Ozzfest'97

Hello to my metal minions,
Today's blog is gonna be quick and dirty.

I was listening to Marilyn Manson's new album Born Villain, and I couldn't help but think of the Ozzfest show that I attended in 1997.

For this show, I traveled with two friends, Rose and Bill to Columbus, Ohio from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  I was super excited about this show mainly because it was part of the reunion tour for Black Sabbath who hadn't preformed together since Ozzy was fired from the band in the early 1980s.
Anyway, it started all well and good because when we arrived at the concert venue, we found a scalper who was willing to take our lawn tickets and fifty bucks in exchange for seats up close. The seats were amazing.

Let's look at the lineup.

1. Powerman 500
2. Machinehead
3. Fear Factory
4. Type O Negative
5. Pantera
6. Marilyn Manson
7. Black Sabbath

I also vaguely remember Coal Chamber at the second stage, but I didn't see any of the acts from this group of bands mainly because I didn't care for any of them.

I hadn't heard of Powerman 5000 until I went to this show, and I was really impressed by the energy that they possessed. It was a solid performance and a nice way to begin the show.

I was already a huge fan of Machinehead (and still am), and they did not disappoint. They were supporting their album The More Things Change ..., and the higlight of their performance was Ten Ton Hammer. It was pretty phenomenal.

I did not enjoy Fear Factory at all. I can't explain why I have never embraced this band other than they seem too vanilla for me.

The surprise of the night was the amazing Type O Negative's performance. I was vaguely familiar with the group, but when I heard songs like Black No. 1, My Girlfriend's Girlfriend, and In Praise of Bacchus, my mind was blown. It was much better than the studio renditions. Plus, I had no idea how freaking huge the lead singer Peter Steele was (he passed away in 2010). He had an amazing stage presence, and I couldn't help but notice that he was drinking vodka straight from the bottle . . . which I cannot imagine ever doing even when I was drinking. This was definitely one of the highlights of the show.

In what was no surprise was the amazing and tight performance of Pantera. It was epic! Up to this point, I had been to several concerts, but the performance by Pantera was the best I had ever witnessed up to this point. I remember that they opened with Cowboys from Hell, and in the middle of the song, they broke into Cat Scratch Fever, and the crowd went crazy. The subsequent songs were A New Level, Walk, Becoming, Five Minutes Alone, Domination, This Love, and they closed their set with Hostile. I may be mistaken, but I think that after Becoming, they teased Cemetery Gates, then said that we weren't getting it that night. Great moment!

From there, Marilyn Manson went on stage to a mixed reaction from the Columbus audience. This was the second time I had seen Manson with the first being in December 1996 in Nashville at the Municipal Auditorium. Both shows were during the Dead to the World Tour. Additionally, this was during the peak of Manson's controversial image in the eyes of evangelicals who encouraged people to picket his shows. Unfortunately, there was many in attendance who  supported this agenda. Manson performed four or five songs. His set began with Angel with the Scabbed Wings which was unbelievable. He went straight into Get Your Gun then did Lunchbox and The Beautiful People. However, people booed throughout his performance, and after The Beautiful People, Manson proceeded to destroy the stage. Initially, I was pissed because I was excited to see Manson perform, but it was kind of cool to see him go destructo on the set. It was pretty bad ass!

Next up was Black Sabbath. Due to Manson's shenanigans on stage, we had to wait for an extra long time for Sabbath. But after about a 45 minute wait, the audience was becoming restless. I was definitely becoming frustrated. As it would turn out, Ozzy was suffering from throat issues, and would not be able to perform. The news was broken by Pantera front-man Phil  Anselmo to a chorus of boos.

After a few minutes, Pantera came back out and did an impromptu renditions of Ozzy and Sabbath classics. They blazed through I Don't Know, Mr. Crowley, and Suicide Solution. Phil asked Manson to come out, and Manson was amazing with Crazy Train. Looking back, it was an incredible opportunity to see Dimebag Daryl play, he wailed. Anyway, Phil then told the crowd that they could jam all night long, if the were up to it. Unfortunately, the morons in Columbus started booing and acting like jackasses. Phil finally said f*ck it, and everybody left the stage.

The crowd proceeded to start tearing down fences, lighting fires, and acting like complete douche bags. Our group decided that it was best to leave ASAP.

Despite the lousy ending to an otherwise excellent show, it was one of the most memorable metal shows that I have ever been involved. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my friends Rose and Bill. We had a great time!

As always, thanks for reading!
Marty Sabin

Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970)

There are two main goals for this blog. The first is to explore new and unique forms of metal. This is important because in order to grow as individuals, one must try new things. Music is no different. It's easy to become stuck in a rut, and make outlandish claims that music today sucks. That is simply lazy. With the advent of the internet, and tools like YouTube, new music is much more accessible. Hopefully, I can introduce new music to others while opening new horizons to myself as well.

The second goal of this blog is to pay respects to the great metal artists of the past by revisiting some of their classic (and maybe not-so-classic) albums. My first several blogs will do just that. Therefore, I feel that it is appropriate that the first blog will cover Black Sabbath's 1970 self-titled debut album. It blows my mind that this album is 42 years old, and quite frankly, after giving it another listen, it holds up better than ever.

The album was recorded in 1969, and according to Ozzy Osbourne, was made for roughly twenty dollars. The album would go on to chart at number 23 on the Billboard 200, and sell well over a million copies. Despite the widespread success of the album, it was panned by the critics of the time as being derivative of Cream. Even though the critics were not on board with Sabbath, fans sure were receptive to the new, dark sound that would become known as heavy metal. The rest is history as is often said.

The album itself, while tame by today's standards, was quite dark and sinister back in the early 1970s. The album begins with the classic song Black Sabbath. The song was based on a dream by bassist Geezer Butler, where he woke up from a dream after reading a book on witchcraft and saw a dark figure near his bed, he reached for the book, and the figure disappeared. This experience was transformed into one of Sabbath's most important songs. In addition, you get great songs like N. I. B., The Wizard, Beyond the Walls of Sleep, and Evil Woman. For your viewing pleasure, I have included two wonderful videos of Black Sabbath and N. I. B.

As always, thanks for reading!
Marty Sabin