By M&C News Jun 15, 2007, 20:04 GMT
When Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and the world's largest live music company, Live Nation, announced in February their plans to stage the 2007 Ozzfest as a free show, some industry people said it would never work. Today Ozzfest yet again has made history, as the fans clearly have spoken.
Over the past four days, tickets for all 24 shows were distributed to a frenzy of music fans. More than 428,000 tickets in all were given away through LiveNation.com, marking the largest number of free tickets distributed in the United States in the history of the concert business.
In a staged release and via various sponsor sites, including Monster Energy, Jagermeister, FYE, Pilgrim Films, Hustler Lingerie and WWE, LiveNation.com enabled fans to enter exclusive codes to obtain tickets beginning Friday, June 8. More than 228,000 tickets were distributed yesterday alone, with the last ticket given away just after midnight. The tickets were completely free without surcharges of any kind.
For this year's historic "Freefest" - which will give fans the rock experience of their lives at a price that's hard to beat – headliner Ozzy Osbourne will be joined by Lamb of God, Static X, Lordi, Hatebreed, Behemoth, Mondo Generator, Nile, Ankla, Circus Diablo, The Showdown, 3 Inches of Blood, Daath, Chthonic and In This Moment.
Sharon Osbourne said, "Ozzy is the first to take an entire tour and make it free to his fans and the fans of Ozzfest. More than 428,000 tickets were distributed free to fans. How amazing is that?"
"Together we have pulled off the ultimate gift for music fans this summer, a free Ozzfest," said Bryan Perez, President of Global Digital for Live Nation. "Through LiveNation.com we connected Ozzfest with nearly half a million music fans to create an exciting moment for the live music business and we couldn't be happier with the results."
Since 1996, Ozzfest has been a virtual breeding ground for rising bands. The festival has been instrumental in igniting the careers of platinum-selling artists like System of a Down, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Incubus, Slipknot, Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Mudvayne, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Lacuna Coil, among others. It was cited as "one of rock's biggest juggernauts" in the cover feature of Sunday's New York Times' "Arts and Leisure" section (6/25/06). This year marks the 12th anniversary of the hard rock spectacular.
The 24-city earth-pounding 12th annual Ozzfest will launch July 12 in Seattle, WA at the White River Amphitheatre. Ozzfest will also hit 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.
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