FREE OZZFEST IN 2007 CONTINUES TO PACK THEM IN

With Ozzy, Hatebreed, Lamb of God, Circus Diablo, Lordi, Daath and Static X, Ozzfest has evolved into a first of a kind free touring festival.

In an announcement that still has the touring industry reeling, Ozzfest has evolved into a free touring festival with 24 North American dates without a single ticket price for every fan in attendance. When Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne first broke the news, many wondered if this first of kind touring idea would succeed, but as the first week of shows concludes and the traveling metal circus begins to criss-cross the U.S., the fans are clearly continuing to come out in big numbers. With Ozzy once again headlining the main stage this years version also featured sets from Lamb of God, Lordi, Static X, Nile, Ankla, Circus Diablo, The Showdown, 3 Inches of Blood, In This Moment, Chthonic, Behemoth, Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator and Daath.

We caught up with Jamey Jasta, lead singer for Hatebreed, who have been a part of Ozzfest many times to discuss his thoughts on the festival being free for everyone and the fact that this years Ozzfest is showcasing more under hardcore metal bands than ever before.

“Free Ozzfest, I thought great idea you know, give something back to the fans especially us, it’s our fifth time doing Ozzfest. So many people have seen us on Ozzfest already and we’re a part of it, so sign us up. The main change I see is people are so much more enthusiastic and really into it. People love the more underground extreme stuff so it’s great for a band like us. We’re always trying to fly a flag for that scene especially for hardcore underground metal. With Behemoth, Nile, Daath, Ankla there’s so many extreme bands here. So, it’s great and being free helps open peoples minds to more extreme music that they don’t hear on radio stations.”

We also caught up with Static X just before the band slot on the main stage to talk about the band getting sponsorship in order to offset the high cost and zero profit of touring without getting paid.

“We thought that sounds interesting. I wonder how that’s going to work. The whole world thought, ‘How’s that going to work?’ But it’s seems like it’s working out great. So, for us it was a matter of figuring out how we can do it without getting paid every night. To pay for this wonderful bus we had to go out and get some sponsors and our label’s kicking in and making all that lined up. But this is our third Ozzfest and it’s by far the best one. Every show is packed. It’s awesome and it’s a big success.”

We also caught up with Billy Morrison, formerly of The Cult, who is touring this summer on Ozzfest with his new band, Circus Diablo to talk about getting the call from Ozzy and not being able to turn the offer down to tour this summer.

“Ozzy called me up personally. Him and Sharon our friends of ours, so when Ozzy Osbourne calls your cell phone and says ‘Would you do the freefest?’ You don’t really say ‘Let me look at my schedule and see if I can fit you in.’ What you say is ‘Yes sir, where do I sign up? What day do we start?’ So I spoke with Sharon at length about the idea of free fest and I think what they’re doing is amazing. Sharon said to me she doesn’t know if it’s going to work or not but she’s putting, figuratively speaking putting their money where their mouth is and they’re fed up with the high ticket prices and look at this 24 free festival shows of rock music around the country. She made that happen. So I think I speak for all of us in Circus Diablo when I say we’re just really proud to be a part of such a ground breaking festival.”

Ozzfest will continue its trek around America with dates extending until August 30th in West Palm Beach, Florida. Hatebreed is will continue touring after Ozzfest in support of their latest Roadrunner Records release ‘Supremacy.’ Static X, also will head out on the road after this summers Ozzfest as they continue touring in support of their latest Warner Brothers Records release, ‘Cannibal’ which peaked on the US Billboard Chart at #36. Circus Diablo, which also features Billy Duffy, formerly of The Cult along with Billy Morrison, Ricky Warwick, Brett Scallions (former lead singer of fuel) and Charles Ruggiero on drums will also continue touring in support of their self titled Koch Records debut.