Ozzfest, the thunderous metal music festival that was held at Pizza Hut Park on Aug. 9 as a one-day, one-time destination event for 2008, recently announced that it grossed about $3.5 million. Let's see. Divide that by an approximate attendance...
Sevendust. Again: same ol' same ol'. Singer Lajon Witherspoon looked a tad more spent and beaten down than usual (and that's saying something: he's stout as singers go). And the music? Do I HAVE to repeat myself? Hellyeah's throwing out...
Yes, the moving of the side stages from the concrete east parking lot to the adjacent undeveloped ground was good. The condition of it, though, is not. Giant cracks up to a foot deep, caused by the unrelenting sun combined...
I lied: I had to post one more item. So Ozzy went 35 minutes late. But he made up for it with a neat little fireworks show afterward. Really! They set off a bunch of 'em behind the north side...
Ozzy's blown the template. Things stayed rigidly on schedule until his set, which is now on its encore - "Mama, I'm Coming Home," complete with a Gibson double-neck guitar over Zakk Wylde's beefy shoulders - but the set's run almost...
Call it being afraid of the deep end, call it knowing how well you can swim - but for what Drowning Pool is, it's not bad. Good power, good conviction, good energy and great charisma are all evident, even with...
Well, the MC on the side stages made a fool of himself, didn't he? The KDGE-FM DJ - I forget his name, and frankly I don't really give a hoo-ha, especially since he's got an East Coast accent - spent...
Oh, stop! Not that grass ... Lawn grass. On a summer day, it's your friend. And Ozzfest realizes that. Unlike Edgefest and most other concert events held at Pizza Hut Park, the stadium's playing field isn't covered by that springy,...
I just finished a short conversation with Austin fantasy metal band the Sword, which is headlining the Texas Stage in about two hours. But that's not the coolest thing. The band opened for Metallica for a month in Europe until...
Ozzy is energized. For him, WAY energized. His voice is as well-preserved as it's been in years of Ozzfests, he looks trim and healthy, he's pushing his vocals far enough to be poignant, and he's clearly happy to be at...
In This Moment opened the Main Stage with one of Ozzfest 2008's many gimmicks: the only female lead singer among the 22 bands here. Maria Brink looked like she was more closely related to Katy Perry than, say, Lita Ford....
... and actually, I've been here for almost an hour. I've spent that time solving some logistical issues with covering the event (seems security here is much tighter than at the typical Texas music festival). As a result, I missed...
Sweet! Serj Tankian's backing band (like Jonathan Davis', I can't state its name on a blog accessible to tender eyes) are all wearing top hats. The System of a Down front man's been fond of them since he launched his...
High clouds have rolled onto the scene in earnest now, and they've helped with the sun exposure. Dimebag's still getting his, though. Not live: that's over and only lasted four songs. Turns out the acoustic ditty was a cover: "Wish...
As Hellyeah rolls through a hitch-filled version of "You Wouldn't Know," about 40 dignitaries have gathered stage left. The gaggle is buzzing about as much as the band performing is, actually. Some pretty huge names in metaldom are in that...
It's hottt! Tickets for Ozzfest on Saturday at Pizza Hut Park haven't sold as briskly as organizers would've liked, and I'm wondering if it's the temps, the economy, what? Because come on, Metallica alone should be selling this thing out,...
Turns out that most of what I was told late last week about Ozzfest 2008 was true. Not all, but most. The official word as of three hours ago: Ozzfest is a "one-day stadium spectacular" (as opposed to two days)...
Newsletter sign-up: 
Get Breaking News on your cell