Lordi, Hatebreed, and Lamb of God top Ozzfest preliminary line-up

By Patrick Luce Mar 21, 2007, 19:29 GMT

This year’s Ozzfest preliminary line-up has been announced and includes Lamb of God, Hatebreed, and Lordi.

"Come join us," said Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne on February 6 at the Los Angeles press conference to unveil the bombshell: this year's 12th annual Ozzfest will be known as "FreeFest." Ozzy and Sharon’s statement - with tour producer Live Nation - was an invitation for other artists to join Ozzy by performing for free, thus making the tickets to the summer's premiere touring concert festival entirely free for fans.

This bold invitation to perform in front of tens of thousands of frenzied rock kids has already been accepted by such artists as Lamb of God, Hatebreed and cutting-edge Finnish act Lordi, who will lead the charge with Ozzy in this historic move that redefines a concert industry marred by rising ticket prices. Lamb of God and Lordi will perform on the main stage with Ozzy, while Hatebreed will headline Ozzfest's reliably down and dirty second stage with Mondo Generator, Ankla, Circus Diablo, Nile and The Showdown. 

These are only the first artists who have stepped forward to be part of this ground-breaking touring extravaganza, with more artists to be announced in the coming weeks for the main and second stages.

The 24-city earth-pounding Ozzfest will now launch July 12 in Seattle, WA at the White River Amphitheatre.  The tour was originally announced to start July 7 in Southern California but had to be moved to accommodate the extension of Ozzy's European tour.  Ozzfest will also hit Seattle, WA, George, WA, Sacramento, CA, Mountain View, CA, Devore, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, Denver, CO, Kansas City, MO, Dallas,
TX, San Antonio, TX, St. Louis, MO, Columbus, OH, Tinley Park, IL, East Troy, WI, Indianapolis, IN, Holmdel, NJ, Hartford, CT, Boston, MA, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Detroit, MI, Charlotte, NC and West Palm Beach, FL.

As Ozzfest’s founder and namesake, Ozzy will make his triumphant return to the headlining position on this year's mainstage after surprising fans last year by performing on the second stage at a handful of dates. Audiences can expect the Prince of Darkness to unveil new songs from his forthcoming studio album (release date TBA), Ozzy's first disc of new material since 2001.