Ozzfest: Hour Upon Hour of Ferocity

Heavy metal, in its most clamorous, reckless and varied forms, was the order of the day at the closing date of the fifth annual Ozzfest tour at Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Saturday. From the prancing and posturing of rap-metal to the hard-core edge of Goth-industrial to the familiar headbangin’ groove of old-school arena rock, this year’s concert offered one of its most diverse lineups ever, not to mention one of its most rousing.

The ferocious affair began around 10 a.m. A few hours later, Queens of the Stone Age and P.O.D. got things off to a potent start on the main stage. On the smaller second stage, lesser-known rockers such as Shuvel and Slaves on Dope kept things manic in a grassy field enclosed by food and retail vendors. Highlights included the punky, synth-driven rhythms of Disturbed and the dark rants and riffs of the all-girl band Kittie.

But it was the main stage, with its elaborate sets and stellar assemblage of acts, that offered the biggest bang. Tommy Lee’s Methods of Mayhem, which comes off like cheap Limp Bizkit knock-off on its debut record, managed to create a funky ruckus that was at its best when it entered the hip-hop realm. Maybe Lee took a lesson from Incubus, the Calabasas rock band that followed them. Incubus’ collection of tunes showed the most versatility of the day, with singer Brandon Boyd’s powerful vocals and DJ Chris Kilmore’s otherworldly mixes providing an interesting balance on both their pop-flavored grinds and their more aggressive numbers.

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Each act seemed to become progressively more commanding as the day went on, with aggro bad boys Static-X inciting wild behavior throughout the massive venue, and moody rockers Godsmack encouraging everyone to “get crazy” as they spewed their melodic yet intense alternative anthems. Far from melodic, Texas terrors Pantera were all about machine-gun guitars and possessed shrieks, and their sonic fury was by far the most frenzied on the bill.

When the festival’s figurehead Ozzy Osbourne finally appeared, he lived up to his madman persona, running around the stage like a naughty imp, drenching the crowd with water from hoses and giant ray-gun. His high-pitched wails were as mesmerizing as ever, and renditions of such standbys as “Crazy Train,” “Mama I’m Comin’ Home” provided the ultimate devil-sign-fingers, lighters-in-the-air moments of the festival.