I decided to go to Ozzfest early last week, primarily to see VR. Of course there were no pit tickets available, so 
I went to buy through a broker. No point in going to a concert to be in the back! I saw something advertised as 
"Party Like A Rock Star" (PLARS) ticket and backstage pass. None of the broker websites or Ticketmaster 
had any information about what this entailed, so I found the Ozzfest website. The PLARS package included a 
close ticket (i.e. pit or first few rows); a backstage tour; access to a VIP area; special viewing platform for the 
second stage; and an Ozzfest escort (I had visions of a dog herding sheep). I thought it sounded pretty cool, 
but I wanted to do a little more research, so I joined the message board to see if anyone had done it and 
what it was like. There was a huge fued going on betwee Iron Maiden fans and Black Sabbath fans over
 something that happened at one of the shows in CA. The message board didn't really have archives, so 
I didn't get much information about the PLARS package, but everyone on the message board was really 
down on VR.
I mean really, really down - as in saying that VR ruined Ozzfest, they were one of the Worst bands 
ever on Ozzfest, VR was good for a piss break. My favorite was the theme that "VR is a blues band 
and don't belong at a metal show" - what the hell? Yeah, VR has a blues flavor, but these people 
have no concept of what the blues are. Some of my friends who are blues fans had a good laugh 
over that. Anyway the complaints tended to fall into one of three categories:
1. People who would rather have seen Iron Maiden; 
2. Boys insecure in their sexuality - Scott Weiland belongs in a boy band because he is a 
"homo" - I didn't know people still used that word except as a joke; and 
3. People with a superiority complex - we are better than you because we are pure
 metal fans and don't listen to bands that are played on the radio - similar to people 
I ran into when grunge was big. ("You are just SO main-stream" with optional eye-roll)
I didn't jump into the fray to defend VR because I don't really care what these people 
think and arguing with them would imply, not only that I care what they think, but that these 
people have some relevance in my life. 
Also, most of the posters seemed totally irrational, incapable of typing even the simplest of 
messages with proper spelling and anything that resembles grammer, and every alternate 
word was "fuck." I am not an English teacher, or that good of a speller, but some of these 
posts were just unbelievable. People seemed to be overwrought because of the Iron Maiden/Ozzy 
spat.
Anyway, I shelled out big bucks for the PLARS package because I thought it sounded kind of neat 
and because the VIP area would be air-conditioned. It is still like 100 degrees down here and, 
since I am not familiar with a lot of the bands, it would be nice to watch them out of the heat, 
but still get into the pit for VR and Black Sabbath. By and large, the whole Ozzfest experience, 
including the stuff that came with the PLARS package, was an expensive waste. As an aside - it 
was in the high 90s with high humidity and there was no free water - no drinking fountains, and a 
cup of ice was $1.00 - talk about greed! There is a parking garage at the Woodlands, but it costs 
money and has to be bought before the show - I wound up getting one on eBay. I didn't want to have to 
mess with finding parking. No purses, backpacks, cameras, etc. were allowed in the show. I got sent
 to about 20 different people trying to find out where I could go for the PLARS stuff. I came in at the 
complete opposite end of where the VIP area was, actually really close to the 2nd stage. I finally got 
to the VIP area, which is just a bar, an air-conditioned bar, but still paying a fortune for food and booze.
 The 2nd stage viewing area wasn't set up, and the VIP gate was closed, so if I wanted to see any of 
those bands, I would have had to walk completely to the other side of the venue and stand in the heat 
with everyone else. Not knowing any of the bands didn't exactly make that attractive, so I just hung 
out at the bar. One of the women I talked to said that the backstage tour was really neat (she had 
done it the preceding year), so I bought a camera. The backstage tour was a huge joke - there were 
3 tours, at 1, 2, and 3. Basically they walked us to the sound board - VR had a completely separate 
set up that was about 2x the size of the rest of the tour's sound board. Then we got to stand onstage 
(they took a picture) and that was it. I should have just bought a pit ticket and shown up around 3 or 
so instead of 11. Oh, we also got a little baggie with picks from all the bands - woo-hoo...I can't find 
the picture on the Ozzfest site, or I would send you the link. BTW, there isn't jack on the Ozzfest site
 about VR - they still need to update it I guess.
Anyway, they started letting people in at 3:30, so around then I went and secured my place in the front 
of the pit on Slash's side. I shouldn't have worried. There wasn't much of a pit until the band before VR 
played (Mudvayne). VR was scheduled to come onstage at 8:05 and they came onstage pretty close to
 that. The shows were running early, but VR waited to come out until it had gotten dark. I guess a perk 
of being famous. Some of the VR crew brought spray cans for the security to spray the audience with 
water. They were like the cans that people use to apply pesticides to their yards. I thought that was nice, 
especially since the venue didn't supply any free water. They didn't wind up spraying too much, but I, and 
some other people, got them to give me water - either sprayed into mouth or cup.
Despite all the negativity on the Ozzfest message boards, people in the pit were pretty psyched up about 
VR. The pit at the venue is small, basically the first few rows, so there was no moshing to speak of. It is 
still about 6 feet or so from the stage to the front of the pit, so I got to gloat to some of my fellow pit 
dwellers about being closer than that to Slash at other shows. I don't remember the whole set list -
 they started out with Sucker Train Blues and Do It for the Kids. They did a lot of Contraband, 
but not Loving the Alien, You Got No Right. They did Come On, Come In also. There were a 
couple of others that I don't think they did, but I don't remember exactly. They didn't cover 
Bodies, It's So Easy, or Sex Type Thing. They did Dead and Bloated and Mr. Brownstone.
 Maybe they did Dead and Bloated because it is a heavier song...
There were cameras filming for VR and Black Sabbath. One of the cameras was near me, so 
Slash and Duff both played to it a lot. None of them interacted with the audience much compared 
to the other bands. Dave didn't hardly move from his side of the stage - I don't even remember seeing 
him. Scott was all over the stage. Duff flipped out a coupld of picks. I didn't see Slash throw out any -
 this is the 8th time I've seen Slash, 6th from the front of the pit, and I've never managed to get a pick.
 I even wore a low cut shirt. I think I completely missed my chance when I didn't get one while he was 
with Snakepit. Slash seemed completely into his playing - oblivious to what was going on. After 
every song, he turned and walked away from the stage to change guitars, or get a cigarette, drink etc. 
He wore jeans and a "got hos?" shirt. He had a bunch of silver jewelry on and a watch (!). I've 
never seen a performer wearing a watch onstage - it was on his left arm, so I couldn't really see it, but 
it looked like one of those with the little clocks that tell time in other parts of the world. It was a good 
show, but the guys didn't seem like they were having fun. None of them looked happy - it makes me 
wonder if some of the criticism about VR not belonging at Ozzfest has gotten to them.
Black Sabbath played after VR and by the time they finished it was pouring down rain. Torrential 
rain coming down in sheets. Because Houston is basically a swamp, the streets flood really easily, so 
driving home was unpleasant - I was glad I was sober...
Tina