Yeah!!!! TOOL!!! (Ozzfest 2002)

Member Name: Xanadu Alx

Product:	Ozzfest 2002
Date:	01/06/02 (613 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: TOOL!!!!!!!, SOAD!!!!!!!!!, the bargain bags!

Disadvantages: the bourgeois barriers, the weather, the venue was a bit crap.

What better thing to do after finishing your last exam of your degree ever (aarrgggh!) than going to see a few of your favourite bands?? I went to Ozzfest last year and thought it was wicked and Tool and System of a Down were playing so I thought I'd trek to Donington to see them. The weather was lovely.... everyone was sat down chilling then anti-product came on........ I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Antiproduct, in fact I'm not a fan at all so maybe I didn't appreciate them live as much as maybe I should but I just wasn't too impressed as I am not in to them at all.

Next up was Zakk Wylde's Black Label society who got a huge response, but again its not my cup of tea, they're no Tool lets just put it like that. During this though I went round the shops so I can give you a review of them, there was a WICKED shop which did one pound bargain bags which were the best things in the WORLD. I bought 3. It was well worth it. Anyway sorry.... the music........

the next band that I really actually watched were Lostprophets. I wasn't totally impressed with these because where I was stood was pretty windy making the sound quality really bad, but they were wicked, I would have stood closer if it wasn't for the bloody stupid barrier at the front. Basically at the front there was a huge barrier erected which meant that only vips could get to the front meaning that all the plebs had to stand around there, meaning that people who paid £40 couldn't really get near to their favourite bands at all, which, OZZY, I do believe was ridiculous....... thats if he ever reads this....which he won't.... but still, it was really annoying.... but yeah the Lostprophets didi totally give a really good energetic show and got the crowd going in the horriblest weather EVER (including hail)

Anywho as I said the only bands that I was there for really were Tool and SOAD. However I did watch Cradle of filth and was totally dig
ging the stilt dancers, they were wicked, but I HATE COF but they were pretty funny, and i thought for their fans they put on a really good show. Not for me though.

Slayer were WICKED live, i'm not into them but I was TOTALLY impressed with their live performance and also the amount of respect for them in the crowd, maybe it was because Slayer have been around a long time and there were a lot of older people there to see Ozzy anyway but these were definately the third most popular band there (under ozzy and SOAD) and rightly so according to their live performace, they were really good live and also the whole crowd was totally getting into it and loving it.

Next were SOAD! YEAH!!! I was REALLY excited about this as I had never seen these live before and I LOVE them (and a ticket mix-up in manchester on their tour made sure I couldn't see them then either) so this was REALLY exciting for me and they came on and blew the crowd away, I am in love with serj now they were AMAZING and the WHOLE crowd was loving it (although i couldn't speak for the bourgeois barriered people being so below them I am just a mere proletariat pleb) but they were really tight live and serj was especially amazing to me, and they had totally wicked stage prescence and me and serj are getting married next week. (you heard it here first....so did he probably)

next up were the big one....TOOL. I have seen them 3 times before this but I still feel sick before I see Tool as I get SO excited (this, sadly, is true) The crowd seemed to go to get beer/go to the toilet or basically get away fro the stage when Tool came on as it was much less packed than SOAD, but i didn't midn that as I could get closer. Tool were abolustely magnificent, I can't think of a better word to describe them, they were AMAZING and blew me away, like they always do. Maynard's voice is just fantastic and also his getting "suspicious minds" into tool's set was geniu
s too. The stage prescence of Tool has never been good, but they don't need to, they are SO amazing live that they surpass the need for it, and for the people who do believe that they need it they give little video clips (aww, aren't they nice?) but with Tool its all about the music, they don't need to bother with moving around the stage (and the weirdness of Maynard'd dances is entertainment in itself) and a Ozzfest they were amazing, as per usual.

Next up was the man himself OZZY!! He started with some really funny clips of him as christina aguilera etc, which got a laugh and then EVERYONE wtched him as he ran out onstage. He was wicked live and everything but it was sort of same-y as last yuear, but without the goodness of Black Sabbath, it was REALLY wicked last year I was reallyl excited about seeing Black Sabath but without them this year I wasn't too excited about Ozzy. He was good and everything I just didn't think he was amazing.

However what was amazing were the fireworks after his set! They were AMAZING!! I was loving them.

I wasn't loving the queues out of the place which took us HOURS to get back to cheshire. I also wasn't loving the sunburn (?!) than I had when i got home, it had pissed it down all day and i was burnt to a crisp, which wasn't great.

However it was TOTALLY worth it for the almost orgasmic experience of seeing Tool and SOAD and also I was loving Lostprophets and SLayer and it was wicked watching the other bands as the atmosphere was wicked and it was just a generally wicked day, one thing though I would have liked to have got closer to the front to see my favourite bands that I had paid £40 for, and the venue was better last year in Milton Keynes, Donington was a bit weird...but still good.

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