justnzane Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Ozzy giving away tix for his whole tour Ozzy Steps Up to Bat For Fans: Free Tickets LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's the most startling news to hit the heavy-metal circuit since Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat. The wizard of the Ozzfest is going back on the road this summer and this time the tickets to his 25-city tour will be free. "It's our 12th year and we wanted to shake it up a bit and do something different," Osbourne's wife, Sharon, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Ticket prices for Ozzfest, which have ranged from $35 to $150, were beginning to rise beyond the reach of the rocker's loyal fans, his wife said, and he didn't want that to happen. "It's not saying that I'm now Mother Teresa or that Ozzy is a saint, but you know what? He's been doing this a long time and his audience has been really good to him," Sharon Osbourne said. "So if he goes out one summer of his life and he doesn't get paid, big deal." Osbourne has been wooing corporate sponsors to cover the cost of the tour. So far, his wife said, six have signed up. The tour kicks off July 7 in Los Angeles, with stops planned in San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, New York, St. Louis and several other cities. A final list of dates and stops is still in the works. Organizers haven't revealed yet who will be joining Osbourne on stage, but his wife said she hopes it will include numerous special guests who will drop in for one or two shows. Over the years, Ozzfest has showcased a number of up-and-coming bands, including Linkin Park, Incubus and System of a Down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 lol at them saying "Ozzy wont get paid" when all bands (other than the few major headliners) on Ozzfest actually have to PAY $75,000 each to get on the tour. then Ozzfest controls your merch table and takes anything from 50% to 75% of the merch sales. its very cool of them to give away the tickets and im sure after tour costs and whatnot they may just break even, but Sharon Osborne has never agreed to ANYTHING where they arent getting paid somehow. Very cool looking out for the fans though. thats the way it should be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketch Soland Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 What a great publicity stunt. Sharon Osbourne has always known how to pull the right business/publicity strings when it comes to ozzfest (maybe not her piss-talent spawn though lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 heres the Official Press Release sent out by the Osbourne camp yesterday: 2007 will forever mark the year Ozzfest spiked the concert industry's punch and gave every head-banging American kid a reason to strap on an air guitar with the historic announcement that tickets to the summer's premiere touring concert festival won't cost fans a dime. That's right, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and tour producer Live Nation broke the news today at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular--a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7 in Los Angeles--is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer's Ozzfest "FreeFest." The other Ozzfest cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Note: a final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming. "For the last few years," says Sharon, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year." 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), Ozzfest and Live Nation will turn to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation. This summer's Ozzfest will provide select sponsors with a unique opportunity to engage fans one-on-one utilizing one of music's best known brands. "We're reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," compares Sharon. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That's what's happening with summer touring in this country, it's out-pricing itself. We started this and we want to keep it and we want to make it bigger and bigger each year by getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival. That's what it's about." "For the past 11 years, music fans have made Ozzfest the most successful and enduring rock music festival in the United States," said Jason Garner, Live Nation President of North American Concerts. "What better way to say ‘Thank You' to the music fans who have made this possible than inviting them to attend Ozzfest for free." To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.Ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming. 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 down-and-dirty second stage at a handful of dates. Audiences can expect the Prince of Darkness to unveil new songs from his forthcoming studio album, Ozzy's first disc of new material since 2001. While the rest of the in-progress bill is under wraps, Sharon points out, "we have bands committed, but we're hoping that after today's announcement we'll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of Ozzfest. I'm not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 This is an awesome idea. I was at Ozzfest last year because of the deal they had for $20 tickets to the Buffalo show, and the fact that Ozzy showed up to headline the second stage, and it was a great show at Darrien Lake. The only problem is that you know some brookers and scalpers will be trying to snatch as many "Free Tickets" as they can and then turn around and rip of fans by trying to re-sell them on Ebay so they can try to turn a profit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts