(8-07)  Ozzfest:  What can I say, it kicked ass.  I arrived at 8:00 am to beat the crowd, we (Brandon, Michael, my brother, and I) were like 20th in line.  We had to wait an hour because they let people in at 9.  When we went in, we found one stage and they were still setting up in there.  around 30 min. later, we heard music but no one on stage.  We later found out that the other stage was somewhere else (I guess that's why they call it the 1st and 2nd stage).  We didnt miss much by the time we got to the other one.  Highlights of the 2nd stage were Atreyu, Darkest Hour, DevilDriver, God Forbid, and Lacuna Coil (even though I'm not much of a fan).  Headlining the 2nd stage were Lamb of God, Hatebreed, and Slipknot.  By the time slipknot were about to get up there, it was about 4 or so (cant remember), but it was freakin hot and everyone was getting restless.  In between the hatebreed and slipknot set, they had this stupid "bite the bat game."  I dont know how they played but they brought up people from the audience to bite a bat I'm guessing.  The host of the show was getting "boos" and "fuck this shit" chants from the crowd.  But then slipknot came up and kicked ass afterwards.  They didnt play "Left Behind", I like that song.  but they played Wait and Bleed, Duality, Heretic, Surfacing, Spit it out, People=Shit, and some other ones.  It surprised me how many slipknot fans (maggots, if that's what you call them) there were.  I guess that's because they're well known though (and because they rock).  After Slipknot's set people started heading over to the mainstage.  Black Label Society were up first, and by the time they started playing, my head was thumping and they sounded loud.  I'm not too much of a fan of theirs, but they still played well.  After them were Superjoint Ritual.  They kicked ass with pure heavy metal.  I might add that Phil Anselmo uses the word "fuck" a lot while speaking.  After Superjoint were Dimmu Borgir (by this time, I was anticipating Slayer so much, that my head stopped thumping and a renewal of energy came over me).  Dimmu Borgir were cool, but it seems like not many people knew about them.  Brandon and I, and some a few scattered fans were the only ones standing up banging our heads, while everyone else sat.  Nevertheless, they received a good response.  After them, came the speed metal gods, SLAYER.  They kicked ass too.  they played a 50 min. set I believe.  They got a pretty good response from the audience.  My neck hurt the next day from headbanging to songs such as War Ensemble, Raining Blood, Seasons in the Abyss, and Disciple.  they also played Dead Skin Mask, South of Heaven, Mandatory Suicide, and a new song but I forgot the title of it and how it goes.  They were probably the 3rd, if not the 2nd best band that night.  The other 2nd best band was up next.  When Judas Priest came up the crowd went crazy, I guess that's who most came to see.  They started with Electric Eye, and they also played Breaking the Law, Head out to the Highway, You've got another thing coming, Metal Gods (a name they deserve), Living after midnight, and other Priest classics.  Somewhere in the middle a big banner came up behind them that said "Judas Priest Reunion"  (because it was the original lineup).  Then Rob Halford came out on a motorcycle.  Their show kicked ass too.  I think more people these days should listen to Judas Priest.  Finally, the best show of the night was Black Sabbath, also playing with the original lineup, Geezer Butler, Mr. Bill Ward, Guitar God Tony Iommi, and the great Ozzy.  They started out with a medley of different Sabbath songs. then they played all the well known songs like Iron Man, Children of the Grave, War Pigs, Snowblind, Nativity in Black, and they ended with Paranoid.  They also played Black Sabbath, my favorite Black Sabbath song.  That Ozzy really got the crowd going and they went nuts, with me along with them. 

Ah memories, that will be a show to remember.    There were a lot of older people there going to see their favorite bands, and I'm sure in 30 yrs I'll be at a Slayer or Slipknot reunion tour reminiscing and saying "yep, I remember Ozzfest '04, when rock gods played and I had a chance to see them.  At the concert I got to meet Lacuna coil and they signed a poster, the guys from God Forbid and they signed my ticket, I got to shake Dez from DevilDriver's hand, and I got fucking Kerry King's autograph and he shook my hand.  Fuck yeah!  that alone was worth the price.  Brandon met 2 guys from Dimmu Borgir and got their autographs, Michael also met Kerry king and Lacuna Coil, my brother met Darkest hour and got their autograph and was starshocked when he met them he couldnt speak. (bands I haven't mentioned but were there, because they were "just another band" are Unearth, Everytime I die, Magna Fi, Throwdown, and I feel like I'm forgetting a band, hmm...)  All in all, it kicked ass, I carried away memories that will last a lifetime, unless I get amnesia or something.