Ozzfest

On Saturday, after having a hearty steak lunch, I went down to the Ozzfest in Selma. I was very glad they let me in with my camelbak filled with ice and water. The security guy at the door at first sounded as though I would have to empty it out or something, but he let me through with it intact. I got to the second stage as 3 inches of blood was finishing up. When they finished I wandered around for a while, checking out some of the following acts for a bit. Devil Driver was pretty good. I enjoyed Behemoth, I wasn't very familiar with them beforehand. I was on the lawn when Hatebreed started, then headed down and stood by the sound tent. Once Jamey called for a circle pit around said tent, I went back to the lawn for the rest of their set.
After Hatebreed I headed to the actual amphitheater and was pleased that seating wasn't a free-for-all as I had thought and also that I had an actual seat. Lordi was fun with their costumes and pyro, but they're not a real big name so the crowd wasn't too energetic (at least not in the back where I was). Static-X seemed to get a better response from the crowd. They played a lot of their popular songs and I thought they did a good job. Lamb of God was awesome, I was on my feet almost their whole set. The sun was setting as they were playing and for a little while the sun was right in my eyes so it was hard to see anything. Once the sun set it was a lot easier to see the lighting.
The crowd really went wild when Ozzy came out. Almost everyone was on their feet whistling and yelling. Ozzy did his usual "I can't hear you" bit. They did lots of Ozzy hits and a couple Black Sabbath songs thrown in. Having just bought Guitar Hero, I was especially interested in seeing Zakk Wylde playing. After about 45 minutes, Ozzy and the rest of the band went off stage and left Zakk noodling that eventually led to a Hendrix-like Star Spangled Banner rendition. After about an hour of playing, Ozzy started the "we won't play until you go extra crazy" shtick and I decided it was about time to head out ahead of the rest of the hordes. After another couple songs, I headed out but stopped to see "Mama I'm Coming Home" and Zakk playing a double-necked guitar. I had a pretty easy time getting out and back onto the interstate and was glad I didn't wait until the bitter end.