This summer, the annual heavy-metal circus named for one of the genre's most outspoken rebels will return, but in a scaled-down form. This year's Ozzfest won't be traveling the country, but will be a one-day destination festival, set for Pizza Hut Park in Dallas on August 9.
Headlining the day's events will be Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne himself. Also set for the main stage are System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, Hellyeah, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, Cavalera Conspiracy, Shadows Fall, Apocalyptica and In This Moment. There will also be a special all-star tribute to slain Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.
On the second stage, the Ozzfest camp has secured Sevendust, DevilDriver, Kingdom of Sorrow, Soilent Green, Witchcraft and Goatwhore. Meanwhile, a third stage, dubbed the "Texas Stage," will feature local favorites the Sword, Drowning Pool and Rigor Mortis.
"Ozzy just finished an 11-month world tour, so I think he deserves a summer off," Sharon Osbourne, the brains behind Ozzfest, said in a statement. "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. Ozzy has great relationships with all of the bands that have played Ozzfest. 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 May 31.
Rumors that Ozzfest would be diminished to a two-day destination festival began earlier this year, after Warped Tour mastermind Kevin Lyman announced the inaugural run of his Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival, which boasts a lineup featuring Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, DragonForce, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho. That tour will get under way July 9 in Seattle and runs through August 19 in Buffalo, New York.
Many speculated that the competition would be too much for the Ozzfest camp, which offered free admission to last year's gigs; none of the bands that played last year's Ozzfest were paid, outside of merchandise sales, and they were encouraged to play shows on off-nights. In recent years, critics have slammed Ozzfest, saying that the festival's influence and grandeur has started to wane.
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