"Ozzfest" 2000: Houston Raceway Park, Baytown : Ozzy Osbourne, houston, Houston (US) - Aug 20, 2000

Holy shit did I get baked at this show! Not stoned (OK, just a little) ... but roasted by the heat on this SUNday back in August of 2000. The raceway was mostly concrete, which reflected the intense summer heat back up into the faces of the gathered masses, who were generating their own heat in front of the stages. It was about 120 degrees on the field that day, and people were puking and passing out everywhere!

This was the first of two Ozzfests that I have been to, and overall this one was better (although the headliners at the second one were better!) I got to jam out to Ozzy and Pantera, who both played at night when it had cooled down to 90 degrees. Ozzy put on a pretty good show. This was before the TV show made him look so silly. As for Pantera, it was nice to be able to rock out to their music and actually remember the show this time! I also saw Static-X for the second time, although I was pretty beat from moshing to some of the earlier bands, so I just hung back and listened to their set from the sidelines. I also saw a little known band at the time, who became much more popular just a few short years later ... Queens of the Stone Age! I lost my shit when I heard "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" for the first time ever! I really enjoyed their other songs as well, so I went out and bought their first two albums the next week. They were pretty fucking awesome that day! Finally, honorable mention goes out to Kittie and Soulfly who both made valiant attempts to leave it all on the stage during the hottest parts of the day! I had bought Kittie's first album almost half a year earlier and really liked it, so I made sure to show up early that day just to catch their set. They did not disappoint. And I had never heard of Soulfly or Slaves on Dope before the festival ... and they both kicked some major ass! I was tore up after their sets were over! Last and least, I caught a couple songs each from Incubus, Godsmack, and Disturbed. Meh. Godsmack is overrated. Disturbed was flat out boring. And I was disappointed with Incubus. I liked their third album, but live, they were pretty weak. Speaking of weak, P.O.D. and Methods of Mayhem were also on the bill that day, but I made it a point to avoid them.

Overall, a great festival ... just too fucking hot!