Ozzfest 2002 (UK)

[murta]

Anyone else go? Here's my tale:

[Warning, contains long rants, British slang and general bad stuff that you probably don't wanna read. You have been warned]

 

Day 1 - Friday:

Got there on Friday afternoon at about 7.30pm and after a short queue to get our camping wristbands we were into the site. Found a spot and hurriedly start putting the tents up, so we could protect the beer. It started raining half way through putting mine up and the instructions were crap but we got there in the end and dumped all our stuff inside. After a quick trip to the portaloos (already full with rotting poo and floating green stuff), we went to check out the stalls, 3 or 4 of which were selling a multitude of drugs and accessories, but none of us are into that kinda stuff. I also discovered that I only had £20 left, £16 of which I spent on a crappy sweater, since I didn't pack any warm clothes. Anyway a small pit formed next to the vodka jelly shooter stand since they were playing some metal. My pal Wardy went straight in and started getting down to some RATM, while me and Orgy (the other guy I went with) stood laughing at his lack of rhythm. We left him to it, got some pizza, then went back to our respective tents (he went straight to sleep). I decided I wasn't gonna have any fun if I stayed there. So I grabbed a 4-pack from Orgy's tent (he slept like a log and didn't wake up all night, despite all the noise I made). I got back to the mini pit, just as SOAD - Toxicity started so I ripped the beer apart, gave one to Wardy and 2 to random strangers and jumped straight in. I ended up drinking 2 and a half of the cans anyway BTW and we farted about dancing for a few hours. Somebody threw my shoe in a field and a bee (actually a jet aircraft) stung me, so I started a fight with it, but it wouldn't come down and this girl started calling me baby beater (can't remember why, but I do remember she was smuggling peanuts ). Then we walked to this guy's car in a field nearby but it was locked and we couldn't get in, so we all had a piss and then went back to the campsite. 4 or 5 of the guys we were hanging out with were left without a tent (because they couldn't get into the car where their stuff was), so they decided to stay up drinking all night. Only problem was, they had no beer, then I made the mistake of telling them about the crate in Orgy's tent. They tried their best to convince me to show them where his tent was so they could half-inch it, but I didn't back down. Eventually they just told me to get some food from my tent and that would do, I soon twigged on that they were following me to my tent so they could find Orgy's and one of the girls warned me. So I ducked behind some tents (it was really dark so they couldn't see me) and crawled away until they gave up, at which point I rejoined them and we walked into a field, where one of the guys revealed that he had managed to get hold of a 6-pack of Stella and a bottle of Jack Daniels. So we sat next to this generator in a circle drinking and talking, one guy was doing all kinds of drugs but nobody else did anything except weed (I don't do any drugs or smoke). We could see the main stage being soundtested by Ozzy and Jack and then this American guy who we met earlier joined us and told us about how great America is at punishing it's opponents (he used the example of Pearl Harbour, which I countered with the fact that we could have used with their help a few years earlier on in WW2). Anyway, everyone filtered off one by one and eventually me, Wardy and this girl he had been with all night went back to my tent ('cos Wardy was sharing mine), by now it's about 4am. I let them use my tent and slept in Orgy's, but all they did was talk all night (keeping me awake).

 

Day 2 - Saturday:

I woke up at 6am, fell asleep and woke again at about 9, got kicked out of Orgy's tent and went to queue for the actual fest (after a short stop at the toilet). We (me, Orgy, Wardy and his girl) got in pretty quickly and checked out the site (which, at this time, was pretty empty and still had grass) including the queue down at the main stage, which we ignored because we thought it was for the lucky fools with VIP passes (turns out the first 4000 to queue up there got blue wristbands, giving them access to a sectioned-off pit right at the front of the stage *damn*). We sat waiting for the girl's friends to arrive, but me and Orgy got bored of waiting, so we got some breakfast, then went back to my tent at the camp-site to eat some food, listen to music and rest, while waiting for the first band to start (Anti-Product). We couldn't be arsed to go back so we listened to them from the camp-site, and also skipped Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society but returned to the fest before Mad Capsule Markets started:

Mad Capsule Markets

They started with the awesome Tribe and followed on with nPulse, by which time they had won a large portion of the (still small) crowd (most of which seemed to think they were a dance band and didn't belong in the lineup of this Metal festival - fools). I didn't know the rest of the songs (because I can't seem to find their album, although I'm hoping to get it soon), but they played a great set and even went to the effort of learning some English, which went a little like this "Thank you, we are The Mad Capsule Markets, we are very honoured to be playing Ozzfest". SCORE - 7/10

 

After this we tried meeting up with Wardy but he was apparently stuck in another section of the festival, so Orgy went into the pit and I stayed at the edge (I have an ongoing ankle injury, so I have to use my ankle selectively), for:

Drowning Pool

Never been a huge fan of these guys, but they played a good set, really got the crowd going and really seemed to respect their place in the setlist. They obviously finished with their biggest hit, Bodies, sending the crowd wild. Overall I thought they were a lot better than my expectations. SCORE - 7/10

 

I met Orgy at the pre-arranged 'ice cream van meetup' and being a pretty much exclusive metalhead, he left, while I went into the pit for:

Millencolin

I'm into metal, punk, ska and all sorts, unlike alot of the fans there, so I was looking forward to Millencolin. They were the only punk band on the bill and while the majority of people from the last set left, they still managed to draw a pretty big crowd. Starting out with No Cigar the crowd (consisting mainly of drunk metallers and the small amount of punks/all rounders) promptly started moshing and sending crowd surfers over the railings (must have sent at least 70 people just from the small bit where I was standing). One guy tried to pull the barrier down, causing a female security guard to start lamping him in the face, with no effect, he soon stopped when a big black security guy punched him square on the nose . I can't remember most of the set, but it consisted of Mr Clean, Bullion, Fox and a load of songs from the new album (Home From Home), finishing up with Penguins and Polarbears. I got the feeling that the majority of fans in the crowd weren't there to see them, but all had a good time and maybe a few were converted. SCORE - 6/10

 

I met up with Orgy again and we drank for a while until Cradle Of Milf started, which we skipped because they suck. It rained pretty damn hard for a few minutes, but I stayed dry by crawlng under the ice cream van (where I found 50p). Orgy got soaked and had to wring his second-layer shirt out. As soon as the frankly awful, samey Cradle Of Filth (they all seemed to be on stilts) finished we went into the pit to see:

LostProphets

I've been a fan of these guys for years and it's a shame to see the kind of fans they're attracting (teeny girls/people that only know the lyrics to the singles - posers) now that they have videos out there on MTV and the like. Anyway, back to the set, the sound quality was awful, nowhere near loud enough. They started with Kobrakai (as I predicted) and went through most of the songs on the album (Fake Sound Of Progress) and a few b-sides from the singles. As usual they were kinda freestyling with all their songs, making it hard to sing (or dance) along and the instruments weren't coming through good enough to cause some serious moshing. If they had played this event last year I'm certain they wouldn't have made it to the main stage, let alone high up on the second stage, which is a shame really, because they were a lot better and more raw back then. Still I suppose it left the 9 year olds happy. SCORE - 5/10

 

I parted with Orgy again for Slayer, as I was dehydrated and hungry, so I had to leave him to go get some food and drink from my tent, while he stayed in the pit. Apparently they were ok, but didn't meet expectations, especially on the 10 year anniversary of Donington '92. I couldn't find Orgy afterwards, but I found later that he was still in the pit, although he had said earlier that he wasn't a huge fan of:

System of a Down

Starting with what is to be the next single, Aerials, the band were met with a huge round of applause, which in my opinion is rightly deserved. The pit was absolutely packed, especially where I was and warnings were given out to the younger kids to get out before Chop Suey came on. They followed on with Prison Song (I think, can't remember the order or exactly what songs they played), which is my personal favourite on Toxicity and played through most of the favourites. They played a nice little song, consisting only of the words 'Everybody's Drunk', which was so true. They performed all the songs brilliantly and were met with a great response from the blissful crowd. Their onstage presence was massive, enhanced further by the camera shots up on the 3 stage screens and they entertained all brilliantly. It started to rain as Sugar was played and they left after the song finished (missing out some big tunes like Toxicity, Suite-Pee, and Spiders), but overall the band were fantastic, much better than when I saw them at an indoor arena last month. SCORE - 8/10

 

I decided to go check out the bands at the second stage, since Tool were coming up. I had to queue for about 10 minutes to get in (a lot of the day was spent queuing for something or other), alot of people didn't wait, breaking open or jumping over barriers and spilling in. Finally I got in to find Kittie playing. Never been a big fan of them, but Morgan Lander's pretty hot when you're drunk and they were rather good, but only played a small set due to 'technical difficulties'. Ill Nino were playing afterwards but I left, since I thought I could find something to do to pass the time. One of the members of Mad Capsule Markets was outside filming stuff so I stood next to him for a while, then queued to get back into the main stage area and check out Tool for about 15 minutes (so basically I heard half a song ). A guy in front of me turned to ask me who the **** they were and I ended up talking to him for a while about Tool and the other bands on the bill. Then went to queue up to get back into the second stage. However this time it took nearly half an hour to get in, causing members of the queue to throw bottles at security staff and shout abuse and stuff, which helped the time fly. I finally got in, just in time to see:

Hundred Reasons

Apart from Millencolin these British alt.rockers were probably the only non-metal band there. They were headlining the second stage though, which shows their recent rise in the UK music scene. There was a wide range of ages in the crowd, from teens, to adults (of varying ages) and pre-teens. The latter were, as always, pretty annoying since they're at my elbow height and get in the way a lot. The band started out with the Brilliant I'll Find You, sending the crowd crazy, following on with a harder number (causing some pretty violent scenes in the pit around me). They played through about half of the newly released debut album (Ideas Above Our Station) and filled the rest with songs from their EPs. Crowd stormers were obviously the 'singles' (Remmus, I'll Find You, If I Could and Silver) and long-time live favourite Falter. Since I missed them a few months ago (playing a small gig), I was really looking forward to seeing these guys and they didn't disappoint me (and judging by the smiles on everyone else's faces, I think most would agree). SCORE - 9/10

 

I left as fast as I could and ran around the now-diverted exit to get back to the main stage to see the headliner and living legend:

Ozzy Osbourne

Arriving just in time I squeezed through the absolutely packed crowd and ran around the edge of the pit to the front. Every song played by Ozzy resulted in huge applause and chants of "Ozzy". Zakk Wylde amazed with his god-like axe playing, Ozzy worked the crowd up and entertained with a bit of mooning. Highlights included Iron Man, Crazy Train, Suicide Solution, Gets Me Through, Bark At The Moon and, of course, Paranoid. Although Ozzy was on the stage a while, I still feel the setlist could have included more songs (like Perry Mason or some more Sabbath for example). Throughout the performance the crowd went wild and loads of people got chucked out of the main pit by security, but those guys were too drunk to bother. In short it was everything I thought it would be (plus a little bit more thanks to Zakk) and really topped off the list of great bands from the day. SCORE 9/10

 

After Ozzy finished I decided to head back to the campsite (and maybe find Orgy and Wardy), but on my way back I noticed a bonfire that had developed at the side of the rapidly decreasing pit and decided to go warm my arse up a bit. A large group of people formed around it and watched as some drunken lunatic started jumping through the flames. I was, again, about to leave when I heard a loud bang and turned round to see the fireworks starting up. They were great and brought more clapping and "Ozzy" chanting. Finally I headed towards the exit, which led to more queues and more drunken fools, this time ripping down the metal fences leading up to the campsite. I got out, got back to the tent and finished off my food. Wardy, Orgy and the girl arrived after about 10 minutes and I got Wardy to spot me £5 to buy some hot food and a drink. I ate them back at the tent and fell asleep. I won't bother starting a new day for Sunday 'cos all we basically did was put the tent away and go home

 

All in all, good times were had, most of the bands were great and the atmos' and community feel was really cool. The organisation was pretty crappy - too much queuing (especially for the second stage), the main pit being exclusive, and security not informing us what was going on. I would have enjoyed it more if I had took more money and more of my friends had gone, but it still ruled and I should be going to Reading soon and plenty of buddies are going to that. I think it's coming to the US next, so if you were thinking of going to it, but weren't sure, I can highly recommend it.

 

BTW - If your going to one of the other Ozzfest shows and you see railings around the main stage (and a queue somewhere round there) - GO AND QUEUE UP - If you get there in time you can get your free wristband, to give you access to the main pit

[NiKo]

Damn....wish i coulda been there:(

[murta]

To emulate the experience find a big muddy field and get drunk off your face and play some loud music