OZZFEST Returns As One-Day Stadium Festival With OZZY OSBOURNE And METALLICA

May 13, 2008

All eyes and ears will be on Dallas, Texas Saturday, August 9. Ozzfest the original and iconic hard rock festival returns in 2008 as a one-day stadium spectacular that teams Ozzfest founder and namesake OZZY OSBOURNE (in his only U.S. concert appearance this summer) with METALLICA (marking their Ozzfest debut).

(BLABBERMOUTH.NET first reported on February 26, 2008 that Ozzfest was turning into a "destination festival" in Dallas. BLABBERMOUTH.NET also reported on April 11, 2008 that METALLICA was strongly rumored to be taking part in this year's event.)

Produced by Sharon Osbourne and AEG Live, the all-day festival at Pizza Hut Park in hard music-loving Dallas will feature three stages of non-stop talent (with many Ozzfest alumni) and reliably twisted Ozzfest side attractions.

Ozzfest 2008 - Saturday, August 9 at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas, Texas:

Main Stage:

OZZY OSBOURNE
METALLICA
SERJ TANKIAN
HELLYEAH
JONATHAN DAVIS
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY
SHADOWS FALL
APOCALYPTICA
IN THIS MOMENT
All-Star Tribute To "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott

Second Stage:

SEVENDUST
DEVILDRIVER
KINGDOM OF SORROW
SOILENT GREEN
WITCHCRAFT
GOATWHORE

Texas (Third) Stage: *

THE SWORD
DROWNING POOL
RIGOR MORTIS

* Homage to the "many great metal bands that come from Texas," according to Sharon Osbourne

"Ozzy just finished an 11-month world tour so I think he deserves a summer off," Sharon says about this year's one-day Ozzfest. "We're going to be a stadium destination festival for now we have gone past doing the sheds every summer. We've given everyone else the blueprint and we have to keep evolving Ozzfest. This is just the beginning; AEG Live and I have a lot of new ideas for Ozzfest."

This years dynamic line-up encompasses artists who've played Ozzfest before in different incarnations such as Serj Tankian (SYSTEM OF A DOWN); Jonathan Davis (KORN); HELLYEAH's Vinnie Paul (PANTERA) and Chad Gray (MUDVAYNE); KINGDOM OF SORROW's Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Kirk Windstein (DOWN); and Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA) of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY. Other Ozzfest graduates include SHADOWS FALL, SEVENDUST, DEVILDRIVER, DROWNING POOL and IN THIS MOMENT.

"Ozzy has great relationships with all of the bands that have played Ozzfest," says Sharon. "We're the only real festival for harder edge bands and these artists have been very loyal to us there is lots of love on this lineup."

Tickets for this year's Ozzfest will go on sale Saturday, May 31.

The Ozzfest announcement comes in the wake of this year's arrival of the metal-oriented Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour, which will play 30 North American amphitheaters during July and August, the time when Ozzfest is traditionally making its rounds.

Last year's Ozzfest offered free admission, with fans acquiring tickets mostly through sponsoring web sites. But the acts were not paid either, which resulted in a decidedly less than impressive main stage lineup. The Mayhem trek robbed Ozzfest of two potential main-stage heavyweights in DISTURBED and SLIPKNOT, with fan favorites DRAGONFORCE and MASTODON also taking part in the Mayhem tour.

(Thanks: Poobobo)

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