Saw it yesterday. Here's a quick rundown of the bands:
Atreyu: Sure got a crowd going for being up there so early. Very energetic stage show. I enjoyed the music as well. I'll have to pick up their stuff.
Darkest Hour: Meh. Decent. The music sounded too bunched together, if that makes sense.
Throwdown: Big disappointment. On the stage for 20 minutes, and he talks for like half of it. Shut the fuck up and play music. I think they played 3 songs.
Magna Fi: Decent, but they just sounded like your everyday hard rock band. Don't know how these guys got a slot on the bill ...
Devildriver: Music was too low-end. Guitars were hard to hear, and the music overpowered Dez's vocals a lot. They still sounded pretty good though.
God Forbid - Definitely one of the highlights of the second stage. I was quite happy when they played Judge the Blood off the new record. Love that song.
Unearth - Another highlight. These guys fucking rock. What can I say ...
Every Time I Die - Did not see. Ate a cheesesteak instead.
Otep - Disappointing. This band has some potential, but I cannot stand the ridiculously long intros to the songs. I don't need to hear a 3 minute monologue before each track. Christ. And I was pissed that I couldn't hear Blood Pigs very well. Good tune, but the vocals were drowned out.
Lacuna Coil - Good show. Kind of an odd addition to the bill, but it didn't stop them from playing on an enjoyable set.
Bleeding Through - Did not see.
Lamb of God - Rocked. No wall of death though.
Hatebreed - Missed the first half, but came in to see your everyday Hatebreed show. Nothing spectacular. Still a good performance.
Slipknot - Meh. Most overrated band in metal. And, as with Devildriver, the music was tuned so goddamned low. You couldn't differentiate one instrument from the next.
BLS - Didn't see, but heard them well. Sounded good.
SJR - Horrid. How Phil Anselmo is even popular, I don't know. His music is just plain bad. And for Christ's sake, someone buy the man a thesaurus. I lost count of how many times he said goddamn or fuck (or variations of said words).
Dimmu Borgir - Only saw the last two songs. Sounded good though.
Slayer - First time seeing them. Fucking rocked. I'm not a big fan of them on disc, but they ruled live.
Judas Priest - Definitely the highlight of the day. Very, very good show.
Black Sabbath - Ozzy did not play. Bill Ward came out and stated that he had come down with bronchitis, but Rob Halford graciously accepted the offer to sing in his place! Halford did a fine job, and Sabbath sounded amazing.