Ozzfest ’97: A Riotous Legacy
When a full fledged riot breaks out at an Ozzy Osbourne concert, you tend to think this might be national or at least regional news. And yeah, I’m sure it made the eleven o’clock TV report, probably appeared in the papers the next morning. But nobody I ask the following day heard anything about this, be it my folks down in North Carolina or coworkers here in C-Bus. I guess we’ve gotten this jaded to spectacle that nothing short of a bomb threat would break into the public consciousness. Then again, some reports allege this is exactly what happened.
The date is June 17, 1997 and the eagerly anticipated Ozzfest is rolling into town. Though only third to last, right before the man this tour is named after, and then a newly reformed original lineup of Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson has actually been more of an item in the days leading up to the event, with Christian picketers protesting his arrival for weeks. They’re still holding signs and shouting slogans about the self-proclaimed Antichrist Superstar as we’re pulling into that long lane leading back into Polaris Amphitheater.
A handful of us leave from our house in two separate cars, and throughout the day we will randomly acquire a much larger mob out on the lawn, a bunch of people we collectively know. Among these figures would be former classmate Jon Weirick, whom I haven’t seen in some four years, as he joined the…
