By Amy Silva
This summer as I eagerly waited for new releases from Deftones, Sunny Day Real Estate, and A Perfect Circle, I managed to stay afloat by hitting the hot spots for some massive concerts.
After finals, I headed with some buddies to the Floatrite Amphitheatre in smack dab middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin, an eight-hour pilgrimage to X-Fest, to what us Mid-Westerns consider to be our Woodstock. X-Fest is an annual three-day concert located on a campground on Memorial Weekend for us metal loving fans.
This year's line-up included Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Slipknot, Machine Head, Coal Chamber, Sevendust, Staind, Papa Roach, 3 Doors Down and countless others. Aside, from the fact it rained on two days that we were there, it was a blast. We came back with mud permanently staining our cheeks and battle wounds from our fellow 10,000+ concertgoers.
Another show worth mentioning was catching Glassjaw and Deftones at the Riviera at Chicago. I was both breathless and exhausted over the presence that Chino Moreno had over the crowd, which was overwhelming as he pierced us with his vocals that fluctuated over the chords of "Shut up and Drive
(Far Away) " and "My Own Summer (Shove It)."
He sang some new tunes of White Pony, which critics hail to be less heavy and more emotional, but nonetheless something all Deftones' fans can embrace.
But, the summer proved to be one ruled by Ozzy and Sharon once again. Ozzfest, with its 29-city production, made its way across this land with 19 metal-crunching bands and of course the Ozz man in tact.
Headlining this tour was none other than the gods of rock, Pantera, who shared the stage with Godsmack, Incubus, Soulfly, Static-X, Reveille, Kittie and Chicago's very own, Disturbed, along with many other grinding acts.
The continuation of Ozzfest is a great accomplishment -- getting bands out there, noticed for their live performances, and getting word-of-mouth exposure. Kevin Jardine of Slaves On Dope calls Ozzfest "truly the best tour for any band to get on."
He described his most memorable moment on the tour, playing in Minneapolis: "We are a band with a small fan base. This day however, we were scheduled to play mainstage for a general admission show, and we played over a crowd of 25,000. It was amazing. From the first note we had them going insane - a sight I'll never forget."
And this summer's concerts are sights and sounds I'll never forget.