And with each band, the level of intensity was renewed. With only 20 minutes on stage, the bands were able to hit their peaks, but not get tired at all, even in the blistering Texas heat. The amazing part of the whole second stage scene was the hardcore audience who stood in the sun dancing and cheering for each new band like they were the first band they’d watched. Somehow these fans, pressed together on an asphalt lot, withstood everything to welcome all the bands on the tour for an astonishing 12 hours, including main stage.

Second Stage Standouts:The second stage held some quality bands looking for a following or at least a breakthrough into the limelight. While some missed the mark and provided nothing overly amazing, others grasped the moments on stage to set the audience alive in a fury of moshing and screaming. Our first band to truly stand out was:

Soilwork: Coming all the way from Sweden, Soilwork brought heavy riffs with melodic undertones provided by their keyboard player. With a vocalist that brought a growl from the deepest part of his body, the band provided the first set of the day that put a gap between their talent level and the bands that played before them.

Arch Enemy: The key word for this band was tight. The guitarists worked in perfect unison while the drums and bass gave a low end assault that was only trumped by the low-pitched growl of vocalist Angela Gossow. While it was a nice thing to see a woman in a band on this tour, the band brought more ferocity to their sound than anyone else on the second stage. The melodic death metal created by this band sent the audience wild. The sound of the band was unrelenting to say the least, as the set felt more like an assault by time the last chord was struck.

Mastodon: Mastodon was the second stage band of the day. Looking more like a group of homeless guys than one of the strongest domestic metal act on the tour, Mastodon brought out a sound that set the already burning day on fire. Vocalist/bassist Troy Saunders growled his way through a set that made the American boys proud.

Rob Zombie: While Rob Zombie was on the second stage, he drew as well as any of the main stage band. Before Zombie hit the stage, the audience grew and the hordes chanted “Zombie! Zombie!” as the backdrop of 70’s style nude photos adorned the stage. As the chants filled the air, an opening track filled the air and Rob Zombie hit the stage.

Now flanked by guitarist Johnny 5, formerly of Marilyn Manson, Zombie brought his solo material and White Zombie material to the overheated audience.

Opening with Superbeast Zombie brought the rock from note one. In a show of gratitude, the audience found the last shreds of energy in their burnt, exhausted bodies and gave Zombie and company a response to rival any band on the tour.

Main Stage: After a morning and afternoon at the Second Stage, it was a welcome relief to find the shaded comforts of the Main Stage waiting. With a solid lineup of metal veterans waiting in the wings to deliver the audience a helping of rock that would make the entire day something to remember for years to come. First up was:

In Flames: Another Swedish band that schooled the domestic audience on the intensity and power that danish metal has been cooking up for years. It was a welcome sight to see so many European metal bands in one place showing that metal is a worldwide lifestyle.

Songs like Pinball Map and My Sweet Shadow sent the now replenished audience into a moshing frenzy. Though they only played for a mere 20 minutes, this band kicked the main stage off right. Hardcore rhythms, blazing leads and an intense vocalist. They were everything you could ask for from a metal band.

Black Label Society: With Ozzy doing his stint with Black Sabbath on this year’s Ozzfest, guitarist Zakk Wylde brought his Black Label Society on the road.

Wylde and company started the set off with some blazing solos before kicking into Stoned & Drunk, which set the rock n’ roll party into full swing. While Wylde brings the metalic edge, the Black Label Society is more good old dirty rock n’ roll than metal. The solos flew, the riffs crunched and the band stayed tight.

The only thing this set left me asking was, when is Black Label Society coming to town for a full headlining set.

Shadows Fall: For me, one of the most exciting metal bands to come out of the woodwork in the past few years is Shadows Fall. The band is super tight, their riffs are solid and complex and vocalist Brian Fair holds nothing back.

The band tore through their set with 40 minutes of pure ferocious metal. Fair darted around the stage getting the audience involved in the fun while guitarists Matt Bachund and Jonathan Donais dueled leads back and forth.

Shadows Fall showed why they have come from the Second Stage all the way to the main stage in just a few short years. They’ve come into their own and brought the rock.

Mudvayne: While I was preparing for this show, I was thinking of as many ways to use KISS’s failure of losing their makeup into a joke about Mudvayne as I could. Figured I could get a few cheap laughs, but Mudvayne’s set was nothing to joke about. In fact, losing the makeup gimmick was probably the best move they’ve ever made.

Having originally seen Mudvayne open for Kittie around 5 years ago, I knew what to expect from their sets, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the insanity remain after the appearance changed. While vocalist Chad Gray was no longer keeping time by beating the microphone against his head, he was patrolling the stage with the same demented look in his eyes as he had done before.

Bassist Ryan Martinie bounced around going wild for the entire set bringing a welcomed extra push of energy to this show. With the longest time slot of the day to that point, Mudvayne delivered 50 minutes of intense, solid metal.

Velvet Revolver: Velvet Revolver is the band that was given the task of filling the shoes left by Iron Maiden after they did their leg of the tour. Those were some big shoes to fill and while rock icons like Slash and Scott Weiland have their talents, they were shoes no one could fill. That said, Velvet Revolver put on a hell of a show.

Being a nice change of pace from hardcore metal to flamboyant rock gave Velvet Revolver the edge it needed to keep the audiences energy up for the coming Black Sabbath set.

Opening the set with bassist Duff McKagan at the head of the stage playing the intro to Suckertrain, the band quickly took the stage to kick the set off with some blazing guitars. Then, Weiland took the stage in a suit, sans jacket, and police hat on to bring the vocals.

Not wanting to leave old fans without something to enjoy, the members selected a few songs from their old bands, kicking out STP’s Dead and Bloated and GnR’s Mr. Brownstone, which sent the audience into a dancing madness. Current singles from the band like Fall to Pieces slowed the mood down and gave a few a chance to hold a lighter in the air while gathering their breath for the upcoming set from…

Black Sabbath: I’ll be the first to say I wasn’t overly thrilled with seeing Black Sabbath again. With Ozzy having missed a few dates of the tour due to exhaustion, I figured it would be 70 minutes of going through the motions with the same setlist that’s been on the Sabbath tours for years.

Well, I was dead wrong about the energy. Ozzy looks like the few days off did him well. In fact, it looks as if his latest retirement pleas may go unredeemed. Sure, Ozzy will never be able to do back to back, but with a day or two off between each show, it appears the old man can still bring the audience all the magic of old…and a few buckets of water.

As the set rolled on, the skies opened and dumped a welcome downpour of rain upon the audience on the lawn. As the rain fell, the audience continued to rock along now replenished.

As always, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi were solid in their recreations of these nuggets of heavy rock past. NIB, Iron Man and Paranoid sent the children into a dancing fit and their parents into their fondest memories. Let’s hope for everyone’s sake that Ozzy keeps on the road and his festival lives on for a long time.