OK, I survived Ozzfest yesterday at the place once known as Star Lake. Had a great time, too. I'll have to admit to wandering around checking everything out more than listening to the bands, but there were a lot of interesting people in attendance, to say the least.

As far as the performers, we arrived a bit late to catch Ozzy Osbourne's act. Of the bands we did see, I particularly enjoyed Lacuna Coil, although its set was a bit on the truncated side, and Avenged Sevenfold.

The closing act, System of a Down, had its moments, particularly when it broke into an excerpt of Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing," complete with a Mark Knopfler-like guitar solo. I liked that because I recognized it!

I also recognize a System of a Down song my kids have played for me for shock value. (As if I've never heard any curse words before.) The tune is "Violent Pornography," with lyrics like "everybody, everybody, everybody (expletive deleted)" and references to certain acts of intimacy that make a lot of us cringe. At any rate, the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it.

In my opinion, frontman Serj Tankian seems to draw quite a bit of influence from Jim Morrison, with the difference being that's the kind of stuff that got the late Doors' singer arrested in the '60s.

Here are a few photos I took around the venue with the camera they'd actually let me take inside. (They wouldn't let me take my bottled water -- but that's another story.)