OZZFEST: ONE WEEKEND A SUMMER?

I've been hearing that the Ozzfest may change formats, and go from being a tour to a one-weekend long festival. This is kind of the way Lollapalooza was able to redefine itself, and it will be interesting to see if Sharon Osbourne will be able to pull this off with Ozzfest.

Clearly, Ozzy Osbourne can't keep up the pace for an entire summer tour. I'm not dissing the guy - between the his albums with Black Sabbath and his early solo albums, he's made some of my favorite music ever. But every summer, it seems that there are cancelled Ozzfest gigs because his vocal chords are damaged.

The festival has become such an event, though, that it's not really all about Ozzy. Lots of the most happening metal bands (who I don't tend to care much about) are always on the bill. I think the kids stay for Ozzy (sometimes) out of respect and curiousity, and the older crowd shows up later for Oz and any other older acts that may be on the bill. Ozzfest is notorious for not paying younger acts (or charging them to be on the tour), and now there are other summer metal tours that are better deals for young bands.

Having an Ozzy-less Ozzfest would seem weird, and this seems like a perfect solution. Making Ozzfest a weekend long event, with Ozzy playing one night and Black Sabbath the other would seem to be a cool way to go.