Ozzfest 2002 Review (2)

At the start of the Ozzfest, things don't look good for the so-called Godfather of Metal. Everyone I speak to seems to be here to watch other bands, especially the Lostprophets. Everyone has respect for Ozzy, but it seems they aren't fans of his music. And nobody's a fan of the huge fucking barrier built 50 yards back from the stage allowing the first 4000 people to have a privilged close view. This ferments dischord which always threatens to, but never does, turn to violence. Things start with Ozzy's guitarist Zack Wylde, and his Black Label Society who keeps the old metal fans happy, but seems a bit stale now. Next up are the Mad Capsule Markets who live up to their mental reputation. Live, they're quality, but early afternoon is definitely not the time to be watching them and Japanese sonic noise isn't for this crowd. Drowning Pool aren't particularly good, but to the nu-metal kids they're like a latter-day Nirvana, and receive a corresponding amount of applause. Millencolin are not as good as they can be. On a big stage they seem lost and the metal crowd don't seem to appreciate the skate-punk sound anyway.

T-shirt factory Cradle Of Filth are aware there's only a minority here to watch them. With this in mind they set out to entertain, swearing profusely between songs, taunting the editors for various 'live' broadcasts with a constant barrage of 'fucks' and 'c**ts'. Punishment for this comes from the heavens, as a half hour of ferocious hail rains down, forcing the goths to cower and protect their makeup. Eventually though they finish, and the crowd retreat to do their makeup. They are replaced by an army of nu-metal skater kids to watch the lostprophets, who everyone really should have seen by now. They dissappoint badly on the large stage, and the sound quality is wildly off. Coupled to this, they start 'thefakesoundofprogress' wrongly, and only a blinding rendition of 'shinobivsdragonninja' saves them. However, their fans couldn't care less and there's plenty of pogoing and cheering. The Lostprophets fans that stick around for Slayer are in for a big surprise.