Well the day started out at 2 AM, I had to wake up that early to pick my friend Candise up for Ozzfest since my friend Allen who was originally suppose to go, got sick. We met my other friends Eric, Kyle, Eric's little brother Adam, and Eric's girlfriend at 6 AM to head up for the show. We got to the Sleep Train Ampitheatre in Marysville and waited in line for hella long. I heard a bunch of people booing and saw why which got me pretty upset. Security were putting up signs saying Ozzy wouldn't be there to perform. I was like how is this Ozzfest without Ozzy?! But hey, I had spent almost $100 on my ticket, and it was a pit ticket at that, so how the hell would I say no to that? We finally got let in but no after them throwing out my camera and taking my rocker beads from me. We headed straight to the 2nd stage and got in front waiting for Killswitch Engage. I told my friends Eric and Kyle that these guys were raw and were gonna have everyone going ape shit at 9 AM. Killswitch came out and I started cheering, yelling, throwing up the horns and everything. The crowd gave Killswitch a hella nice ovation, and Howard Jones comes out with the mic and a smile on his face and they kicked the show off. I had read that these guys were making a big name for themselves so far on Ozzfest and I was happy because these guys are great, their CD Alive or Just Breathing is one CD where I listen to the whole thing without skipping one track, and having the urge to start up a pit. Great set by Killswitch Engage which ended with "My Last Serenade." I missed Jesse Lynch when he left the band, but Howard is just as good if not better and is a sick front man, I suggest checking out his other band Blood Has Been Shed with their new CD Spirals. Next up was one of the next great metal bands, Shadows Fall! I was the only guy in the front with a Shadows Fall shirt on and I told my friend again that they were gonna be off the hook and I guaranteed that shit. Shadows Fall came out and tore it up, I was cheering the whole time for these guys because they are awesome, if you haven't heard of Shadows Fall pick up either Of One Blood or The Art of Balance, I promise you won't be disappointed. They closed their set with "Destroyer of Senses" and left to a loud ovation. Next was another band making it big with their new CD Skeletons. Nothingface took the stage and kept the crowd jacked, I knew this was gonna be awesome because we had 4 great bands in a row to wake us up. Song that got the crowd going the most was probably "Ether" but their whole set was really good. After them came Unloco, which made my friend Kyle almost cream himself because they are pretty much his favorite band. Unloco are awesome, I first saw them live not too long ago at the Music as a Weapon II Tour, and they were great. They kept the crowd going as well, and the place went nuts for "Bruises". I marked for the lead singer when he jumped the security rail and started walking on the crowds hands singing the song as the crowd kept him up. After they finished, the singer started high fiving everyone up front and Kyle goes "You guys fuckin rule!" The lead singer gave Kyle a hug and was like "Naw you guys fuckin rule for comin out to see us so early." It was great, we all headed over to the FYE Tent right after. I had just missed Shadows Fall, but I got to meet them over at the Jagermiester Tent. They were all hella cool guys and I talked to them as they signed my Shadows Fall poster. The guitarist thanked me for showing up at 9 AM to watch them, I was like "You guys are one of the bands I hella wanted to see on the 2nd stage!" I asked the lead singer when they would be touring on their own and he said they'd be back in the area probably October. You can bet your ass I'll be buying tickets to that. I went to look at the CDs to see if I'd pick any up, and this guy goes "Hey man, are you having a good time?" and it was the drummer from Memento! I didn't have anything for him to sign so I bought their CD and he signed it for me, then the guitarist came over and signed it, then the lead singer signed it too. I thanked them and talked to them for a while. I told the lead singer he was one crazy son of a bitch in their "Nothing Sacred" video and he laughed. They were really cool and their set was bad ass, their CD is called Beginnings if your interested in checking it out. After that I came back to the FYE Tent as Nothingface were leaving. I got to talk with the bassist and the guitarist for a little bit and told them they did a great show, and they thanked me for supporting them. The drummer is funny as shit, he had his video recorder walking around taping everything a making jokes the whole time. Right after they left Unloco showed up and remembered me and my friend Kyle. The singer called my friend Kyle one crazy mother fucker, lol. We got some stuff signed and talked to them for a while, these guys were really cool too. After this we walked around for a little bit, but were able to check out the Memento set. We watched most of the rest of the 2nd stage from the hill. Later on we got ready for the main stage, it took them forever to let us go to the floor and we were baking out there in the sun. Chevelle opened... I already had to sit through these guys at the Music as a Weapon II Tour, I wasn't too happy to see them again. But oh well, Disturbed came out next and I went ape shit again. The floor wasn't full but everyone was clustered in the front, so me, my friend Candise, and my friend's little brother sat on the rails by the steps. Whenever Dave would come to our side of the stage and look over by us (we were easy to see since the floor wasn't full) I'd start singing along hella loud and throw up the horns and get crazy. Finally Dave looked at me and smiled and gave me the horns. I was like "HELL YEAH!" Disturbed put on a great set that had really started off the main stage. Next was Marilyn Manson. I was never to big on Manson but I really like his new CD The Golden Age of Grotesque, but his performance last night made me a fan of his. Korn were the last ones up and delivered a savage performance knowing that they wee having to fill Ozzy's spot. They opened with "Blind" which had me and my friends pumped. Their new song "Did My Time" is really cool, and the video playing on the screen was some bizarre shit. They even did a little bit of the cover for "One" by Metallica which had me going crazy. I don't know why people bash Korn, they tore shit up last night and every other time I've seen them live, so fuck the haters. Today I'm thinking back on Ozzfest, it was still disappointing that Ozzy wasn't there, I was really looking forward to his two hour set. But the show was still awesome and I had a great fucking time dispite the 3rd degree sun burns on my head and arms, but oh well. Big thanks to the guys from Shadows Fall, Memento, Nothingface, and Unloco, they are all great guys and are really about their fans. It was cool being able to hang with them and get their autographs. I wish I was able to get Killswitch Engage's autographs and hang with them as well because I am big time Killswitch fans, but it was great to be able to see them live for the first time. To all the other bands, thanks for busting your asses and putting on a good Ozzfest knowing it would be an angry crowd due to no Ozzy. But I still hate Chevelle, I don't get the point of them making main stage due to a couple of shitty singles that for some unknown reason people actually like? I still try to get the picture out of my head of people moshing to "The Red" (shakes head) But anyway had a great time, seriously recommend checking out those CDs mentioned earlier, I'm out!