforce Lineup: ZP Theart – vocals; Herman Li – guitars/backing vocals; Sam Totman – guitars/backing vocals; Frédéric Leclercq – bass / backing vocals; Vadim Pruzhanov – keyboards/backing vocals; David Macintosh – drums/backing vocals

The main stage at Alpine is notorious for being open and dank. But amazingly ZP’s vocals were ear blistering! His perfect pitch brought hoards of people to marvel at this spectacle. With the release of Inhuman Rampage (Roadrunner Records) the groundwork was laid before these guys touched American shores. Groves filled with the best cheese of the United Nations ever assembled. The buzz murmured through metal music old schoolers to newcomers that Dragonforce was a force to be reckoned with. Herman Li and Sam Totman made guitar playing look sooo easy! They have so much fun at what they do and the band is fully aware of it, and to loosely quote Herman in Karma’s interview  “We know no one can imitate what we do”!  With Ibanez’ a blazin’ it was the picture perfect opening act for the main stage. Sorry there are no pix; you got the skinny from above BUT DragonForce will be back, headlining soon (as in September) on the Inhuman Rampage Tour, so you will have to wait until then, sorry! Trust us, we're more bummed that you are! But in the meantime, click here for the interview with those two English blokes (Sam & Herman).

DragonForce Setlist: Black Fire; My Spirit Will Go On; Operation Ground and Pound; Through the Fire and the Flames; Valley of the Damned.

Seems like the beer swilling, nacho eating, lazed crowd members got off their duff for a hot moment to cheer the band on. The operatic Italian style between Cristina and Andrea is truly amazing. With lines like “I'm leading myself to be free in this eternal goodbye, Goodbye here I wanna be no more lies.” Simple play to one another’s deliverance gave the performance authenticity. On the last US tour, opening for Rob Zombie’s Educating Horses Tour, you got the sense that they wanted to bring a more emotional, dare we say romantic spin to their presentation. The remaining four members, donned in black silk-like shirts with white pinstripes, worked hard for their money elated by the roar of faithful fans smooching themselves against the barriers to get a closer look at the siren, Cristina. Even the inhibited bassist Marco Zelati found his mojo for the pavilion crowd. Mozzati’s blast beats blared center stage, driving the band to dig deep into their bungee cord-like head banging. Marco and Cristiano’s intricate guitar playing enveloped the bass in the venue. There was no time to stop between songs for a breather, for their time on stage was short. Too short to deliver all that the songs that they are known to enhance. The interaction between Lacuna and the far away audience was, overall, phenomenal!

Lacuna Coil Setlist: Fragile, To the Edge, Fragments of Faith, Enjoy the Silence, What I See, Heaven’s A Lie, Our Truth, Within Me.

Hatebreed Lineup: Jamey Jasta – vocals; Sean Martin – guitar; Chris Beattie – bass; Matt Byrne – drums; Frank "3-Gun" Novinec – guitar

What a cushy position Hatebreed has on the main stage; could it be that Hatebreed’s album Supremacy is scheduled to drop in mere weeks? Not hearing a peep out of this band for a couple of years made their performance chaotic. Heralded as hardcore’s band to rival made an interesting return to the scene. Speedy Jamie Gonzales was deliriously happy sporting a smile that permanently plastered his face until the end of their set! He jumped off risers and practiced his ‘I’ll beat you down’ look with every lyric uttered. Old school and simple text, the band’s bringing it back to much needed basics. But how bare boned have their music become? They stomped exasperatingly back into your hardened hearts. Matt Byrne's tiny kit couldn’t take much beating though he made the most of it. Frenzied and visibly tired, the clan rallied for backup from the crowd. Encouraging fans to chant their songs, which they obliged until the finale. Hope this is a positive precursor to Hatebreed’s fall headlining tour, the Monsters of Mayhem Tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, Exodus, and Napalm Death.

Hatebreed Partial Setlist (in no particular order): Defeatist, Tear It Down, This Is Now, Proven, To The Threshold, Live For This, Perseverance, Straight To Your Face, Empty Promises, Before Dishonor, Smash Your Enemies, Last Breath, I Will Be Heard.

Avenged Sevenfold: M. Shadows – vocals; Zacky Vengeance – guitar; Synyster Gates – lead guitar; The Reverend – drums; Johnny Christ – bass

The vast main stage made for a great playground for A7x; seeing they got more practice from last year's Warped Tour. The veins popped from M. Shadows’ muscular throat as he belted out his cheeky harmonic lyrics while desperately keeping good tone. His awareness of his surroundings and audience was steady as with the rest of the band. Devious snarls mirrored by each member had the crowd of chicks squealing in glee. The band was all too happy to oblige them. Even though most of their crowd was guys glaring with little emotion, Synyster Gates’ smug attitude demanded their respect and warranted much due applause. Their over confident statures and over the top stage antics (oops, off stage antics as well and makeup…and gold teeth) makes them great targets for Mötley Crüe rejects but quite frankly, with each album released, they enhance their sound and aren’t repressed by their fandom of yesteryear metal. M. Shadows’ mishap at Ozzfest-Tinley Park show being a good example. Age and trial & error become helpful tools in an ever changing musical climate which they are looked to as to what’s to come next in metal. Dueling guitars will always have a place in metal. Give ‘em a brake; let’s see what they’ll offer next!

Avenged Sevenfold Setlist: Unholy Confessions, Burn It Down, Walk, To End the Rapture, Guitar Solo, Eternal Rest, Bat Country.

Disturbed Lineup: David Draiman – vocals; Dan Donegan – guitarist; Mike Wengren – drummer; John Moyer – bassist

His Majesty is back. I use this loosely but if you are in disagreeance then you’ve never witnessed a Disturbed performance. When the band came into their own, in pure Chicago fashion, they let you know it as soon as it happened and they aren’t afraid to show you the metal battle-ax scars to prove their fight through the ranks. Before the night is through, Brother Draiman will have you confessing in the aisles to the disturbed congregation like Sunday Service in the bowels of Alabama! It’s something to behold. With steel tucks beaming in dusks’ sunset, David takes his place on the bridge behind Mike’s enormous drum kit. As the drums quake with each thunderous thrash, a tight accompaniment on the strings marks the coming of Disturbed. Although the intro this go ‘round was perfectly hyped, there was a sense of seriousness in the air, as though they brought the business to the stage, somber even. Say it ain’t so! Have they…mellowed out? I don’t believe it; I don’t believe it I say! At any rate, Brother Draiman stated that Alpine Valley held many good memories for he and his bandmates. Hired hand, bassist John Moyer, gave the crowd what he was employed to do, compliment the drummer and he did not disappoint. John’s self-assured stage presence was encouraging. He made us believe he wasn’t just a hired hand but a much needed addition. Surely, the ladder is not a comforting revelation for Mr. Moyer but a press-induced realization all the same. The concentration in Danny’s elaborate guitar routines have grown and expanded to the point where the songs try desperately to support the delivery. With the Ten Thousand Fists’ release, it is clear that the band must venture into new scary melodic territory to nurture and save their unit. Their disturbed congregation had better prepare themselves… Maybe they could get their juices flowing again through Intoxication Records??? Or…not.

Disturbed: Guarded, Liberate, Fear, Remember, Just Stop, Deify, Stupify, Prayer, Voices, Land of Confusion, The Game, Stricken, Down with the Sickness.

System Of A Down Lineup: Serj Tankian –  vocals; Shavo Odadjian – bass; Daron Malakian – guitar; John Dolmayan –  drums

Before Disturbed finished their set, Brother Draiman hyped the crowd with political angst against the terrorist devils we know. A wonderful precursor to music’s unofficial crusaders of free thinking for mini-mental militias everywhere, System Of A Down. We may not be fans but almost everyone got out lighters right before the band took the stage. Guitarist Daron Malakin opens with "Lonely Day". Wearing a loose fitting dress suit and fedora hat, he and his guitar stood in still blackness. His silhouette captured by a lonely light. One by one, each member came forth from the darkness to join in. With each light raised, the smoke got higher and the vertical rows of backlights grew brighter. Each song begun by Serj was accompanied by a dizzying array of Native American-like footwork (yes, we know they are Armenian), eyes closed as the lights and roars warmed his face. The honesty and candor in their songwriting bloats the mind with political fodder yet somehow this nonsense is refreshing. Daron kept to stage right while Shavo had fun with the crowd and taunted them on with goggle eyed looks n’ a wagging beard. The non-cluttered, empty stage and focused performers left you with only your thoughts of self-awareness; maybe even the fact that this couldn’t have been a more glorious ending.

System of a Down Setlist: Soldier Side, Attack, BYOB, Revenga, Deer Dance, Suggestions, Psycho, Chop Suey, Lonely Day, Kill Rock and Roll, Old School Hollywood, Violent Pornography, Cigaro, Radio/Video, Hypnotize, Lost in Hollywood, Question!, War?, Aerials, Toxicity, Sugar.

OzzFest XI: – July 22, 2006 - East Troy, Wisconsin

OZZFEST '06 11:00 PM CURFEW DATE: JULY 22, '06 CITY: EAST TROY, WI. VENUE: ALPINE VALLEY MUSIC THEATER

SECOND STAGE

MAIN STAGE

OZZfest XI 2006 Tour Dates:

“+” indicates Ozzy headlining main stage.

“++” indicates Ozzy headlining second stage.

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG

Click here for last year's Review / Photos of Ozzfest 2005