$20 beers?

LET ME SEE YOUR CIGARETTE LIGHTAHS!

Sharon Osbourne announced yesterday that tickets for this year's Ozzfest are going to be free.

For the first time ever the sponsors will pay for the tickets and bands will not be paid to perform. All expenses will be covered from sales of food, drinks, and merchandise.

Sharon said, "We needed to change something and we didn't want to change the format.[We] 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.”

So how will this all work out? Hopefully better than Iron Maiden headlining did in 2005.

It's hard to imagine many bands being on board with this, although it will be a bargain for up and coming bands who were rumored to have had to PAY up to $75,000 to play the second stage on past Ozzfests while established bands (such as the sucky System of a Down) were PAID up to $325,000 a show. Bands on this year's Ozzfest's only income from the tour will be what they make by selling their merchandise at the shows (after Sharon takes her cut I'm sure). They are also allowed to play shows on their own in surrounding cities (which they were forbidden to do in the past) Still expect to see mostly bands you've never heard of. Even so, it's still worth going since ol' Ozzy himself and his water buckets are confirmed to headline all shows on the main stage. (He's used to not getting paid for his performances anyway!)

Guess we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out.

There is more info on Ozzfest's Myspace page

SOURCE