
Ozzfest will return this year in a much different form than in the past, with namesake Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica topping the bill for a one-day only stadium show in Texas.
The new, downsized heavy metal festival is set to take place Aug. 9 in Frisco, TX, a suburb of Dallas, at 20,500-seat Pizza Hut Park, home of Major League Soccer's FC Dallas club. In keeping with the event's history, the concert will feature bands playing concurrently on three stages.
Other names confirmed by organizers include System of a Down's Serj Tankian, Hellyeah, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Cavalera Conspiracy, Shadows Fall, Apocalyptica and In This Moment. Second stage acts include Sevendust, Devildriver, Kingdom of Sorrow, Soilent Green, Witchcraft and Goatwhore, while the third stage will put the spotlight on local acts, featuring Texas outfits The Sword, Drowning Pool and Rigor Mortis.
Tickets for the concert go on sale May 31. For up-to-the-minute details, consult the event's official website.
"Ozzy just finished an 11-month world tour so I think he deserves a summer off," Osbourne's wife (and Ozzfest's founder), Sharon, said in a press statement about the festival's switch to a one-day format. "We're going to be a stadium destination festival for now--we have gone past doing the sheds every summer. We've given everyone else the blueprint and we have to keep evolving Ozzfest."
Osbourne recently completed a major arena trek with Rob Zombie, playing before crowds in 40 cities in North America alone.
Last year, Osbourne led a lineup of metal acts on a 24-city trek in his return to a headlining position on the tour he created. In an unprecedented move, organizers gave away more than a half million free tickets to the concerts in an effort to "redefine a concert industry marred by rising ticket prices," according to a press release.
"Ozzy has great relationships with all of the bands that have played Ozzfest," added Sharon Osbourne. "We're the only real festival for harder edge bands and these artists have been very loyal to us--there is lots of love on this line-up."