The Ozzfest crowd is an interesting one. There are your angsty black-clad teenagers, shirtless men sporting tattoos reading "INFIDEL", drunk stragglers trying to avoid grounds security, women wearing painted-on butterflys in place of a shirt, the average 9 to 5'er looking to blow off steam, bikers and their babes, and the out-of-place parents who brave the floor pit with their little ones. They all came together on Saturday at Hartford's Comcast Theatre for the same reason: to worship at the feet of metal.
The day began at the Monster Energy 2nd Stage with rapidfire sets from Saviours, Skeletonwitch, Kataklysm, Kingdom of Sorrow, Drowning Pool, and the mighty Black Label Society (Goatwhore had to bail last minute due to a band member injury incurred the night before in Rochester). But music wasn't the only feature that humid afternoon. Just before Black Label Society, Ozzfest's MC Big Dave, an ordained minister, married a couple on stage in front of their fellow metalheads. Working in Black Label Society-themed vows, such as making them promise to raise their kids on BLS's music, f-bombs casually flew left and right as the couple declared their love for each other, finishing the ceremony with a field of fans chanting "BLS! BLS!" as the Groom kissed the Bride.
As the dust that was kicked up by the daytime moshers settled, the fans made their way inside to Comcast's Main Stage to begin their evening with Nonpoint and DevilDriver. Bringing up the metal to yet another level was Halford. There is only one man who can sing lyrics like "Supersonic silver flying machine" and really sell it, and that man is Halford's lead vocalist/Metal God, Rob Halford.
Next up was the four-man band that lead this reporter right down the metal path at age 12, Motley Crue. The Crue have actually toured with Ozzy before, opening for him in 1984 when they were promoting the absolutely classic metal album "Shout At the Devil." Explaining their participation on this tour, bassist Nikki Sixx simply said "What the f*** do you say when Ozzy calls, and then he says 'Do you wanna do Ozzfest??' We said 'F*** YES!"
Starting off the set was "Kickstart My Heart", one of the greatest songs ever about evil, sin and greed in L.A., "Wild Side" and "Shout at the Devil", completely with well timed towers of flame. This wasn't a full headliner set, but even with the limited time, it satisfied fans of all eras. "Dr. Feelgood", "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Same Ol' Situation", "Saints of Los Angeles", "Looks That Kill" and "Girls Girls Girls" all made the cut. "Helter Skelter" was an extra bonus, as it's not always a staple in their setlist and is a fun cover to hear live. By the way, for those worried that with the shorter set than usual drummer Tommy Lee wouldn't have a moment to scan the crowd for women willing to flash their goods, you can rest easy. He scheduled in some time for that too.
Finally, after a day of sweating, battling dehydration, and headbanging, it was time for Ozzy. Beginning the show was a hilarious video of Ozzy spliced into various scenes a la Billy Crystal's famous Oscars opening montages. Ozzy portrayed the hapless drug dealer Doug in The Hangover, told off Jersey Shore's Snooki as he took the place of The Situation, and took over Beyonce's part in "Telephone" wearing full drag. But perhaps the scene that got the most approval via applause was when Ozzy, dressed as Rob Pattinson's pouty vampire, put Twilight's Kristen Stewart in her place. It is a must see. After the last clip, the big hoopla dance scene from "Iron Man 2", it was time for the Prince to take the stage.
As wife Sharon Osbourne and Rob Halford watched from sidestage, Ozzy kicked the show off with "Bark at the Moon." The setlist was a nice mix of classic tunes from his solo career like "Mr. Crowley", "I Don't Know", "Suicide Solution", "Shot in the Dark" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" and Black Sabbath tunes such as "Iron Man", "Paranoid" and "Fairies Wear Boots." Ozzy clapped, jumped, and headbanged (sometimes all three at the same time) as he smiled at his fans throughout the night. He was especially giddy when he randomly picked up his infamous fire hose and nailed fans in the front row, and at times security guards, with a blast of white foam right to the head.
For the show's encore, "Crazy Train", he brought out 9 year old Yuto Miyazawa, who at his young age, is pretty much the same size as the Randy Rhoads Flying V guitar he was playing. Ozzy had met the young guitar whiz on the Ellen DeGeneres show when he made a surprise visit to the young boy who was booked as a guest that day.
For information on the remaining tour dates for Ozzfest, please check the official site. For additional OZZFest coverage, visit fellow Examiner Elliot Levin's page.
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