666, The Number Of.. Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath

Ozzfest is the arena where nu-age metal meets classic heavy metal.. and gets bitchslapped. of the multitude of young bands who played all day in the scorching sun.. and tried their best to show the legions of dysfunctional youth the way forward.. their efforts went largely unnoticed. Mudvayne were the best of the lot, and that wasn't saying much either.. they still have a long way to go before they gain the appropriate skill and talent to really play some heavy metal.

as the sun slowly dipped over the distant horizon, and the day faded into an orange dusk.. a black banner fell and hung from the rafters above the stage.. upon it the sneering skeletal figure of Ed Hunter.. and a wall of sound exploded over the wildly cheering masses.. Iron Maiden was here! as all the banners fell away, there were four guitars crashing away wildly and a bass drum pounding away the sounds of 'Wrathchild'.. but where was Bruce Dickinson.. the vocalist?! and then from the back a figure in the classic English army redcoat, waving a Union Jack came marching onto the stage..

"cos i'm a wrathchild, well i'm a wrathchild..
yeah I'm a wrathchild, i'm coming to get you, oh yeah."

that melded into 'Trooper' before he announced that they would only be playing stuff from their first four albums today due to the one hour set.. which was kinda disappointing, but hey.. it's fuckin' Maiden baby! they had an amazing stage, with the 60ft by 30ft backdrop changing for every song.. and as they belted their way through 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Number Of The Beast', 'Sanctuary', 'Run To The Hills', & 'Iron Maiden'.. then with darkness creeping in around 9, all four guitars lined up alongside each other, and they proceeded to shred the riffs of 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'..

"mark my words please believe my soul lives on, please don't worry now that i have gone
i've gone beyond to see the truth
when you know that your time is close at hand, maybe then you'll begin to understand
life down there is just a strange illusion."

a long prolonged period of cheers, and then a hushed silence.. as people slowly absorbed the beat down the Maiden had just laid on the 20k crowd.. oh yeah Iron fuckin' Maiden!! it did get a bit irritating cos this wasted middle-aged man kept on insisting i hi-5 him every song Maiden played.. dude, it's a Maiden concert, of course they're gonna play Iron Maiden!! we were wondering how good Black Sabbath would have to be if Maiden kicked so much ass..

and in the darkness, from the hustle and bustle behind the curtain as crew set up the stage.. a banner dropped, Black Sabbath in black letters on a blood-red background, and came a piercing scream! Ozzy was in the house!! before the curtain came up they played a recorded medley of pretty much all their stuff.. and then lights, camera, action..

"now I have you with me, under my power, our love grows stronger now with every hour
look into my eyes, you will see who I am, my name is Lucifer, please take my hand
oh yeah!"

i have to say, i was a bit skeptical about Black Sab, and i gladly repented at leisure as Ozzy ranted and screamed, impassive Tony Iommi's magic fingers played enchanting solo after solo, bassist Geezer Butler plucked his bass hooks and drummer Bill Ward tossed of his shirt then crashed and banged like a man possessed.. for a band that has been around for over 35 years, they have enough energy to put a pack of wolverines to shame!

as twenty thousand people put up their lighters and sang 'War Pigs', one felt that somewhere George Bush and others of his ilk would be cringing..

"politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war
why should they go out to fight? they leave that role to the poor

time will tell on their power minds, making war just for fun
treating people just like pawns in chess, wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah!"

they also played 'Black Sabbath', 'Dirty Women', 'Iron Man', 'Fairies Wear Boots', 'Gipsy', and some stuff i haven't heard either.. and finally ended off with 'Children Of The Grave'..

"so you children of the world, listen to what i say
if you want a better place to live in, spread the words today

show the world that love is still alive, you must be brave
or you children of today are, Children of the Grave, yeah!"

classic rock just showed once again why there is nothing quite like it.