Oh my friggin' god!
- Thread starter Celestial-Todd
- Start date
Mark
Not blessed, or merciful
Grabbed my copy of the show today (let me know if you want a copy of the torrent file...). I only listened to the rants, and the audience were definitely on Maiden's side. Sharon got her nuts torn off 
Blitzkrieg
Master Exploder
Spiff
I have the power
More from Zakk:
RockConfidential.com: Is the whole thing with IRON MAIDEN overblown or is it for real? How did all the drama start?
Zakk Wylde: "This is fact and this is reality. It's not the guys in MAIDEN and their crew. They're a beautiful bunch of guys. Bruce Dickinson every night would be saying 'Ozzy sucks,' 'Ozzfest blows,' 'Corporate America sucks,' 'America sucks,' and all this other crap. He was bagging on America and bagging on Ozz. Ozzy's the godfather of my son. It wasn't like Bruce said those things one night. This happened every night on the 'fest. If you got signed by George Steinbrenner to play for the Yankees and every day you say, 'Steinbrenner sucks,' 'Yankee Stadium blows,' 'I can't stand playing for this team it sucks ass,' then why are you playing for the Yankees? Shut your fuckin' pie hole. All he had to do was go up there, play for an hour, whoop some ass and go home. The only thing Ozzy's ever done was given MAIDEN a stage to come over and play to the biggest audience in the summer. Ozzy would give you the shirt off his back. He'd never do a bad thing to anybody. Sharon didn't like him talking about her husband like that and talking about Ozzfest like that. It's just not kosher. The bottom line is Bruce was being a wad! You act like a cunt, you get treated like a cunt! That's what happened. He's definitely not one of the guys. Everybody in their band and crew are cool. I love MAIDEN but he's talking about the godfather of my son, he's bagging America and all the troops are fighting overseas defending our way of life and freedom and fighting terrorism. This dickwad's taking American money and then he's gonna go home. At the same time he thinks he can badmouth America. It's not cool. He got pelted with a batch of eggs and they turned the power off on him! Go home!"
RockConfidential.com: Is the whole thing with IRON MAIDEN overblown or is it for real? How did all the drama start?
Zakk Wylde: "This is fact and this is reality. It's not the guys in MAIDEN and their crew. They're a beautiful bunch of guys. Bruce Dickinson every night would be saying 'Ozzy sucks,' 'Ozzfest blows,' 'Corporate America sucks,' 'America sucks,' and all this other crap. He was bagging on America and bagging on Ozz. Ozzy's the godfather of my son. It wasn't like Bruce said those things one night. This happened every night on the 'fest. If you got signed by George Steinbrenner to play for the Yankees and every day you say, 'Steinbrenner sucks,' 'Yankee Stadium blows,' 'I can't stand playing for this team it sucks ass,' then why are you playing for the Yankees? Shut your fuckin' pie hole. All he had to do was go up there, play for an hour, whoop some ass and go home. The only thing Ozzy's ever done was given MAIDEN a stage to come over and play to the biggest audience in the summer. Ozzy would give you the shirt off his back. He'd never do a bad thing to anybody. Sharon didn't like him talking about her husband like that and talking about Ozzfest like that. It's just not kosher. The bottom line is Bruce was being a wad! You act like a cunt, you get treated like a cunt! That's what happened. He's definitely not one of the guys. Everybody in their band and crew are cool. I love MAIDEN but he's talking about the godfather of my son, he's bagging America and all the troops are fighting overseas defending our way of life and freedom and fighting terrorism. This dickwad's taking American money and then he's gonna go home. At the same time he thinks he can badmouth America. It's not cool. He got pelted with a batch of eggs and they turned the power off on him! Go home!"
Spiff
I have the power
And Sharon's open letter to Rod Smallwood:
Rod,
I found your statement to be completely void of the facts that led up to Saturday's show. Your press release was written like an old-time '80s manager, trying to use every opportunity to try and sell the record and the upcoming shows instead of just dealing with the truth.
These are the facts:
You claim to have been in the business for 30 years and have been to hundreds of gigs, but can you tell me how many times you have heard of an opening band talking sh*t about the headliner during their set and getting away with it? Not only is Ozzy the headliner, but he is also the man who is paying your band $185,000 a night. We gave IRON MAIDEN a chance to play to the biggest audiences they have ever played to in the U.S.A. We accommodated them with their stage set and at the band's request we even scoured the audience for people wearing IRON MAIDEN t-shirts and brought them down front during their set to make them feel more comfortable. Tell me, what other headliner would do that? Unfortunately those gestures were completely lost on Bruce Dickinson who for over 20 shows continually berated Ozzy and Ozzfest during his set.
Over the last 10 years of Ozzfest, we have worked with over 200 bands. None of them were ever disrespectful to Ozzy or any of the other bands on the tour. But for 20 shows we were forced to hear Dickinson's nightly outbursts from the stage: 'When we come back to America, we'll be back with a proper sound system,' or "We won't be playing the same old songs every night (like SABBATH),' 'We don't need a teleprompter (like Ozzy)' and 'We don't need a reality show to be legit (again, like Ozzy).' Night after night we heard his complaints from the stage about how 'corporate' the venues were and how 'outrageous' the ticket prices were. Strangely enough, if you want to get a general admission ticket to stand in a field to see IRON MAIDEN at Reading this weekend it's going to cost you over $120. I would say that's very pricey, wouldn't you?
When an artist comes on stage and says he's not playing the 55 minutes that he was allotted and that he is going to play for as long as he wants (cutting into SABBATH's set), I'm not going to let that happen. Dickinson was under the delusion that the 46,000 people in San Bernardino had come only to see IRON MAIDEN. He even proclaimed 'This is not the Ozzfest, This is Maidenfest.' I guess no one told him that we have an audience of 45,000 to 53,000 people every year in San Bernardino.
Here's another fact for you. Bruce Dickinson's own band was embarrassed by him. IRON MAIDEN leader, Steve Harris, even came to Ozzy's dressing room to apologize to Ozzy for Bruce's behavior before MAIDEN took the stage in San Bernardino.
It's shameful that Dickinson felt he had the right to air his issues publicly onstage every night as a way to boost his own ego. Dickinson never once came up to Ozzy and me to voice any concerns. He certainly had the opportunity to do so every night. If he wasn't able to show us that courtesy then why should I give him the respect to air my grievances with him in private? Ozzy's only interaction with Dickinson was on the first night of the tour. Ozzy, being the true gentleman that he is, passed Bruce in the hall and said 'Good luck and have a great show.' Unfortunately Dickinson felt the need to turn his back to Ozzy and walked away. Frankly, Dickinson got what he deserved. We had to listen to his bullsh*t for five straight weeks. He only had to suffer a couple of eggs on the head.
On closing, yes, I did cut IRON MAIDEN's sound. This is the way I look at it: Ozzfest is our tour. We built it into something that's lasted 10 years now. We've been responsible for breaking many new bands and resurrecting the careers of former superstars. Part of our success stems from the fact that when a band is on Ozzfest we treat them with nothing but kindness and respect just as if we had invited them into our home. You can ask all of the bands who have been on the tour. They all describe it as the 'ultimate summer camp.' It's like one big family. Unfortunately Dickinson doesn't have the manners to realize that when you are invited into someone's home, are seated at their dinner table, are eating their food and drinking their wine, you shouldn't talk disrespectfully about them (Ozzy, BLACK SABBATH and Ozzfest), otherwise you just might get your ass handed to you. Every action has a reaction. Was Dickinson so naïve to think that I was going to let him get away with talking sh*t about my family night after night? I don't think he realizes who he's dealing with. I will not endure behavior like this from anyone.
I know you would love to keep talking about this because this is the most press that IRON MAIDEN has had in the U.S. in twenty years, but let's move on, shall we?
Sincerely,
The 'Real' Iron Maiden
Sharon Osbourne
Rod,
I found your statement to be completely void of the facts that led up to Saturday's show. Your press release was written like an old-time '80s manager, trying to use every opportunity to try and sell the record and the upcoming shows instead of just dealing with the truth.
These are the facts:
You claim to have been in the business for 30 years and have been to hundreds of gigs, but can you tell me how many times you have heard of an opening band talking sh*t about the headliner during their set and getting away with it? Not only is Ozzy the headliner, but he is also the man who is paying your band $185,000 a night. We gave IRON MAIDEN a chance to play to the biggest audiences they have ever played to in the U.S.A. We accommodated them with their stage set and at the band's request we even scoured the audience for people wearing IRON MAIDEN t-shirts and brought them down front during their set to make them feel more comfortable. Tell me, what other headliner would do that? Unfortunately those gestures were completely lost on Bruce Dickinson who for over 20 shows continually berated Ozzy and Ozzfest during his set.
Over the last 10 years of Ozzfest, we have worked with over 200 bands. None of them were ever disrespectful to Ozzy or any of the other bands on the tour. But for 20 shows we were forced to hear Dickinson's nightly outbursts from the stage: 'When we come back to America, we'll be back with a proper sound system,' or "We won't be playing the same old songs every night (like SABBATH),' 'We don't need a teleprompter (like Ozzy)' and 'We don't need a reality show to be legit (again, like Ozzy).' Night after night we heard his complaints from the stage about how 'corporate' the venues were and how 'outrageous' the ticket prices were. Strangely enough, if you want to get a general admission ticket to stand in a field to see IRON MAIDEN at Reading this weekend it's going to cost you over $120. I would say that's very pricey, wouldn't you?
When an artist comes on stage and says he's not playing the 55 minutes that he was allotted and that he is going to play for as long as he wants (cutting into SABBATH's set), I'm not going to let that happen. Dickinson was under the delusion that the 46,000 people in San Bernardino had come only to see IRON MAIDEN. He even proclaimed 'This is not the Ozzfest, This is Maidenfest.' I guess no one told him that we have an audience of 45,000 to 53,000 people every year in San Bernardino.
Here's another fact for you. Bruce Dickinson's own band was embarrassed by him. IRON MAIDEN leader, Steve Harris, even came to Ozzy's dressing room to apologize to Ozzy for Bruce's behavior before MAIDEN took the stage in San Bernardino.
It's shameful that Dickinson felt he had the right to air his issues publicly onstage every night as a way to boost his own ego. Dickinson never once came up to Ozzy and me to voice any concerns. He certainly had the opportunity to do so every night. If he wasn't able to show us that courtesy then why should I give him the respect to air my grievances with him in private? Ozzy's only interaction with Dickinson was on the first night of the tour. Ozzy, being the true gentleman that he is, passed Bruce in the hall and said 'Good luck and have a great show.' Unfortunately Dickinson felt the need to turn his back to Ozzy and walked away. Frankly, Dickinson got what he deserved. We had to listen to his bullsh*t for five straight weeks. He only had to suffer a couple of eggs on the head.
On closing, yes, I did cut IRON MAIDEN's sound. This is the way I look at it: Ozzfest is our tour. We built it into something that's lasted 10 years now. We've been responsible for breaking many new bands and resurrecting the careers of former superstars. Part of our success stems from the fact that when a band is on Ozzfest we treat them with nothing but kindness and respect just as if we had invited them into our home. You can ask all of the bands who have been on the tour. They all describe it as the 'ultimate summer camp.' It's like one big family. Unfortunately Dickinson doesn't have the manners to realize that when you are invited into someone's home, are seated at their dinner table, are eating their food and drinking their wine, you shouldn't talk disrespectfully about them (Ozzy, BLACK SABBATH and Ozzfest), otherwise you just might get your ass handed to you. Every action has a reaction. Was Dickinson so naïve to think that I was going to let him get away with talking sh*t about my family night after night? I don't think he realizes who he's dealing with. I will not endure behavior like this from anyone.
I know you would love to keep talking about this because this is the most press that IRON MAIDEN has had in the U.S. in twenty years, but let's move on, shall we?
Sincerely,
The 'Real' Iron Maiden
Sharon Osbourne
Icarus
Shamone
Mark
Not blessed, or merciful
Sharon has a point about Bruce's comments every night.
But, that doesn't deserve eggs being thrown - it's dangerous, and Janick already has a history of falling off stage
Also, it's nice how they let Maiden stick out for the entire tour instead of just dropping them - KA CHING!
And I can't believe Maiden only got $185k a show! Oh, but wasn't that around the cost of them changing their airline tickets last tour to do the Aussie shows?
But, that doesn't deserve eggs being thrown - it's dangerous, and Janick already has a history of falling off stage
Also, it's nice how they let Maiden stick out for the entire tour instead of just dropping them - KA CHING!
And I can't believe Maiden only got $185k a show! Oh, but wasn't that around the cost of them changing their airline tickets last tour to do the Aussie shows?
TinMan666
Member
Mark said:
meh... Bruce has been saying a lot of that stuff for the past few tours though. He's got a bee in his bonnet about Maiden not being a "lets reunite and play the classic hits from the 80s for all the old fans cos no one's interested in hearing our newer stuff anyway" band.
Which is actually a little ironic seeing as theyre in the middle of the "the early years" tour, but apart from that I reckon it's all fair enough.
Like I said before though... nothing that Bruce / Maiden could possibly have done would justify what happened at that gig. If they're that bad, kick them off the tour, or wait for their last show and then release a few "thank fuck that's over with, you wouldn't believe what a prick that guy was to work with" press statements. What you DON'T do is punish the fans who've paid their money to see a good show, by fucking with one of the bands, just because you're annoyed at the lead singer.
Southy
Proud Brisbane Metaller
Again Sharon is talking shit, if there was a problem backstage or with the band, even if she wasn't gonna kick them off the tour, the band, and managment would of met with Sharon, Ozzy and co to sort out the problems, I still don't believe Sharon
Spiff
I have the power
She's right about it being the most press Maiden's got in 20 years. The last thing I ever read about them in the newspaper was a "where are they now" story back in 2000.
Sydo
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- Apr 13, 2001
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Mark said:
But what did he really say?
That he doesn't need a teleprompter - well he doesn't. Maybe Ozzy does, I don't know.. Halford needs one.
That Maiden will change their set - well, this is kind of funny, cos Maiden don't change their set EVER. From all reports I've read (coming directly from Geezer, Iommi, Ward) is that they and most fans wished Sabbath could mix up their set a bit. So what's the prob?
That Maiden still release new shit - well, they do occasionally. Maybe Sabbath should sometime. Their reunion did happen 8 years ago. And again, Geezer, Iommi and most Sabbath fans want something new.
That the PA was no good - Maybe it does suck, I don't know. I know that it did suck when someone was switching it off.
That dumb cunts sit down to watch metal - people are dumb. Probably fat too.
Southy
Proud Brisbane Metaller
Mark
Not blessed, or merciful
Bruce has shown himself in the past to be a mouthy guy, so we're all used to it, but if he had a problem with the PA why not raise it with those responsible before complaining on stage? *shrug*
I still agree that the Osbournes were way out of line.
I still agree that the Osbournes were way out of line.
Goreripper
Metal as fuck
TinMan666
Member
Just a hypothetical... if after being hit by a few eggs and having the PA turned off and on Maiden had have walked out of the gig after a song and a half or something... and then the crowd got so pissed off that a riot started... and then it came out that Sharon Osbourne had set the whole thing up... that would be pretty bad for her, right?
What if that happened, a riot broke out, someone got killed or seriously injured? With 40000 fans or however many it was, that's probably pretty likely to happen.
Do you think she probably HOPED Maiden would walk off so she could use that to turn everyone against them? That seems to have been her goal, to turn the fans against the band.
What if that happened, a riot broke out, someone got killed or seriously injured? With 40000 fans or however many it was, that's probably pretty likely to happen.
Do you think she probably HOPED Maiden would walk off so she could use that to turn everyone against them? That seems to have been her goal, to turn the fans against the band.
Spiff
I have the power
Tinman... that's something I wondered about. If the events leading up to a death can be squarely traced back to one individuals actions (in this case, Sharon making it impossible for Maiden to complete their set), they can be charged with manslaughter
Sydo
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- Apr 13, 2001
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TinMan666 said:
That's something that needs to be considered.
I believe there must have been a breach of contract somewhere. Encouraging 40,000 people to throw stuff at the stage does not a safe work environment make. Maybe Sharon's arrogance got in her way, but she really was playing with peoples lived when acting the way she did.
Not cool.
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