CRADLE OF FILTH bassist Dave Pybus has checked in with another installment of their Ozzfest adventures:

“Ok, before we get into the Ozzfest shows we had a day off in Alamo, Texas. Obviously we headed into town to see the famous Alamo remains which everyone but Mike (our drum tech) and me went into (‘cos we wanted to go toy hunting instead). Funny thing was when our bus pulled up hundreds of people with cameras came running over to us shouting “Ozzy!”. We told them we weren’t whom they thought and the crowd quickly dispersed. Five minutes after the band enter the Alamo who pulls up? None other than Ozzy himself. He got about a hundred yards before giving up his revisit to the place he famously pissed on 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the CRADLE guys inside are posing for a picture and Dani innocently scratches his crotch, immediately catching the attention of the police nearby and are subsequently threatened with arrest and thrown from the site.

“Selma, Texas - Saturday 28th June.
First Ozzfest show was good but we had a few technical problems, which kind of frustrated us. It was hot. Very hot. Playing in direct sunlight isn’t something we rehearse. We had hoped for the shade but not today. Scary! I managed to catch some of Ozzy’s set tonight which is quite surreal to say I know most of the songs from my childhood. It was good to see Jason Newstead playing in VOIVOD.

“Dallas, Texas - Sunday 29th June.
Today was a lot better day. KILLSWITCH ENGAGE were great. Their guitarist Adam is totally crazy and funny to watch. I consider them the best band on Ozzfest. For our set the technical problems continue but we know things will settle down in a few days. Another day in the direct sunlight but I’m not getting much of a tan. Spend most of the time in the shade. Our Ozzfest set-list comprises of: ‘The Promise of Fever’, ‘Cthulhu Dawn’, ‘Dusk and Her Embrace’, ‘Her Ghost in the Fog’, ‘Cruelty Brought thee Orchids’ and ‘The forest Whispers my Name’.

“Club 101, El Paso, Texas - Tuesday 1st July.
This is a headlining show in a small club, but we are outside tonight so it kind of new and it’s not as hot. I’d say the ‘coolest’ gig so far infact. Our dancers from England arrived but they obviously didn’t do this show after the 18 hours of travel. The stage was too small anyway. We did get a little worried before the gig as the P.A. was brand new and KILLSWITCH blew it half way through there set. It got sorted quickly and we had a good one anyway. Our headlining shows are turning out to be a good idea as it keeps us from having too many off days and gets our stamina up for the bigger Ozzfest dates.

“Phoenix, Arizona - Wednesday 2nd July.
This stands to be the hottest gig so far, seen as we are in the desert! No official temperature but imagine anywhere between 105 and 120 degrees. I know I keep going on about the weather but it’s hot as hell out here and we are suffering. The usual technical problems due to direct sunlight continue to hound us and Martin’s keyboard packs in two songs from the end. He got an early break due to that and we finish the set without him. The crowd are still into it and are very loud. A great show thanks to them! Thankfully we left this place early.

“Chula Vista, CA - Thursday 3rd July.
This one went great! We actually celebrated afterwards. Finally the tech problems are sorted as we now keep the keyboards on the bus until show time. We also got to play in the shade today, which helped us perform a very intense set. We really needed this one to boost our morale. I watched a bit of korn tonight for the first time. I hope someday we get to play the Ozzfest main stage and prove we are just as entertaining. We got our stilt walkers on stage for the first time today but they need a few shows to get all the tricks going as one pair of their stilts were broken in half during the flight over here. Tomorrow is a well deserved day off so we all got a bit of time to plan our next few shows. We are also in the process of editing our new promo video for ‘Mannequin’ which hopefully should be ready real soon.”

Read Pybus’s first tour report here.