Ozzy vs. Maiden: Eggs Are Thrown!
It’s a clash of the titans as the old men of British metal, Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne, get down and dirty on the American leg of Ozzfest. A number of Ozzy fans decided to show their metal allegiance by hurling eggs at penultimate act Iron Maiden. Much shouting, egg-throwing and conspiracy-theorising later and the picture is still somewhat clouded…
Iron Maiden's final Ozzfest 2005 performance was likely to be their final Ozzfest performance full stop. As thousands of heavy metal fans filled Devore, California's Hyundai Pavilion of Glen Helen on Saturday (August 20) they witnessed a bizarre episode which began with a chant over the venue’s public address system of “Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy” prior to Maiden’s set.
According to The Orange County Register, the rallying cry seemed to incite the crowd to pelt Iron Maiden with eggs, bottle caps and ice during their opening number ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’. Frontman Bruce Dickinson consequently urged audience members to break the arms of the egg-throwers. Which probably didn’t help much.
During the second song, ‘The Trooper’, reports suggest that when Dickinson emerged onstage waving the British flag – something of a Maiden tradition – he was greeted by a man brandishing an American flag and wearing a shirt saying "Don't fuck with Ozzy" before being removed by Maiden security.
The Iron Maiden set was continually troubled by sound problems throughout while bootleg recordings clearly taped Dickinson accusing the organisers of deliberately cutting the band's power. He also suggested that, due to the stringency of site security, the smuggling in of eggs must have been an ‘insider job’. Dickinson also continued to blast Osbourne, saying fans would never see his band featured, "In a reality show."
While the band persevered and completed their set, they were followed onstage by an address from Queen of Metal, wife of Ozzy and Asda advertising tool, Sharon Osbourne. She told the audience that, while she, "Absolutely loved [the rest of] Iron Maiden and their crew," Dickinson was "A pr*ck and had disrespected Ozzfest since they began their stint with the tour."
Her words were met with incessant booing, and she walked off the stage. The night ended with a set from Black Sabbath. Iron Maiden will now leave the tour as originally planned with hair-rock jukebox Velvet Revolver joining the tour for its last seven dates.
On Sunday evening, the official Ozzfest site said, "Iron Maiden were chosen for the Ozzfest tour because the Ozzfest committee felt they were a good band… From day one, Bruce Dickinson started berating Ozzy and belittling the Ozzfest audience…
"Out of 200-plus bands over the last 10 years, he has been the only person who hasn't had the Ozzfest spirit. He thought he was at a battle of the bands, always making other comments about the other artists.
“The bands of Ozzfest don't even look at Ozzfest as touring, but as its heavy metal summer camp. Bruce is in fact a jealous pr*ck and very envious. None of his tirades were directed at Sabbath, only Ozzy. Steve Harris [Maiden's bassist] personally came to Ozzy in San Bernardino and apologised for Bruce's behaviour this summer, stating that he and the rest of the band were 'embarrassed' by their own singer."
A statement from Iron Maiden retorted, "Iron Maiden wish to thank all the 45,000 metal fans at Ozzfest in San Bernardino on Saturday night for sticking with us and giving us such a great response at the end of a difficult set. It was obvious to all there that we had a 'series of unfortunate events' throughout.
“These made it difficult for us to keep our momentum but your incredible support certainly helped us get through it. We guess it all adds up to a pretty memorable gig though. You fans pay very good money to be there and deserve to get a full and unhindered performance from all the bands. This was not the case last night."
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