Ozzfest 2006 Chicago Review

OzzFest 2006: XI Tinley Park, IL (Chicago) 7/16/06 Reviewer: Maggie Solum

Welcome to OzzFest 2006 at Tinley Park, year 11, and probably the worst year to date considering many things that will soon be explained. Rules have definitely changed over the past few years with this money-raking festival. To start, that morning alone we started the day with high 90°degree weather, which intensified to 102° into the afternoon. OzzFest always seems to get the most dangerous heat wave of all the summer festivals - at least in our area - and it definitely didn’t make that July day enjoyable at any length. It’s at this extreme that you always see people in the thick Hot Topic pants or hoodies and you wonder if they’re really human. The ride to the venue was probably the coolest part (heat-wise), my friend’s mom pushing 80mph and getting us there in about 40 minutes, a 20% deduction to MapQuests’ estimation of an hour and fifteen minutes.

That sucked. Everything sucked. The only reason I’d paid $100 dollars for my friend and I was mainly for Unearth, and I almost didn’t live through that. The heat prevailed, and after missing Full Blown Chaos things finally started to settle down. A little bit. This year’s OzzFest contained most of last year’s Sounds of the Underground bands (which was predicted to happen), including Norma Jean, Unearth, Strapping Young Lad, A Life Once Lost, and All That Remains. It also contained the full line-up from 2005’s Thick As Thieves Tour, which featured Norma Jean, Unearth and Atreyu.

Buying a $5 lemonade and trying not to stand next the big, sweaty guy that’s in every OzzFest crowd, I began the observation that I hoped wouldn’t include any band members being carried away on stretchers from the day’s brutality.

SHOW REVIEWS

Bad Acid Trip Lineup: Dirk Rogers - vocals; Keith Aazami - lead guitar; Jose Perez - drums; Caleb Schneider - bass
 

There were many things I did not like about this band’s set. The first was the lead singer’s hair made him look like a cross between Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington and a rooster with a rainbow-colored mohawk. The punk style clothing and the overall stage presence really pointed you in the direction that they weren’t OzzFest material. But considering all the demands and schemes OzzFest “offers” – who is?

The style they played was almost disturbing; I clearly remember some screaming, and then the vocalist’s screeches, which sounded like his vocal chords were snapping from all the strain. They resembled a heavy Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails, and was too similar to generic radio-rock for me. But the crowd seemed to enjoy them and I guess that was all that mattered. Not really.

Partial Setlist: Beef Moo, Fascist Fuckward, Kill or Be Killed.

A Life Once Lost Lineup: Bob Meadows - vocals; Robert Carpenter - guitar; Douglas Sabolick - guitar; Nick Frasca - bass; Justin Graves - drummer

Finally I get to see ALOL. After missing them at Sounds ’05 somehow, I was determined to catch them this year. And I was so glad I did. The gusty wind, of course, screwed up any quality the cabinets might’ve provided the band, but despite this they kept as precise as they could under the circumstances. The hardcore kids were definitely digging the Pennsylvania five-piece, but the older, “more experienced” metal heads didn’t seem amused with mop-haired Bob Meadows’ moderate vocal performance.

But to most of the crowd, the energy was infectious as guitarist Doug Sabolick and bassist Nick Frasca marched around the stage arrogantly only to plant a foot on a speaker and stare out across the crowd with a smile. “Pain & Panic” and “Vulture” conjured up the most crowd excitement as, finally, dust began to gather into everyone’s nostrils from dancing kids. The band’s rhythmic headbanging provided an amusing scene of twirling hair and flailing guitars, and my hunger for live ALOL was finally satisfied.

Setlist: Rehashed, Needleman, Grotesque, Pain & Panic, Vulture.

Click here for photos of the band during 2005 SOTU

All That Remains Lineup: Phillip LaBonte – vocals; Oli Herbert – guitar; Mike Martin – guitar; Jeanne Sagan – bass; Shannon Lucas - drums

 
This band had the same situation with me as A Life Once Lost. Never had I been able to see the band play (also missing them at Sounds), and this didn’t add another strike to my record. I was in the "Line From Hell" to chat with ALOL when All That Remains started their set, and the only part my already bleeding ears were able to hear was Phil Labonte’s familiar growls and shrieks. Like a follower of a religious cult, I repeatedly whipped myself with a cat-o-nine-tails for missing their performance yet again.

Partial Setlist: Tattered On My Sleeve, The Calling, This Darkened Heart.

Click here for interivew with Phil LaBonte

here for interview with Jeanne Sagan

here for photos of the band during the Doomsday Tour with Arch Enemy

I don’t know where the hell I was during this set, but I know I wasn’t in the crowd and out came the whip again. When we finally did get down to the “VIP” area of the audience to watch the remains of the performance, I was in awe at vocalist Guy Kozowyk’s amazing talent and almost mistook him and his band of pirates’ playing for “Clients” being played over loudspeaker. The power and intimidation of TRC is almost overwhelming, and when you witness it live it pumps you up with even more energy. For shame on me for being elsewhere for 75% of the set, for shame.

Setlist: Fixation on Plastics, Upper Decker, Lay the Tarp, Black Santa, Antman, Love on the Concrete.

Click here for photos of the band during the Throwdown Tour with Black Dahlia Murder

Strapping Young Lad/Between The Buried & Me

I was nowhere near the second stage during these groups’ sets, because I refused to be. Maybe that was the reason, I don’t remember exactly – but I do know I missed both performances in their entirety.

Walls of Jericho Lineup:  Aaron Ruby - bass; Candace Kucsulain - vocals; Dustin Schoenhofer - drums; Chris Rawson - guitar; Mike Hasty - guitar

Three female musicians were featured on this year’s OzzFest! One being Miss Scabbia, another being the bassist of All That Remains, and the last being, of course, Walls of Jericho’s brutal front woman Candace. I had heard basically nothing of this band musically before this day, and the heaviness of their music struck me like a metal baseball bat to the neck, as did the numerous f-bombs that were dropped between songs. Due to the heat my memory of this set is fizzling slowly, but the solid fact that energy was the band’s key, even above musical quality (haha), but they made a good first impression on a majority of the crowd. By now the kids had applied their multicolored bandanas over their cracking lips all in preparation for the next set, the ultimate in (unfortunately, scene kid) brutality.

Click here for new interview with Candace Kucsulain

Norma Jean Lineup: Scottie Henry - guitar; Chris Day - guitar; Cory Brandan - vocals; Daniel Davison - drums; Jake Schultz - bass

Finally my absences from the crowd came to a stop as who I’d came to see were beginning to line-up. Atlanta, Georgia’s rising hardcore quintet entered in front of their brand new "Redeemer" banner (promoting the September 12^th release) splattered, smeared and dirtied with what looked like soot from a recently burning bonfire. Their clothes were ripped and tattered and also coated in the black scum. Bassist Jake Schultz’s once bleach blonde hair was so soaked with the dirt that it was now a muddy brown color. Their cabinets were melted and falling apart, leaning against each other as though they’d been through a few small explosions. I, of course, had three tall teenage boys in front of me that could care less about anything and when I asked to get closer, I was generously answered with a burning glare. Later that set I returned the favor with a polite punch to his brain stem. Maybe it forced some manners into his cerebrum, who knows.

I’m going to ignore every insult I’ve ever heard about this band and state that their set is all energy. Whether you like them or not, Norma Jean is the definition of a good show (though they may not be under the Merriam-Webster listing). Guitar slinging, headbanging and constant running around the stage distract your eyes and attention in every which-way. Vocalist Cory Brandan’s deep-chested bellowing is somewhat hard to understand sometimes (even in recordings) but nevertheless, his roars kept up with the fast-pace rhythm and finished off that chaotic puzzle that Norma Jean has created. Drummer Justin Graves of A Life Once Lost played alongside Daniel Davison, also dirtied up, and I was guessing it was to help his fellow beat-maker in the heat.

Located directly behind me during this set was a lovely bloody dancing pit where two kids actually got into a fist fight (it was eventually settled by them, the guards could really care less about what you’re doing in the pit). I was impressed, those hardcore kids rarely live up to what they say they can do. Norma Jean’s tour manager, who was watching from side stage, seemed to enjoy the crowd’s feedback to her band’s set and she was all smiles as she pointed out the pits and most energetic fans. It was my fourth time seeing the Southern boys, and even in this almost Georgia heat they still conquered all.

Setlist: Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste, The Shotgun Message, Bayonetwork, Blueprints For Future Homes, Murderotica, Liarsenic, Vertebraille.

• Click here for new interview with Cory Brandan

• Here for photos of the band during the Thick as Thieves Tour with Unearth & Atreyu 

• Here for photos of the band during 2005 SOTU

If you’ve read my Tales From The Pit review of The Truth Tour, you’ll know my feelings about Bleeding Through. You will also expect that I won’t have much a review on them from OzzFest. You were right! Two minutes into their set, I was gone. No thank you. For the next 30 minutes, I chilled at the FYE tent with Norma Jean, trying to talk loud and overpower the noise Bleeding Through produced, which didn’t entirely work.

Setlist: For Love & Failing, Love Lost In A Jail Of Gunfire, Tragedy On Empty Streets, Love In Slow Motion, Kill To Believe, Revenge I Seek, On The Wings Of Lead.

• Click here for photos / review of the band during the Sanctity of Brothers Tour

• Here for photos of the band during the The Truth Tour

• Here for interview with Ryan Wombacher

The Mass boys are back! It’s been about 7 months since they’ve been in the road in our area and Chicago is absolutely bubbling with anticipation to witness the east coast Masters of Destruction tearing the stage apart. Because of my genius thinking, I found a place in the crowd before their set, directly in the middle, as the heat peaked. I’d been in the pit a million times at Unearth shows, so I didn’t think much of this. I really should’ve.

As soon as “The Great Dividers” started and I got that feeling where you knew the air was just too hot and lacking oxygen, that I wasn’t going to be able to stand a 40 minute set. I was crushed between boys that felt the need to protect, but any sort of barricading wasn’t all that possible by this point – Trevor Phipps’ power over the crowd was unstoppable. Once the pushing was over and there was a break between songs for Phipps to express his words of wisdom, I tried to look for an exit. Not quick enough, and “Endless” killed me. Everything went black for a second and a guy near me caught my arm to keep me standing. He was screaming that I needed to leave, and that’s what I did. As soon as I reached the outskirts of the pit, Ken Susi jumped on an amp holding his guitar up and pointing in my direction, as if he knew that I had almost passed out because of him.

To the people that were in the pit the entire day – I congratulate you and am in utter awe of how you can do it in the heat. But back to Unearth – they were in their prime. They were overflowing with energy; Buz McGrath and his new facial hair (Mike Justian as well), Phipps more buff and with an even thicker lion’s mane and Slo still sporting the bandana and hat. It was a sight all too familiar and greatly missed.

My favorite part and clearest memory of the set was “Black Hearts Now Reign”, the initial set-ender, where Phipps stands at the front of the stage on the speakers in the middle of the song during the break, holding his fists up in complete silent for about 20 seconds as everyone screams and shouts, waiting for the breakdown. A clear and impressive example of his power. Haha.

I didn’t mention it during my notes about Norma Jean, but Atreyu’s bassist Marc McKnight came out during both Jean and Unearth’s sets. During Norma Jean, he came out with Cory Brandan to do vocals on “Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste”, and during Unearth he came out with his bass guitar during “Black Hearts Now Reign”. Talk about a desire of attention.

Setlist (in no particular order): The Great Dividers, Endless, Zombie Autopilot, My Heart Bleeds No Longer, This Lying World, Brothers In Sanctity, Black Hearts Now Reign.

• Click here for new interview with Trevor Phipps

• here for photos / review of the band during the Sanctity of Brothers Tour

• Here for photos of the band during the Thick for photos of the band during the Thick as Thieves Tour with Norma Jean & Atreyu

• Here for photos of the band during 2005 SOTU

To go from Warped Tour last year to OzzFest this year, I didn’t know what to expect of the crowd’s reaction. I was surprised to find that huge amount of people in the crowd new pretty much every song. I watched from the divider railing as kids pushed and shoved, and my memories of someone saying kids in San Diego had broken down the barrier during Unearth began to worry me. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this date.

Atreyu always does a moderately good job playing when I saw them, but unfortunately the wind took away much of the sound quality, even though vocalist Alex Varketzas wasn’t sounding to well with his screaming, instead of a cat having his tongue it sounded as though the feline were clogging his throat. Vocalist/drummer Brandon Saller on the other hand sounded exceptional both musically and vocally, though his striped, skin-tight tank top and stylishly big sunglasses made it hard to watch him without smiling. I remember they fell onto his lap at one point when he was headbanging and I busted out laughing.

Shorty guitarist Dan Jacobs always reminds me of an axe man from an old 80’s band, the way he stands with his foot propped on an amp with the cut-off shorts and sleeveless t-shirt, shredding away on a solo. He glows with stage presence though he lacks energy, McKnight and guitarist Travis Miguel providing enough for everyone. About halfway through the set they had technical difficulties with Jacobs’ guitar, and Alex screamed “I’m just gonna keep screaming until they fix Dan’s guitar”, then stood there for a while before growling “awkward”.

The funniest part was, when they were over (BLS and Ozzy Osbournes’ sets were next) a large part of the crowd left the area. It was then that I realized how popular Atreyu really is.

Setlist (in no particular order): Creature, Ex’s & Oh’s, Someone’s Standing On My Chest, The Crimson, Right Side of the Bed, You Eclipsed By Me, Bleeding Mascara, Lip Gloss & Black.

Click here for photos of the band during the Thick as Thieves Tour with Unearth & Norma Jean

Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne

Say all you want, but it wasn’t a goal of mine to sit through these sets again. I headed to the Jäger tent during BLS to talk to Unearth instead of buying a damn CD that I already owned, and my reward for doing so was a lovely sketch of a penis that Ken Susi drew on the crotch of my shorts. During Ozzy I had to meet up with a friend of mine, but from what I could hear in the heat waves of the day was that he’s not getting better over the years.

DragonForce Lineup: ZP Theart - vocals; Herman Li - guitar; Sam Totman - guitar; Vadim Pruzhanov - keyboards; Frédéric Leclercq - bass, harsh vocals; Dave Mackintosh - drums

A friend of mine who lives in the UK used to always tell me about this amazing melodic metal band called DragonForce. I could’ve cared less about them then when he had me listen to them, and it didn’t improve seeing them now. My friends and I were a good distance from mainstage on the grassy hill, sitting in the biggest sliver of shade we could find after repeatedly being removed from the concrete steps, one of the only shaded areas left. A large, overweight man was standing in front of where we were sitting, and my friend was so pissed he started yelling rather vulgar things that the man never seemed to hear. My other friend finally threw a condom balloon that’d been floating around (that didn’t do much damage) and the man headed somewhere else.

DragonForce played a whopping four songs, but each one was about six minutes long and shattered your eardrums with solos. I began to forget where one song ended and the other one began. I have never been a fan of this sort of music, so you can’t hold this review against me, even if they’re the best melodic metal band on the planet I would probably want to have as little to do with them as possible. My friend, who’s a huge fan, ran all the way down to the pavilion to see them up close. Good for him. Gooood for him.

Setlist: Revolution Deathsquad, Storming The Burning Fields, Through The Fire & Flames, Cry For Eternity.

Click here for interview with Sam Totman & Herman Li

From where we were sitting everyone looked like ants, though I could clearly see that Cristina Scabbia was wearing a schoolgirl outfit and was guessing everyone in the pavilion seats were very much enjoying it. It had been about two and a half years since I’d seen Lacuna Coil, so I was excited, but not pissing myself.

The wind, of course, fucked up most of the sound quality but you could tell they were on key and timed perfectly – they’ve always been a pretty dead-on band when it came to timing.

Setlist: Fragile, Devoted, Closer, Enjoy The Silence (cover), Heaven’s A Lie, Our Truth.

Click here for photos of the band during the Alpine Valley Ozzfest show

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

I’ve been dying to review this band just to tell you about the kid that was standing a couple yards in front of us at the guardrail. He was probably 16, but that’s not the point. My friend pointed out that during Hatebreed’s breakdowns that he would grab the rail and headbang like crazy, like he was at the most insane concert of his life. It was hysterical and made me even more irate that I hadn’t been able to bring in my camera for a video.

Though I’d been waiting to see Hatebreed for a long time, I didn’t really enjoy their set. Songs like “To The Threshold” and “This Is Now” pumped you up, but overall they didn’t put on much of a show. That’s what I hate so much about mainstage is that after a while things get boring because there’s no more moshing and even less crowd interaction.

Setlist (in no particular order): 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.

Click here for photos of the band during the Alpine Valley Ozzfest show

here for photos of the band during the 2005 Heavyweights of Hardcore Tour

How much money does this Goddamn band have? Their entrance consisted of thousands of flashing lights, smoke, and a smaller second stage for them to prance around on during their generic solos. Vocalist Matt Gay – I mean – Matt Shadows was pimped out, complete with bling around his neck and silver grills on his teeth (for about one song). Everyone else looked like they have lately – like they do too much cocaine. They were painted up with make-up and drabbed with many layers of clothing. It was like watching a Mötley Crüe show rather than A7X, but I guess that’s why they always say they idolize that band.

What I loved most was how awesomely recorded the show was. Shadows had an iPod clipped to his hip, and several times his vocals would continue while his face was too far from the microphone for it to catch any sound. At one point, I remember the sound skipped just barely and my friend said the drumming didn’t match the sound. I was wondering how a band could sound so perfect when they’re in such not so good shape. Even if it wasn’t prerecorded (through some strange miracle), there was definitely something going on with this band. They aren’t as perfect as they sound.

This was about all we could handle and called up for a ride. On the way out while Disturbed was playing, a man came over to us shouting about how Disturbed was “a fucking joke” and that it’s all “bullshit”. I couldn’t have agreed more. I think a lot of people could’ve given a rat’s ass about them or System Of A Down, at least from what I’ve heard. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll have more shit to write about next year.

Setlist: The Beast & The Harlot, Unholy Confessions, Burn It Down, Walk (cover), Eternal Rest, Bat Country.

Click here for photos of the band during the Alpine Valley Ozzfest show

here for photos of the band during the 2005 Vans Warped Tour

OzzFest XI: – July 16, 2006

11:00 PM CURFEW DATE: JULY 16, '06 CITY: CHICAGO, IL. VENUE: FIRST MIDWEST BANK

SECOND STAGE

MAIN STAGE

OZZfest XI 2006 Tour Dates:

“+” indicates Ozzy headlining main stage.

“++” indicates Ozzy headlining second stage.

o     Click here for photos/review Ozzfest 2006: XI Alpine Valley, WI

o     Here for review for an Ozzfest 2006: XI Off-date Tremont Music Hall