Saturday May 29th, 1999- Lakewood Amphitheater: Atlanta, GA
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| Ozzfest 1999 Saturday May 29th, 1999- Lakewood Amphitheater: Atlanta, GA |
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| Ozzfest �99. This was my first time going to Ozzfest and I had a wonderful time, even with a fever! Amy, Kirby and I had been all excited about going to Ozzfest. I remember that we scraped together all the money we could get, and gave it to Amy�s dad so that he could buy tickets for us the day tickets went on sale. We really didn�t want lawn, so we had Amy�s dad get them for us in hopes of getting good seats. The seats were far back, but at least we weren�t gonna have to sit on the lawn. All the weeks proceeding up to Ozzfest, it was all we could talk about. I remember Kirby and I being so excited about it in homeroom, and talking about it every day. Mrs. Grossheim, our homeroom teacher, couldn�t understand why on earth we were so excited about seeing Ozzy Osbourne. She had heard the stories about Ozzy biting the heads off of bats and doves, and it completely appalled her. But we assured her that he didn�t know the bat was alive when he bit off its head, and that he was totally wasted when he bit the heads off the doves, as though that made his actions all right. And while Mrs. Grossheim thought Ozzy was a horrible person, my English teacher, Mr. Patino, thought Ozzy was amazing just like I did. I remember him telling us a really cool story about when he was in high school and he was supposed to be preparing for his PSAT. We were about to take our PSATs and he told us when he was a junior, the night before the test, Ozzy was doing a show in town. Now, he weighed his options: he could get to bed early and get a good nights rest before the test, or go see Ozzy in concert and have a kick ass time. Seeing Ozzy was the obvious choice. He went to the show and had an awesome time. The next day, he totally wasn�t ready for the test. Some of his friends dropped him off at school right before it started, and had to bum a pencil from one of his classmates. "Needless to say, I didn�t do too well,� he said. BUT, he had a great time seeing Ozzy and wouldn't have given that up for anything. Anyway, two days before the show, I started feeling sick at school. I never, ever get sick, and so this was very strange. I had to go to the clinic, and lie down. I slept for about 50 minutes until school let out. When I went home, all I wanted to do was sleep. My mother checked my temperature: 101 degree fever. I never had a fever before, nor had I ever felt so badly. I couldn�t really do anything or eat anything. The next day, which was a Friday, I left school early. I was supposed to spend the night at Amy�s house so that we could go to Ozzfest the next day, but my dad felt that I should come home early and rest. He didn�t even want me going to school at all that day, but I had to get books to start studying for finals. I was still sick and my mother suggested that I find someone to sell my Ozzfest ticket to. I let her know immediately that that was not an option. There was no way I was going to miss that year, especially with Black Sabbath playing. Nor was I gonna miss out on seeing Deftones for the first time. Saturday morning came and I woke up feeling a lot better. The fever had broken, and I was all good to go. I ate something before I left, and packed my bad with water and cough drops. I also brought a hat because I didn't want to pass out in the heat. Kevin drove me to Lakewood. I stood in a long line waiting to get in. It was very early in the day, around 11 or 12. Kevin joked that I was the only black person there. Isn�t that always the case? Anywho, I was supposed to meet Kirby and Amy later in the day. We had seats so we figured that we�d just see each other later when we went to sit down. I could already hear music playing when I was standing in line. I think Static X was playing while I was waiting outside of the venue. When I got inside they were almost finished playing. I just stood around waiting for the next band. The next band totally freaked me out! There were a ton of people on stage with really weird masks on going nuts. I wondered how so many people could fit on such a little stage. They also had on these weird looking jump suits and I just knew they had to be burning up in those things. The kids watching really seemed to like the band though. There were lots of people moshing. I even saw my friend Charlie in the pit kicking people�s asses. Later on I found out that the band was Slipknot�and we know how well they�re doing now. For a lot of the beginning part of the day, I walked back and forth from the main stage to the second stage. I remember catching some of Puya on the main stage. That was very early in the day though. The numbers and letters on the seats totally confused me and I was sitting in the wrong spot for a while, but then I found out where I needed to be and hung out there. I went back to the second stage where I watched Drain STH. While they were playing this black dude with dreads, a wife beater and long burgundy shorts was standing in front of me. He had tons of passes and stuff around his neck, which led me to believe that he was probably in one of the bands. But I didn�t know many of the bands playing the second stage that year. Anyway, I saw a few kids go up to him and I wondered who he could be. After Drain played I walked back to my seat at the main stage. System on a Down was getting ready to play. During their set they brought out MCUD from (Hed)pe. To my great surprise, he was the same guy who had been standing in front of me during Drain STH. I felt dumb because I could�ve asked him to help me find Chino. But oh well. I didn�t meet up with Amy and Kirby until the middle of the afternoon. We were all excited to be there. When Godsmack took the stage, I remember that Kirby and Amy left saying that they were going to go shopping. �With what?� I asked. They didn�t have any money. Then Amy gave me this look and said, �We�re gonna go shopping.� I got her drift, smiled and told her to bring me back something. While Godsmack played, Amy and Kirby went around to various vender booths and �shopped.� They got earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. SO much stuff! When they came back, I couldn�t believe all the stuff they had gotten. It was as if the jewelry section at junkman's had blown up in their pockets. Amy gave me this really cool butterfly ring which I still wear to this day. They would later give some of the stuff away to our friends at school the following Monday. After Godsmack, we watched Slayer and Primus. I hate Primus but the crowd seemed to love them, especially when they played My name is Mud. I was really happy that I got to see Slayer because they�re obviously just pure metal and they kicked ass! Hearing South of Heaven was great! The third to last act to hit the main stage was Deftones. They were who I really wanted to see. I stood up for their whole set and totally enjoyed everything they played. I had been waiting so long to see them, and I finally got the chance to. They played a great set! I only wish I had been closer to the stage. Rob Zombie went on after Deftones. He had so much pyro shit in his show that whenever there was a huge blast of fire, I could feel it all the way back at where we were sitting. I can only imagine how the people up front must have felt it. He played songs like Living Dead Girl, Dragula and White Zombie classics such as Thunder Kiss 65 and More Human Than Human. I remember he had like two semi naked girls dancing on either side of the stage, and Amy was totally disgusted by them. �Do they actually get paid for doing that?� she asked. �I can do that too," she said. Then she started to mimic their dancing. It was really funny. The last band to play of course was Black Sabbath. I think anyone who is a fan of hard rock, metal, or alternative music should at least see Ozzy and the boys just once in their life. They won�t be disappointed. It was such a great show. I remember the crowd wasn�t being loud enough for Ozzy, so he told everyone that they had to scream louder or he�d stop playing. So we screamed and screamed and screamed until it pleased him. The absolute best was hearing Iron Man. It sounded wonderful! Just hearing all those people singing the words was incredible. All the lights and loud sounds and water, just made the end of Ozzfest very enjoyable. When Black Sabbath finished off their set, we left. Amy and Kirby went one way to take the bus back to the Marta station, and I went the other way where my mom was waiting for me outside. I remember her saying to me, �I�ve never seen so many white people in my life." At school on Monday, we told everyone about our great time. I brought in my Ozzfest shirt to show Mrs. Grossheim. She actually put it on and went walking up and down the hall saying, "YEAH! Ozzy rocks!" Teachers are weird. But Ozzfest was great. I couldn't wait to go in 2000. | |||||
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