On this date in history, 8/14/2007, Ozzfest made its final stop at Deer Creek. This was the free show that had generated tickets with an online code. I scored seats on the back row of the center section of the pavilion and they were awesome for both audio and visual enjoyment of the main stage bands. Speaking of bands, this Ozzfest featured Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb Of God, Static-X, Lordi, Black Tide, Hatebreed, Behemoth, DevilDriver, Ankla, Nile, The Showdown, 3 Inches Of Blood, Daath, In This Moment, and Chthonic.
The first band, Chthonic, are from Taipei, Taiwan. They were quite interesting visually and didn’t sound like anything Ive ever heard before. Next up was In This Moment, touring in support of their debut album. Maria Brink was obviously a star in the making, and her vocals have since elevated her band to great success. They played a rock solid set that day.
The next band that I really liked was The Showdown, a more traditional hard rock styled band, but full of attitude and energy just the same. Great vocals and rockin’ tunes gained them some new fans, no doubt about it.
Nile followed with a set of supreme brutality, as the Egyptian themed death metal juggernaut played with crushing precision and confidence, absolutely astonishing technical ability from top to bottom.
I don’t recall much about Ankla, either good or bad, so I’m guessing I must have been distracted or just missed them entirely.
DevilDriver kept the intensity going with their manic metal meltdown providing mosh ready material for their entire set.
The second stage area was a dust bowl that day, and all the really heavy bands had to contend with a continuous white haze of stirred up earth creating a perpetual fog in the air.
I didn’t think it would be possible to be more powerful or heavier than Nile, but somehow Behemoth pulled it off. I can’t even describe how insanely, monstrously METAL their sound was…literally like a seismic, F5 tornado velocity propelling their blackened death metal onslaught.
Hatebreed followed that and suffered somewhat for it. They are always solid, and Jamey Jasta certainly knows how to whip a crowd into a frenzy, but as heavy as Hatebreed is, they couldn’t compete with that performance that proceeded them, in my humble opinion.
All in all, a lot of diversity coupled with some of the heaviest bands ever on the second stage made this final Ozzfest one of the most memorable second stage lineups.
The first band on the main stage was Black Tide, an extremely young band that showed great potential. Nothing exceptional musically, but everyone has to start somewhere, and Ozzfest is a pretty cool place to call a beginning. Lordi were up next, and they were pretty horrible, to be blunt. Borrowing (okay, stealing!) liberally from GWAR, Slipknot, Mushroomhead, and any other band that has ever worn masks, and not bringing anything of musical merit, quickly earned them a hostile reaction from the discerning metal masses.
Static-X set things right with a sizzling performance. Wayne Static led his “evil disco” band through a high energy holocaust of a performance that set the stage for my favorite band of the entire show, the mighty Lamb Of God. LOG crushed all in their path, earning the coveted headliner status and playing directly before Ozzy himself came out and finished the show, and his namesake tour, in grand fashion.
I attended Ozzfest in 10 consecutive years and I have countless memories of those shows. I salute Ozzy for bringing so many great bands on tour and for nurturing so much talent in the heavy metal universe. Lots of bands that passed through this system became major stars following their association with Ozzfest. That in itself is a pretty amazing legacy.
Written By Braddon S. Williams aka The Concert Critic
VinylLair.com 
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