wizard of Oz

I had a great day at Ozzfest yesterday, the annual rock/metal festival made possible by Ozzy Osbourne himself.

For those who don't know, the show is roughly divided into parts: there's the second stage, where the smaller acts play earlier in the day; then there's the main stage, where the big boys play. The first stage was pretty bad, with only a few exceptions. Unearth was alright. They had some good guitarists, and a pretty good drummer. I don't think they played well as a band, as a cohesive singular unit (in other words, I didn't like their overall arrangements).

Seeing Slipknot in person was loads of fun. They have a good sound, and their masks and black jumpsuits were pretty hardcore. Each member of the band wears some gruesome, Halloween-ish mask to maintain some degree of privacy and anonymity. I recently heard rumors the band was going to break up. One member's going to have a child soon, another is planning on getting married, etc. If you're going to break up a band, those are definitely good reasons; and that's not the sort of thinking you encounter very often in the world at large.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lacuna Coil. They have a good sound, and their female lead singer has a wonderful voice. They reminded me a bit of Evanescence, though Lacuna Coil hasn't gotten the same media push. A guy also sings with the band; his voice and awkward banter with the crowd between songs irritated me.

My reaction to the other bands ranged from mild anger to outright disgust. First off, most of the other bands made constant reference to the President, mocking him and his policies. I don't mind politics mixing with music; I do mind people jumping on the fashinonable critique bandwagon. It's now en vogue to bash Bush, whether or not you actually have a justifiable reason (or any reason, for that matter). I felt like I was listening to stupid little kids mindlessly whining because they were bored.

I also couldn't stand the music. So much metal and rock has been deconstructed into nonsense. For most new bands, it's not about playing better or smarter. It's about playing faster and louder, not matter what you play. Almost every lead singer sounds the same. Almost every band plays the same chords and has the same drumbeat. Almost every bad treats bridges and choruses the same way. Sure, you can mosh to that garbage (more on moshing later) but there's no techne to it. I would be abusing the English language if I were to call most of these people "musicians." Something is definetely wrong with you when every song in your catalogue sounds the same.

I'll write about the wonders of the main stage, and the stupidity of moshing, later today.