THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180514
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music Review
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 50 lines
The jet fighters maneuvering overhead Tuesday night - part and parcel of the amphitheater experience - couldn't match the sonic boom at ground zero.
One or two Tomcats would be no match for Ozzy Osbourne anyway. Figure in brothers-in-metal Danzig and Sepultura, and it's no contest.
In other words, OzzFest delivered the goods: more metal crunch than a monster truck rally and three times the goofy fun. It wasn't subtle and it wasn't deep. Sometimes it plodded along.
But at its best, it was a shot of pure adrenaline for the 11,000 or so generation-spanning, hair-whippin', Beavii-and-Buttheads who cheered on each in-the-gut power chord.
It also quieted that talk about Ozzy, who doesn't allow photos during the show, toning down his act.
True, he's shelved the satanic nonsense and has sobered up. When he's not on tour, which isn't often, he lives the squire's life with his family at their 18th century manor. A few ballads also have crept onto his set list.
But a mellowed Ozzy? No way.
On the earnest ``I Just Want You,'' off 1995's platinum-selling ``Ozzmosis,'' and ``No More Tears,'' he proved he can still bark with the best of them. He had the audience on their feet for the entire set and singing along to the Black Sabbath nugget ``War Pigs.''
This leg of Osbourne's ``Retirement Sucks'' tour got under way Saturday, so he was well-rested Tuesday night. And he kicked butt when he reached way, way back in the Black Sabbath songbook for ``Paranoid'' and ``Iron Man.''
At 47, Ozzy just may be an iron man - one in high spirits, too, thanks in no small part to the spark from his young band.
Guitarist Joe Holmes, tutored by Ozzy's collaborator, the late Randy Rhoads; drummer Mike Bordin of Faith No More; and bassist Robert Trumillo, veteran of Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves, stoked the home fires, fusing the bottom-heavy riffing with a strong, melodic foundation.
Ozzy and Co. stepped into a maelstrom whipped up by Danzig and Sepultura. Ex-Misfit Glenn Danzig and his mates thrashed like a carp through a mushy set of redundant acid rock.
On the other hand, Sepultura expanded the speed-metal horizons by incorporating the music of their native Brazil. The primal percussion from the recent ``Roots'' bridged the gap to the twin-guitar punch of barbed-wire vocalist Max Cavalera and Andreas Kisser. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Singer Glenn Danzig and his heavy-metal mates opened for veteran
rocker Ozzy Osbourne on Tuesday at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater. by CNB