Stefan Paz - cpaz01@mail.win.org
St Louis, MO 6/10/97
Review of Coal Chamber
Ok, so I hear about Ozzfest and freak out. I buy my tickets. I hear about Coal Chamber and decide to buy the CD. It rocks me hard. Now, I'm dying to see Ozzfest twice as much. Finally, Tuesday June 10 arrives. Now, I could talk forever about all that went on at Ozzfest (believe me, there was a lot going on), but most people here probably want to hear about Coal Chamber. So here I go. Me, Todd (creator of this web page), and our friend Dennis are almost at the very front of the line to get in. We move in swiftly and buy our t-shirts before the crowd comes through. Just about 5 minutes later we spot Rayna walking around. We immediately went to talk to her. Rayna was cool enough to talk briefly and sign Todd's shirt, which he custom made before going to the show (that impressed CC greatly). So, after Vision of Disorder and Drain STH rocked our asses, it was time for Coal Chamber. They opened with Sway and rocked for twenty minutes from there. It was intense. Later we came back for their second performance. Again, they rocked. Sway was especially cool the second time, because Dez called for the crowd to sing along: "the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn. Burn, motherfucker, burn." The whole set from begining to end was heavy. I got so pumped. After the second performance, the whole band took time to sign autographs. They were real cool about everything. Coal Chamber definitely was one of the best performances at Ozzfest. I dare say they were more exciting than Ozzy, and I am a huge Ozzy fan. So, that is a real accomplishment. Make sure to catch CC live, you won't regret it.
Review of Ozzfest
I, wrote a review just for Coal Chamber seperately, so I could go more in depth , being that this is the Coal Chamber web page. But, I also wanted to share my opinion of the show overall. I was one of the first few people in the venue, so I went to grab a spot right in front of the side stage. Within the first 10 minutes I was there, I got to meet the singer for Downset and Rayna (you better already know who she is). That was cool. Vision of Disorder came on first and put on a great show to open up the festival. After them was my favorite band of all: DRAIN S.T.H! I was righ in front of the stage, dead center or that. Me and my friend were there with our Drain shirts cheering them on, I screamed louder than anyone. It was a thrill to have Maria Sjoholm (singer) point at me from on stage while singing the words "you know, you know". After that, I got to meet all off Drain but the singer. They signed a Drain postcard for me and even said they recognized me from the crowd, because of my Drain shirt and my cheering. That was amazing. I also met Dino Cazares of Fear Factory at that time. I showed him my FF shirt and told him I saw them back in '95. He signed my ticket and shook my hand, asking if I would be there for their performance. Coal Chamber was next and they kicked my ass hard. From there, I went to the main stage to see Machine head and Fear Factory. They were awesome, but after the side stage, I was dissappointed at how impersonal the main stage was. After FF, I was back at the side stage for Drain again. I took the same place, front and center for the performance. It was cool. They even closed with "Ace of Spades". After that I got to meet all of Drain. I was honored when the bassist came up to me and my friend, grabbed our hand and told us how cool we were cheering the on out there. The singer also came up to us, shook my hand, and told us that she had been wanting to meet us. I almost flipped out from the excitement. Coal Chamber then came on and rocked again, taking time afterward to give autographs to each and every person who wanted one. By then, I had unfortunately missed Type O Negative. That was a shame. So, I headed to see Pantera on the main stage. Fucking ripped hard. They were great. Ozzy was on next. He was good, but I was kinda let down because he wan't nearly as good as he was last time I saw him. Black Sabbath was a nice treat. I wish I hadn't been so worn out by then or I would have gotten more into it. So, it was a great day. I'd have to say ther best three bands were Drain STH (Best), Coal Chamber (second best), and Fear Factory (third best). This was definitely the best day of my entire life.