BLABBERMOUTH.NET has received a number of e-mails regarding last night's (August 20) Ozzfest concert in Devore (near San Bernardino), California, which reportedly included an on-stage appearance following IRON MAIDEN's set by Sharon Osbourne during which she called MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson a "prick." The following report was submitted by David Priest, editor-in-chief of On Track Magazine:
"Last night's [August 20] headlining performance of IRON MAIDEN at Ozzfest in San Bernardino, CA rendered some interesting, if not disturbing, results. Although MAIDEN played one hell of a show, they were under attack from the moment they began their set. From the time they hit the stage, they suffered power loss on at least three occasions and they were continuously pelted with ice, bottle caps, and eggs among other things. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson was even spit on by one attendee. He seemed to believe these occurrences were not by accident and insinuated that they had been planned from the beginning of the night [Download MP3 files of Bruce's on-stage rants at last night's Ozzfest: Bruce#1, Bruce#2]. He also encouraged the other audience members to break the arm of anyone that they saw throwing things their way. Upon concluding their performance the emcee for the evening began to chant Ozzy, Ozzy while Bruce was still speaking. Bruce retaliated by chanting MAIDEN. After he left the stage Sharon Osbourne took over the mic and informed the crowd that they absolutely loved IRON MAIDEN and their crew and stated that they were all wonderful but that their singer Bruce Dickinson was a prick and had disrespected Ozzfest since they began their stint with the touring summer festival [Download MP3 file of Sharon's anti-Bruce rant at this location]. This of course came as a shock to those of us in attendance and the there was ample confusion and speculation from audience members there after. As previously announced last night's show marked the final performance of IRON MAIDEN on this year's Ozzfest. VELVET REVOLVER will be taking over their slot on the last remaining dates."
Here are a few more eyewitness accounts, as submitted by BLABBERMOUTH.NET readers:
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"Tonight was the last show of IRON MAIDEN's leg of the Ozzfest. Unfortunately the rest of the tour will have that spot filled by VELVET REVOLVER. There has been some sniping and such going on during this tour between Ozzy's camp and Bruce Dickinson, but that had been kept for the most part away from the fans it appears. So, IRON MAIDEN is playing a 55-minute set (though they've played full shows on the nights SABBATH cancelled on this tour because Ozzy can't to back to back nights.)
"MAIDEN is about to come on and right before a voice on the PA starts chanting 'Ozzy, Ozzy.' MAIDEN comes on and starts getting pelted with eggs from one area of the pit. Some dude has three dozen eggs. Bruce calls this out quickly. Next, during 'The Trooper', where Bruce waves a large British flag, some big dude painted red walks out from backstage with an American flag and on his back painted 'Don't f(#$ with Ozzy).' Tackled, he appeared off stage again. Then after Bruce declared 'You'll never hear MAIDEN on U.S. radio, MTV and certainly never see them in a reality show,' he says they will play 60 minutes, not 55. So, during two of their most popular songs (note: they are only playing songs from the first four albums, so 40,000 metalheads and idiots are going nuts), their PA and power goes off. Unbelievable, they handled it fine as almost if they expected it. They then do an encore and Bruce says something about the 'We the People' and nobody is going to stop them, not eggs, a guy spitting on them (until Bruce had him tossed) or a PA hoax and they play two more songs. Then they finish and are bowing and saying goodnight and the Ozzy voice comes on to chant, Bruce tries to change it to MAIDEN chant and then says, 'Are you as sick of this BS 'cause we are.' And they walk off.
"THEN: Sharon [Osbourne] comes on stage and asks for everyone’s attention and half ass praises and thanks IRON MAIDEN but say the singer Bruce is a prick and has been slagging the tour. 40,000 are stunned and start to boo and throw stuff, but most were stunned by the surreal moment. SABBATH then came out and did a good set like last year's with a much improved, yet hoarse, Ozzy. They started doing medleys thought, not good. But the rest, eesh."
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"ROB ZOMBIE was cool, SHADOWS FALL and MUDVAYNE are better live than on CD, SLIPKNOT aren't really my kind of band but they put on an entertaining stage show...lots of strange shit going on.
"MAIDEN hit the stage to thundering applause, despite the fact that they are the ONLY mainstage band NOT to be introduced by some guy that comes on stage...and despite the fact that the idiot is screaming 'Ozzy... Ozzy... Ozzy' as MAIDEN's intro tape ('Doctor Doctor') is playing.
"Some prick is throwing eggs up on the stage. It doesn't occur to me till later, but this person HAD to be planted in the audience, because there is NO WAY any fan could have snuck in 36 fucking eggs. They patted us down so good, I felt like asking for a cigarette afterwards.
"Bruce is in fine rant form (got 5 or so tonight...LOL), and mentions how MAIDEN will never be on the radio, or MTV...or reality TV shows. He also mentions that they're supposed to do a shortened 55-minute set tonight, but just like someone sang that they can't drive 55, they can't PLAY 55....they're going to play their full show.
"Maybe 30 seconds or so before 'Phantom of the Opera' is to end, the PA cuts out. A minute or two later, it's back on an they go into 'Run to the Hills'. This happens again 2-3 times the rest of the night. Once near the end of 'Hallowed be thy Name', and the crowd is so into it, we all decide to help MAIDEN finish the song anyway. We sang the rest of it for them, as we could just barely hear their stage monitors going.
"In spite of all the problems with the planted egg thrower, the 'Ozzy... Ozzy...' asshole, and someone pulling the fucking PA plug, the band are on FIRE, and are determined to give us the best show possible. There was no big Eddie during the song IRON MAIDEN, just the walk-on Eddie. Is this how it was at the other Ozzfest shows?
"MAIDEN come back out for their encore, and Bruce says that the band is back out there for one reason, and one reason only...after all the bullshit...it for us...the fans. They put on a fucking killer encore, and the crowd was fucking totally into it.
"MAIDEN are on stage still, and taking their bows...and this cocksucker starts the 'Ozzy... Ozzy... Ozzy...' shit through the PA system again. Well, almost IMMEDIATELY, seemingly the entire crowd starts chanting 'MAIDEN... MAIDEN... MAIDEN...' over the guy... over and over... and we drowned that motherfucker out! Bruce was up there like an orchestra conductor, waving his arms as we chanted 'MAIDEN... MAIDEN!'
"The band aren't off the stage 10 seconds, when that cunt Sharon Osbourne comes out and tells us she needs us quiet just for a moment. She proceeds to tell us how they love IRON MAIDEN and think they're cool...but then says that Bruce Dickinson is a real prick, and has been disrespecting Ozzfest from day one. That's all I heard out of the bitch, 'cause we all immediately went back into 'MAIDEN... MAIDEN... MAIDEN!" and she was completely drowned out after that.
"I looked at my brother and said 'Let's get the fuck outta here,' and he nodded too. All the way out, we chanted 'MAIDEN... MAIDEN' ...and 'Bruce... Bruce...' ...and the crowd all along, chanted right with us.
"Walking out the gates, we quickly noticed that we were FAR from alone...as a large mass of people were leaving right with us. Common statements made by others were, 'Fucking bitch, Sharon...fuck her.' I think she overestimated her popularity...LOL. All she ended up doing was thinning out the crowd of a large LARGE number of MAIDEN fans. Good fucking riddance, too!
"It was best that we left anyway....since no band should ever go on after MAIDEN. I will never....NEVER spend another fucking cent on ANYTHING Ozzy does, unless he ever decides to stop being led around by the nose, by that fucking bitch, Sharon.
"All that being said....I'll repeat that in SPITE of all that went on, MAIDEN put on a great fucking show, with what they had to deal with...and the crowd returned the love...and then some."
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"* IRON MAIDEN got pummeled with eggs on the opening of 'Murders In The Rue Morgue'
* Second song 'The Trooper', someone (looked like that douche 'Big Dave') on stage and mocked Bruce with an American flag.....
* MAIDEN's PA and amps were shut off four or five times during songs......
* Ozzfest apparently tried to cut MAIDEN's set length.....
* Someone sounding alot like that Dave person who introduced BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was chanting 'Ozzy, Ozzy...' ( a pre-recorded loop, maybe?) while MAIDEN were still on stage... Needless to say, the crowd is getting pissed by now.....
"Bruce was a total hero — a pro, said what he needed to say and MAIDEN still did their set and encore... Sharon then came out for what appeared to be damage control, thanking MAIDEN and the crew — and then said, 'but their singer Bruce Dickinson is a prick, he has insulted Ozzfest since he got here...' or something to that affect. The statement she made seemed to be condoning the poor treatment of MAIDEN.....
"I as a fan have gained MUCHO respect for Bruce Dickinson and lost respect for the Ozz Inc. camp."
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"At the final night of their Ozzfest stint at Hyundai Pavillion in Devore, California, IRON MAIDEN were the victim of Sharon Osbourne's megalomania. Firstly, before they went on, Big Dave (or whatever they call the retarded streak of piss hanger-on who introduces Ozzy and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY for a living) tried to get an 'Ozzy' chant just before MAIDEN walked onstage. Then they had 35 eggs and bottles, which were 'planted' in the mosh pit just before showtime, which were then thrown at Bruce and the boys. Then when playing 'The Trooper' at the part when Bruce runs onstage dressed in military attire waving the British flag, 'Big Dave' ran on in a civil war outfit (kinda) and waving a huge U.S. flag. He had to be removed from the stage and then ran around the venue like a five-year-old schoolgirl. Next up was the fact that MAIDEN's sound was cut totally about five times mid-song and at crucial moments, complete power failure forcing them to abandon the songs.
"Bruce was noticeably pissed about this and made a comment about being a true rock band and not a reality show band. Then he let it be known that the power cuts were deliberate sabotage as were the eggs. As MAIDEN finished the set and were taking bows, 'Big Wad Dave' once again starts the 'Ozzy' chants, which the crowd drowned out with MAIDEN chants. Then to top it off, Sharon walks onstage and says, and I quote, 'Look, I really love IRON MAIDEN but I have to tell you their lead singer Bruce Dickinson is a prick.' The crowd went wild with booing and chants and Sharon continued, 'We have done so much for them, let me explain myself.' She was drowned out in a sea of boo's and left the stage.
"It was a debacle and embarrassing and the most unprofessional thing I have ever seen in my 20 years of going to rock shows. To actually of cut the power to the band and throw projectiles at the band in order to ruin their set was truly evil and dangerous and disrespectful to the thousands of fans who were there purely to MAIDEN. Sharon Osbourne is and evil cunt, I only hope she gets another batch of cancer after what she did tonight."
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From IRON MAIDEN's official message board:
"About 10 minutes before MAIDEN came on, I was in the center of the pit a few feet from the front railing when a guy comes barging in from the right escorting 4 or 5 people. At first, I tell him to F-off because I thought he was trying to take my spot, but he said he worked for Ozzfest and showed me his passes. He also told me that Ozzy's daughter was with the entourage he brought with him. There were a few girls with him and one of them looked a little like Kelly Osbourne, but I couldn't tell for sure because all of them were wearing bandanas over their noses and mouths. After I heard her speak, I was pretty sure. At that point, I tapped her on her arm and said, 'I really liked you on the show. You were great,' to which she responded, 'Thank you.' There was no doubt at that point. The bodyguard who came with them starting getting chumy with us because he needed a few of us to help him protect the girls from the moshing that would start when MAIDEN came on. I saw the girls passing eggs, and I said, 'What's that for?' The bodyguard said something to the effect, 'You'll see. Something big is going down. You'll hear about it everywhere after tonight. It's all because Bruce Dickinson made some comments in Detroit dissing the 'Osbournes' reality TV show.' He also said that there were about 60 people in the pit who were going to participate in the mayhem. Most of them were wearing the same Ozzfest shirts. Before MAIDEN came on, they all started chanting, 'Ozzy, Ozzy...' I actually saw Bruce off to the left of the stage before they came on. His mike was on and he said something like, 'What the fuck?' — probably in response to the 'Ozzy' chanting.
"When MAIDEN came on, eggs started flying and all these guys were flipping off the band. Nicko had to stop after one song to clean his set. Bruce was obviously very pissed. Thank God they continued their set. At one point, someone through a cup of corn with milk or something. It got all over Bruce, me, and about a dozen other people. Then the technical problems started. The sound went out on about three songs — 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Hallowed be thy Name', and one other one I can't remember. I could not believe what was going on. I was furious because I didn't want the guys in MAIDEN to think badly of the fans who love them. I do think that Bruce understood because the band continued to play the full set, and Bruce made comments to distinguish the fans there from the guys throwing stuff. Towards the end of the set, Bruce started yelling at a guy in the pit to my left about 10 feet. Bruce said he saw him throwing stuff and wanted the fucker out. It took a long time for security to get him out. The reason why is that one guy from Kelly Osbourne's entourage was holding down the guy security was trying to take out. Eventually security pulled both of them out. After MAIDEN's set, it was obvious that Sharon Osbourne was in on it, because she came out to say that 'Bruce Dickinson is a prick.'
"Needless to say, it was insane. I was really pissed that MAIDEN got treated this way. I wanted to enjoy their set and instead got drama from egg throwing and songs cut short by someone pulling the power. Bruce was obviously pissed and the rest of the band seemed a little irritated. It showed in their playing too because some of the songs were sloppy, but of course you couldn't blame them given the situation."
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