Lollapalooza Flopped

[Cerebral_Assassin]

Because new music SUX!!

Sabbath, Priest, Slayer Teach Heavy Metal 101 At Ozzfest '04

WANTAGH, New York ? When a guy in the next row throws up on the seat in front of him and passes out on it, and when two girls 10 feet away lift their tops and make out, and it all happens before 7 p.m., you know you must be at Ozzfest.

Metal's annual all-day summer ritual Wednesday at the Jones Beach Amphitheater was once again a bacchanalia of volume and decadence that left thousands dazed and amused, and fortunately the excitement onstage eclipsed the action in the crowd. But while prior years mostly celebrated the then-current faces of metal, Ozzfest 2004 is more like a history lesson, which means that the lineup is the heaviest and least commercial yet.

Heavy Metal 101 was highlighted with a lesson from headliners Black Sabbath, a band that surfaced in 1970 as a vitriolic antidote to flower power and virtually birthed the metal genre. Sabbath opened with "War Pigs," during which they compared projected images of the Vietnam War and World War II with shots of the war in Iraq. Ozzy Osbourne toddled from one side of the stage to the other and roused the crowd by jumping up and down, wriggling his fingers in the air, clapping his hands above his head, baring his teeth and shouting his trademark motto: "Go f---ing crazy!" His bandmates provided oppressive, stark cathedrals of sound as they ripped through doomy classics like "Black Sabbath" and "NIB" and more upbeat tracks including "Fairies Wear Boots" and "Paranoid."

Inspired by the aggression of Black Sabbath and the virtuosity of Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest rose up against tepid '70s radio rock and the harsh, industrial climate of Birmingham, England, to pioneer a movement known as the new wave of British heavy metal. The band reigned well through the '80s, but Priest's enthusiasm and appeal waned after singer Rob Halford quit in the early '90s. Now, he's back in the band, and Priest seem as primed and charged as the motorcycles Halford rides onstage during "Hell Bent for Leather."

The group kicked off its rain-soaked reunion set with "Electric Eye," and as guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, clad in leather pants and T-shirts, riffed away, Halford emerged from the iris of a giant eye. Wearing a black studded leather trench coat with dangling tassels and black gloves, the singer sauntered across walkways at either side of the stage, delivering his vibrato-laden high-pitch vocals. Unlike Sabbath, the members of Judas Priest ran around, striking poses and swaying back and forth in tandem as they played. The band mixed early numbers like "Victim of Changes" and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" with later hits including "Breaking the Law" and "Screaming for Vengeance."

Combining the velocity of hardcore and the imagery of slasher flicks, Slayer spat in the face of commercial '80s metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Ratt to become one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene, paving the way for death metal. A full 21 years after the release of their first album, Slayer showed they're as bleak, visceral and adept as ever. The band's bloodletting started with the bellowing title cut from 2001's God Hates Us All, but the set was largely filled with gems at least 15 years old, including mid-paced mortar blasts like "South of Heaven" and "Hell Awaits" and pummeling brain frazzlers such as "Chemical Warfare" and "Angel of Death." Visually, the band was a mass of blurred hair and even less visible hands.

After thrash metal took firm hold of the underground in the mid-'80s, a bunch of hardcore fans who dug metal started to bond with headbangers who appreciated hardcore ? a kinship that was up to that point unprecedented. Bridging the gap and cementing the mosh-laden peace were groups like Agnostic Front, DRI, Crumbsuckers and Discharge ? outfits ex-Pantera singer Phil Anselmo draws from in his current band, Superjoint Ritual. "I wanna see headbanging like it's 1983" shouted Anselmo, whose band ripped through pile-driving songs like "F--- Your Enemy" and "The Alcoholik." Rowdy as ever, Anselmo dedicated two songs to himself, saying at one point, "We are the most dangerous band on this planet." The singer repeatedly urged fans to stand up and threatened to beat up anyone who remained seated, and when someone in the crowd shouted out the name of his old band, things got ugly. "Pantera's dead," Anselmo replied. "You can boo all you want, it's a waste of breath."

The Ozzfest second stage was almost as popular as the main stage, and although they started playing at the ungodly hour of 9:30 a.m., the 14 bands provided abundant entertainment value that showcased the new face of the metal underground. Headliners Slipknot powered through tracks from their entire catalog, including "Spit It Out," "Heretic" and "Duality," and created a monumental, percussive wall of sound peppered with propulsive rhythms, roaring vocals and the occasional melody.

Hatebreed's set was brief but pulverizing, as frontman Jamey Jasta led his army through a batch of hardcore metal songs inspired equally by Slayer and Agnostic Front. At one point, he directed the crowd to form a giant mosh pit around the sound booth, and as the more timid crowd members scurried out of the way, around 150 hardcore moshers ran in a tumbling circle that resembled Pamplona, Spain's running of the bulls. Also having fun with the pit were Lamb of God, whose singer divided it in two and then had each side charge the other like warriors in the film "Braveheart."

SOURCE

Edited July 18, 2004 by Shawn

[CTC Command]

imo, another reason for the failure of Lollapalooza this year was the cumbersome 2 day format. it put me off--i could have done one day, but 2 days calls for an other whole set of logistics that apparently Perry Farrell failed to take into consideration.

After reading this i wish I had gone to Ozzfest this year--it just passed thru here. I've seen all these bands at one time or another--Sabbath, Slayer, Priest, Hatebreed, some of them several times, but this sounded like an excellent show. Good review Assassin! :D

[Cerebral_Assassin]

One of the reasons I posted it was because of the blame that was being put on p2pers for the lack of ticket sales for Lollapalooza. I don't care much for Perry Farrell or any of the bands he had performing this year or any other year for that matter. Why blame p2pers, there is a big difference in buying a ticket and seeing a band perform live vs. downloading an mp3 on your pc. Ozzfest is doing good, can a person not download mp3's of the bands that are performing on that tour?

Here is a list of the bands/performers that were scheduled for this years Lollapalooza............

DAY 1

Morrisey

Sonic Youth

PJ Harvey

Modest Mouse

Le Tigre

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The Von Bondies

Broken Social Scene

The Walkmen

Wolf Eyes

Danger Mouse

The Datsuns

Mike Watt & The Secondmen

Bumblebeez 81

The Dresden Dolls

Carina Sound

Ross Golan & Molehead

The Living Things

Peretz

Alex Graham

DAY 2

The String Cheese Incident

The Flaming Lips

Pixies

Basement Jaxx

Wilco

Michael Franti & Spearhead

Gomez

The Polyphonic Spree

TV On The Radio

STS9

The Thrills

The Coup

The Fire Theft

Wheat

Edited July 17, 2004 by Cerebral_Assassin

[Cerebral_Assassin]

Heres the article I read putting the blame (kinda) on p2pers.

File traders put an end to Lollapalooza

[DudeAsInCool]

I don't care much for Perry Farrell or any of the bands he had performing this year or any other year for that matter.

Hiow come?

[Cerebral_Assassin]

I guess it's because i'm old DAIC.......lol

I grew up listening toAlice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult etc.

You could say i'm more into the 70ish kinda music.....more of a hard rock/metal type. Had no appeal for grunge whatsoever, I could care less if Nirvana had never even happened. I don't think Janes Addiction or any of those type bands sound anything like hard rock or heavy metal, and they probably never intended to.

We all have different tastes in music and that's why there are so many different types.....if all of us liked only one kind of music that would make the music scene go stale in no time flat. I think you'll understand what i'm trying to say......it's kinda like cars, some folks like Chevy's and some folks like Fords.

[DudeAsInCool]

......it's kinda like cars, some folks like Chevy's and some folks like Fords.

And some like BMW's and Mercedes

[Ken]

DAY 1

Morrisey

Sonic Youth

PJ Harvey

Modest Mouse

Le Tigre

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The Von Bondies

Broken Social Scene

The Walkmen

Wolf Eyes

Danger Mouse

The Datsuns

Mike Watt & The Secondmen

Bumblebeez 81

The Dresden Dolls

Carina Sound

Ross Golan & Molehead

The Living Things

Peretz

Alex Graham

DAY 2

The String Cheese Incident

The Flaming Lips

Pixies

Basement Jaxx

Wilco

Michael Franti & Spearhead

Gomez

The Polyphonic Spree

TV On The Radio

STS9

The Thrills

The Coup

The Fire Theft

Wheat

Can't say I like any of these bands.......

[DudeAsInCool]

Sonic Youth

The Flaming Lips

Wilco

these are worth a listen...

[rainbowdemon]

Can't say I like any of these bands.......

Hell, I've never even heard of most of them!!

:wha':

[Cerebral_Assassin]

I would buy a ticket to go see Celine Dion before I'd buy a ticket to Lollapalooza..........

Just shoot me in the head when I leave the venue though for doing such a thing.

[Umma]

I would buy a ticket to go see Celine Dion before I'd buy a ticket to Lollapalooza..........

[Ken]

these are worth a listen...

I heard sonic youth. 3 seconds later, I tried to slit my wrists with a sheet of paper.

Also, my dog got indigestion, and the fish in my fish tank are now floaters doing the up-side-down limbo.

[joeyz]

Sonic Youth put on a good show at the 40 Watt in Athens a few years back... I liked it... but I must admit I was wearing earplugs.....

[moonglow]

I would buy a ticket to go see Celine Dion before I'd buy a ticket to Lollapalooza..........

I'll double that