After getting to Shoreline at the un-metal hour of 8:45am, I picked up my press credentials and then the day began
15 minutes after the posted time of 9:20am.  The first band of the day, It Dies Today, was not there for their 9:20am
set, so Arch Enemy kicked off the day at 9:35am.  Trivium took the stage next, followed by the highlight of the
morning, The Black Dahlia Murder.  3 songs into their set, their backdrop is taken down and they turn the stage
over to It Dies Today!  I was so looking forward to a full The Black Dahlia Murder set, but that was nice of
them to allow It Dies Today to get in 3 songs for all those who came to see them.  The Haunted took the stage
next, and they were great!  Bury Your Dead was supposed to play next, but I guess they were also late arriving,
so Wicked Wisdom took the next spot.  Wicked Wisdom is god-awful, and thankfully, after the obligatory three
songs in the photo pit (I only stayed for two), I got a chance to quickly wander away from the photo herd and go to
my car to get my hat, as the sun was coming out.  I wonder which hard-working band did NOT get a chance to be
on Ozzfest so Will Smith could buy his wife a spot on the tour?!  After that travesty, Bury Your Dead came out
and brought Ozzfest back to hardcore reality!  As the only hardcore band on Ozzfest, they were perfect for turning
a set where no one moshed (Wicked Wisdom) into a set where the mosh pit went ballistic!  Gizmachi was up next,
and I completely missed them (photos and all) and disappeared from the herd to do my As I Lay Dying interview. 
I interviewed Jordan for about 15 minutes, then made my way back to the photo pit in time for Soilwork to destroy
what was left of the 2nd stage!  To think that we still haven't seen sets from As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage,
and Mastodon yet! 

With the rotating lineup complete, A Dozen Furies was up next.  This band totally got hooked up for winning that
Battle For Ozzfest show that I never watched.  I mean, they don't even have to rotate and play at 9:20 in the morning! 
Well, before their set even started, my stomach was telling me to skip the photo pit and feed it, so I disappeared into
the crowd and bought some much needed food, and got my first glimpse of all the booths and vendors.  I figured since
I missed the photo pit for A Dozen Furies, and didn't want to miss any other photo opportunities, I would use this
time to visit my friends at the Jagermeister booth. 

Back in photo action just in time for Mastodon, the afternoon's #1 highlight to see... this band is amazing; there is
simply no other way to put it!  Mastodon would be a tough act to follow, but As I Lay Dying held their own and
the mosh-friendly crowd continued to beat each other senseless for another 30 minutes!  Killswitch Engage hit the
stage next for a 40 minute set, followed by the afternoon closer, Rob Zombie.  Aside from the three songs I saw
from the photo pit, I did not see anymore of Zombie's set, as did none of the photographers.  The herd got corralled
to the main stage where they waited anxiously for In Flames, while I broke away from the pack to go find my
afternoon interviews of Mastodon and Bury Your Dead.  Mastodon was first, and Brann Dailor was good enough
to give me 10 minutes of his time to answer my thought-provoking questions (not really), after which I went to Bury
Your Dead's bus to get turned away because their tour manager was nowhere to be found.  I was asked to come
back in the evening, after Iron Maiden, and agreed, since I had no plans to watch Black Sabbath.  Sacrilege, you
say?  Well, with all the negative news about Ozzy's voice, I just as well would like to keep my good memories of
Sabbath from the past two Ozzfests rather than muddy them up with Ozzy's strained vocals of this summer.

Rob Zombie's set was coming to a close, so I quickly ran over to the main stage and rejoined the herd just in time for
the opening sounds of In Flames.  The main stage photo area at Shoreline is simply amazing.  The stage is only like
3-feet high, so I didn't have to look up for photos, as with the 5-foot high second stage.  Plus, we were literally at the
foot of the stage, so getting pictures even with my decent digital camera was great!  Oh, and just as I did the last time
I was in the photo pit at Shoreline a long time ago (Kid Rock / Aerosmith), I was close enough to make eye contact
and ask and be handed guitar picks from the bands!  In Flames played to a sparse crowd, but they sounded great,
and I wish for their sake, they had a better main stage timeslot, but I guess Black Label Society can't be the first
band scapegoat every year!  By the time Black Label Society did go on, the seats were still kind of empty, but filling
in nicely.  Even with my custom-fitted earplugs, this band was loud as f*ck!  I got great photos and a guitar pick (of
course!). 

After our three songs in the very front, we get herded back to the corral, which is located at the back of the 100
section.  This was instead of taking us to the backstage area set aside for the photographers, so at least we can
watch the show from here if we want to.  By this time, I got a call from a friend who came only to see In Flames,
and he was leaving... but before he left, I escaped the herd and met him to grab his working pass.  Finally, I would
be able to break away from the herd and there was nothing they could do about it hahah!  Reluctantly, the Shoreline
photo wranglers allowed me to leave, although I did have to leave my camera with them.  With working pass in hand,
I made a beeline for the main stage backstage area to see if anything was happening back there.  I mean, just a few
years ago, my friend who was in the patio area after I had just left got to see Ozzy Osbourne jogging around the patio
tables and the whole backstage area.  I wasn't really expecting to see that, but I really wanted to meet Bruce
Dickinson.  I have an Iron Maiden poster framed on my wall circa 1985 and Bruce was the only signature I needed
on it.  Sure enough, Iron Maiden's dressing room was within striking distance of the patio tables backstage, so I
waited... Steve Harris is milling about, Adrian Smith and Jannick Gers walk by... and finally, out comes Bruce! 
He seems ready to just walk by me, but I stop him and get my poster signed!  Time for a picture, right?  HA!  Well,
those Shoreline photo wranglers really got me good this time, because now I did not have my camera on me, and
could not take a picture with the legendary Iron Maiden.  I really have no idea why I couldn't keep my camera with
me; it's not like I was going to take a picture of some top-secret whatever backstage, or find Ozzy in a compromising
position in which the tabloids would buy my picture and make me rich LOL.  This was f*cking Iron Maiden standing
right directly in front of me, and there was absolutely nothing I could do (note to self: bring disposable camera next
year. Leave in pocket for situation as such).  Well, at least I got my poster signed!

Back to the herd in time for Shadow's Fall, we are once again taken down to the photo pit, where I get another three
songs of great pictures (and a guitar pick!).  I saw Brian, Matt, Jon, and the rest of the band at the Jagermeister
tent when I visited earlier, and they told me to wait until they were on-stage, and then they would give me a pick!  They
played for a really good crowd, and I think this was the first band of the main stage that had people standing in front on
the barricade (can't remember, maybe they were up there for BLS too...).  Shadow's Fall had a killer set, and I'm
sure the people up in the lawn were moshing; there was no such action happening down here in the seats.  About
halfway through Shadow's Fall set, I disappeared once again to the backstage area, and just wandered about.  This
is always what I like to do, is just wander about, because I end up seeing so many people that I know, like I ran into
my friendErnie C. (Body Count)!  After settling down with this crew for a bit, duty called and Mudvayne was to hit
the stage soon, so I made my way back to the photo corral, and we were taken to the photo pit, for what would be my
last hurrah down here.  I was not approved to shoot Iron Maiden (how the hell does one get this approval?!), and
so Mudvayne came on and we ended up shooting FOUR songs, because the photo wranglers didn't realize that
Mudvayne combined song #3 and #4 without breaking in-between!  I was not able to get a Mudvayne guitar pick
because the guitar player never looked in the direction of the photo pit!

Time to take my camera to my car, because Shoreline rules state that we can't have our cameras in side the venue. 
Again, I really have no idea why I couldn't keep my camera with me, but I wasn't going to leave it in the Shoreline
office because I didn't know when I would be going back in that general direction, as the plan was to watch Iron
Maiden, and then retreat to the second stage bus area and hang out with whetever bands were hanging out there. 
After going to my car, and using my working pass, I wandered back in the seats and sat down in 2nd row front and
center with another friend of mine, who always has choice seats for Ozzfest.  Iron Maiden was amazing, playing
songs from the first four albums, but Bruce Dickinson needs to stop whining about corporate America and stop
whining about how the people in the front don't deserve their tickets and that they should get with the program or let
a real fan sit there.... etc, etc.  Well, Bruce, it is you and your band that made the decision to play one of the most
corporate whore tours of the summer, a tour where many bands pay-to-play, where the 2nd stage is sponsored by
the corporation of Hot Topic, where corporate FYE and Jagermeister dominate the 2nd stage vendor area, and
where even the Ozzfest summer sampler CD is probably a pay-for-to-be-included (or else As I Lay Dying,
Shadow's Fall, Mudvayne, Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Black Label Society, and Mastodon wouldn't
have been left off).  Hopefully, Iron Maiden doesn't leave America off of their touring list for the future, and will
play general admission venues as Bruce was constantly stating that he wanted.

At the end of Iron Maiden's set, I managed to catch one of Steve Harris' wristbands, I thought I caught one of
Nicko's wristbands (but I didn't), and I watched in horror as the guitar tech took all of Dave Murray's guitar picks
and put them in his pocket instead of throw out a few to the front rows (the band themselves didn't throw out any). 
Since I wasn't going to stay for Sabbath, I decided to go backstage and see if I could find any swag back there as
Iron Maiden's techs broke down their set props.  The techs weren't as bad as I thought, and although I never got a
Dave Murray pick, I managed to get an Adrian Smith pick, a setlist, and a pair of drumsticks!

With swag in hand, I made my way back to my car to get my camera and went over to the 2nd stage bus area to go
hang out.  Members of Mastodon, Rob Zombie (Blasko), The Black Dahlia Murder, As I Lay Dying, It Dies
Today, Bury Your Dead, Killswitch Engage, and Trivium were all hanging out, and the highlight of the night was
seeing the motorcycle that Brian (TDBM) was riding all day long catch fire and burn to a crisp!  It was so funny that
Brian played dead next to the torched bike and I snapped a picture of it!  With Black Sabbath ending around 10:35,
I made my way back to the mainstage backstage area one last time, just for the sake of doing it.  Well, I ran into Ernie
C. (Body Count) again backstage, who promptly gives me two Tony Iommi picks!   

What a loooonnnggg day it was, as Ozzfest always is, and I was so tempted to drive to Sacramento on Monday to do
it all again (sans photo pass)... but I came to my senses and didn't go -- Marysville (Sacramento) gets to be like 105
degrees in the sun, and there is NO shade at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre! 

- Alan Ralph