Yesterday was the first day of the Download Paris 2018. It's actually pretty far out of Paris but quite easy to get to thanks to an uncharacteristically efficient organisation.
A few interesting bands today including Vanderberg's Moonkings, Converge and Ghost but I didn't get to see any of them as I got to the very front of the Main Stage Area in anticipation of tonight's headliner: Ozzy.
First, Opeth, whose records I love and were great last time I saw them in a smaller venue.
However on a huge stage, in an open air setting, in daylight... well, they were quite boring. The intricacies of their music is lost on a drunken festival crowd and only during the brutal "death metal" passages did their set take off. Their affable demeanour also did nothing to compensate their absolute lack of stagecraft.
Right after that was Ghost, on the Second Main Stage and they sounded pretty good from afar... I never made it there so as not to lose my spot but you could smell the pyro from where I was and the crowd looked really into it. However, before the last notes hit, they all ran over to the Main Stage 1 to wait for the star of the day.
He came in at 21h45 sharp, after a lengthy video intro and the famous Opus Dei from Carmina Burana.
Last time I saw him was for Black Sabbath's supposed last show a year and a half ago, and Ozyy solo is a different deal: less doom, more fun.
Ozzy is always a good time, it's like watching a child playing: endearing and a little embarrassing at times. He was sporting a generous pot belly that hung out of his shirt quite a few times during the set, but there is not an ounce of self-consciousness in this guy. Hell, there is not an ounce of consciousness in this guy. But his enthusiasm is infectious.
Zakk Wylde is awesome, I don't care what anyone says. Sure, he loves his pinch harmonics and he probably smells like he's been sleeping in a dumpster but what a guitarist!
The setlist was pretty good, and the show was great, if little short: between the intro, the solos and the stage banter ("I still can't fucking hear you!") Ozzy was probably onstage singing for an hour. He's also stuck behind his huge prompters most of the time. But I'm not complaining: if he was off key then it wasn't noticeable from where I was.
What was noticeable however was how downtuned everything was, to accommodate our man's voice. Zakk's riffs were often a muddy, bass-y mess: the opening riff to Fairies Wear Boots, which has those pretty chiming notes, was almost unrecognisable.
Small complaint: everyone left the show exhausted and happy from having witnessed a great set by a legend. There aren't many left.
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