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catlash

W:O:A Metalhead
Nov 21, 2005
468
0
61
58
Tulsa, Oklahoma
www.myspace.com
Brad Kava of The Mercury News spoke to Ozzfest
promoter Sharon Osbourne by phone on Tuesday (February
6) about the organizers' announcement that admission
to the 25-city heavy metal tour will be free this
summer.

Sponsors will pick up the tab for the tickets, bands
will not be paid to perform and expenses will be
covered from sales of food, drinks and merchandise.

It will be the first national tour ever to do so.

"We needed to change something and we didn't want to
change the format," Osbourne said.

"We were putting offers to all these bands we wanted
to tour with and they were coming back to us with
exorbitant prices that would have meant we had to put
the ticket prices up, which I won't do. With Ozzy's
audience being younger, they can't afford any higher
prices."

Gary Bongiovanni, analyst with Pollstar, the concert
industry trade magazine, said: "I don't think this
will become a new business model, but it is a great
marketing tool for them."

"They want $300,000 plus to do an hour's work
onstage," Sharon Osbourne said of some young bands.
"I'm just not doing it. Last year nearly destroyed us,
paying, paying, paying, and we just can't do it
again."

Tickets would be paid for and distributed by sponsors,
such as Jägermeister, which will present acts at the
second stage, located in amphitheater parking lots.

Osbourne, 54, said she plans to upgrade the festival's
midway atmosphere, losing the tattoo parlors and
cheesy carnival games and replacing them with
interactive booths sponsored by technology and video
game companies.

"There has to be another way to do it,'' she said. "If
you get the sponsors that believe in you and you get
new great cutting-edge bands that just want an
audience, we'll give them the audience and we'll let
everyone in free."

Last year, though, she said, the fees earned by bands,
including about $325,000 a show for the group SYSTEM
OF A DOWN, almost sank the festival.

"They're taking four years off, we paid them so much,
and we're still working," she said. "I'm not doing
that again."
 

catlash

W:O:A Metalhead
Nov 21, 2005
468
0
61
58
Tulsa, Oklahoma
www.myspace.com
sure some wil not but music is still based largely on reputation and Ozzfest and Sharon both have strong reputation so they will probably be able to pull some great acts at least. Not to mention all these great and famous names were once new and were unknown but even back then had great talent soeven some of the new up and comers could be great. For fans of those bands it could be a real 'history in the making/I saw them live way back when...' moment.
 

metaldan

Newbie
Feb 9, 2007
7
0
46
Alice In Chains is one of the rumours flying about...

Although its certainly not a festival i would travel from the UK for.

Download, Bloodstock, Wacken, Leeds, Damnation should suffice this year:)