After four successful years, Ozzfest entered the millennium stronger than ever. Ozzfest 2000 featured a mix of iconic and burgeoning metal acts, with bands like Pantera and Soulfly playing alongside newer groups like Disturbed and Black Label Society. From Florida to California, fans got a taste of the music that would rock the mainstream for years. While Queens of the Stone Age, P.O.D., Incubus, Taproot, and Kittie would continue their success, a lot of the second stage would not find such a fortunate fate. Let’s pull a few off the list and see what went wrong.
The Deadlights
We’ll kick off this list with a group that unfortunately doesn’t have a happy ending: The Deadlights. Formed in 1998, the majority of their success came in 2000. During that year, they released their self-titled album and played at Ozzfest. Unfortunately, The Deadlights were dropped by their label and broke up shortly after. Vocalist Duke Collins would go on to play bass in Droid but sadly passed away in 2015. Jerry Montano would move forward as bassist of Nothingface before their first break up, and then in Hellyeah, of which he’d be kicked out after their first album released.
Primer 55
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkpoEDRycE[/youtube]
Founding member Bobby Burns was another bassist who went on to bigger and better bands, playing with Soulfly for seven years. Prior to that, he started Primer 55 that released back to back records between 2000 and 2001. After a hiatus in 2003, Burns revived the band in 2007 in hopes of putting out a third album later that year. Prior to completion, he fired all of the band members, played acoustic shows for a small time, and finally, put the band back on hiatus in 2015.
Reveille
Though formed in 1993, Reveille did not find commercial success until the release of their first studio album, Laced, in 1999. After successful shows on Warped Tour ’99, Woodstock ’99, and Ozzfest, they released their follow-up Bleed The Sky in 2001 and broke up in 2003.
Shuvel
This bands high point came with their first album Set It Off in 2000. Shuvel released a second in 2009 and disbanded officially in 2011. Drummer Tre Stafford is now in Adelitas Way.
Pitchshifter
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgZOCZSWg3M[/youtube]
The only band on this list that still might make a comeback. Formed in 1989, the band released six studio albums between 1991-2002. If there’s anything the original Mortal Kombat movies got right, it was the music. Pitchshifter’s song “Genius” from www.pitchshifter.com appeared on the official movie soundtrack for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and was the backing for the Sonya Blade/Melina fight in the film. This was their best-selling album, seeing a few of the tracks used in various video games and landing them a spot on Ozzfest 2000. Between 2003-2006, Pitchshifter played a few tours, released an EP, a video album, and a two disc album featuring a live performance and remixes of a dozen songs. They've been relatively quiet since, but in June, 2016, Pitchshifter sent out a tweet asking if anyone was interested in seeing them play shows in the UK during February 2018.
Ozzfest 2000’s lineup was solid to say the least. Although the bands above may not have found the same enduring success as their main stage peers like Godsmack or Static-X, they still added substance to an already impressive card. The tour would continue on, delivering a mix of the day’s mainstream rock acts alongside groups that are still considered iconic decades later. Being able to see Ozzy, Dimebag, Zakk Wylde, and Max Cavalera all in the same show is amazing; Ozzfest would only continue to deliver tours unable to be overlooked, featuring the likes of Lamb of God, Cradle of Filth, Mastodon, and more.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRs5gFeVChk[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN7RKQxSBDM[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgodC6seiDQ[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_YCg6Tna4[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlbIhtbEKhk[/youtube]
