For the first time ever, Ozzfest was a one day only event and they picked Dallas to host the event. Many were wondering if it was the right thing to do. Last year's show was the weakest Ozzfest of all time with a ton of crappy unknown bands with only a few good artists such as Hatebreed, Lamb of God, and an ill Ozzy Osbourne. This year, the Osbournes knew they had to step it up and get some bigger acts and they did. The headliner was none other than Metallica and this year's show was nothing short of badass.
When I got to Pizza Hut Park at 1:00, I walked onto the field to hear In This Moment. I never listened to them before but I liked them. The female headsinger was doing a good job and was looking good. My friends and I figured we'd just stay at the main stage so we missed out on a few bands I wanted to see like Drowning Pool, The Sword, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Sevendust. The next band to hit the main stage was Apocalyptica. They are the four piece metal band from Finland who play the cellos. They did a great job and with songs like I'm Not Jesus and their version of Metallica's Fight Fire With Fire. The next band on stage was a personal favorite for me, Shadows Fall. They performed some of their best songs but the downfall to their show was them only getting to play for 30 minutes. The crowd was into them and they ended the show with their hit Redemption.
After Shadows Fall, I had to go buy some refreshing 5 dollar Gatorade and ready myself for Cavalera Conspiracy. I've listened to their cd a little bit and liked some of the songs. They put on a pretty good show and had very high energy. They played Sepultura's classic Refuse/Resist which got the crowd into a frenzy.
Up Next was Korn frontman, Jonathan Davis. I expected to hear a lot of Korn songs like Blind and Make Me Bad but instead we got a bunch of originals from Davis that basically sucked. He was the worst performer at the show and I couldn't wait for him to get the hell of the stage. He did do a decent job when they finally closed the show with Korn's Got the Life and Falling Away From Me. I hope that is Davis' last Ozzfest.
The next band on was Dallas' own Hellyeah. This is one I was waiting for. They hit the stage and played songs like Nausea and Matter of Time to open it up. The crowd was simply going insane during their performance as they should since the drummer is Pantera and Damageplan's Vinnie Paul. They brought out an acoustic guitar and played Alcohaulin Ass and closed their set with You Wouldn't Know and Hellyeah. During the song Hellyeah, the entire field turned into a moshpit. Even though my legs were already tired, I loved it.
Up Next was the tribute to the best guitarist ever, the hometown hero, Dimebag Darrell. The first song they did was Mouth for War with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Kingdom of Sorrow on vocals. It sounded great. Next, Max Cavalera came back on stage and they performed a Pantera classic, A New Level. The crowd was into it and singing along word for word. Even though Max doesn't sound much like Phil Anselmo, it was a good cover. For the next song, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Scott Ian of Anthrax and his wife, and Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich of Metallica performed Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. It was great and made for a classic moment with all them on stage with their acoustics and Cantrell on vocals. After that amazing version they pumped up the crowd again with Kerry King of Slayer coming on stage and performing Fucking Hostile, a crowd favorite. The Tribute was well received and they made a truly worthy tribute to Dime.
After that awesome tribute comes System of a Down lead vocalist, Serj Tankian. Now I was really hoping to hear some System of a Down songs like Spiders, or Chop Suey! but I was let down. He played only his solo stuff which isn't anything special. He played his hit single Empty Walls and for me, a bunch of other uninteresting songs. He shouldn't have had that long of a set in my opinion. When he finally got off the stage, everyone knew who was next, The Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.
Before the Ozzman came onto the stage, a video package was shown kinda like last year, of Ozzy doing parodies of shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. It was pretty hilarious and finally the lights turn low and Ozzy and his band hit the stage. Ozzy sounded much better than last year and played songs like Bark at the Moon, War Pigs, Mr. Crowley and a ton more. A lot of the guys in the crowd were having a hard time paying attention to the show because two young women kept dancing around and showing them boobies. After they had their five minutes of fame, all eyes were back on Ozzy for the most part. His lead guitarist, Zakk Wylde, played a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and then played a solo, proving that he may be the best guitarist alive. Ozzy extended his set an extra 30 minutes and played No More Tears, Fire in the Sky, and ended it with the Black Sabbath classic, Paranoid. Ozzy did a phenomenal job and proved that he is still the king of metal.
After Ozzy left the stage, it was about time for my favorite band of all time to play, Metallica. After waiting like 30 minutes, the lights shut off and the Ecstasy of Gold begins to play through the speakers as Metallica arrives on stage. They kick the show off with some songs from the album Ride the Lightning, Creeping Death, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Ride the Lightning. I'm into, the crowd is into it, and then they play Harvester of Sorrow, one of my favorites. This was so surreal for me to actually see the band I used to listen to in junior high and a little before that. After a little solo from Kirk they play Welcome Home (Sanitarium). I noticed a ton of cell phones were on during their more mellow songs, no one uses the lighters anymore? After Sanitarium, James asks the crowd if this is a good place to play a new song, which of course everyone screamed YES! The new song is entitled Cyanide and I gotta say it was awesome and I was among the first to ever hear it. Death Magnetic should be one of Metallica's best albums and look forward to it being the Top Album of 2008, on this site anyways. After Cyanide, they played plenty of other classics, No Remorse, Fade to Black, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, One, Damage Inc., Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True, and Enter Sandman. Just when you think the show if over they tell the crowd they are about to play a song from the double disc album, Garage Inc., that they haven't played in eight years. They bring King Diamond onto the stage and play Mercyful Fate. I was very surprised they played that one. That is one of my favorites and they nailed it. After Mercyful Fate was over, James told us they had one more for us. It was none other than Seek & Destroy. Even though my legs were really getting tired from standing all day I had to scream and jump and enjoy their final song. Metallica performed every song to near perfection and it was what I always hoped for. Overall Ozzfest 2008 was the best show I've ever been to and was totally worth the admission price of 150 bucks. If you didn't go because you thought it would be too hot or wasn't worth the price, well it sucks to be you nerd! When Ozzfest or Metallica return, I'll be there and you should too.