Kiss & Ozzy Osbourne at ROCK2WGTN
Alice Cooper, Whitesnake, Poison and Lordi Among Bands at Festival
Feb 12, 2008
Some of the biggest names in heavy metal history are to play at the ROCK2WGTN festival. The ROCK2WGTN festival takes place at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd of March, 2008.
Kiss, Shock Rocker Alice Cooper, Eurovision Winners Lordi Headline Saturday Bands
Saturday's lineup features a trio of theatric metal bands with Lordi and Alice Cooper supporting headliners Kiss.
Kiss first shot to fame in the mid-1970s on the strength of their elaborate stage shows featuring full face makeup, blood spitting, fire breathing, smoke spewing guitars, and pyrotechnics. The 1975 Kiss album Alive! was there first to break into the American top 10, with single "Rock and Roll All Night" reaching number 12 on the Billboard singles chart.Kiss are touring Australia before the ROCK2WGTN festival in New Zealand. In May, Kiss embarks on their first European tour since 1999.
Alice Cooper also rose to fame during the 1970s. The original shock rocker's stage shows included makeup, straight jackets, boa constrictors, plenty of blood, and execution by guillotine, electrocution, or hanging. The syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper can be heard across the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
Lordi, performing in elaborate monster costumes, won the 2006 Eurovision song contest with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Finnish newspaper Helsingen Sanomat reported Lordi's Eurovision victory celebration concert in Helsinki drew an estimated 90,000 people.
Ozzy Osbourne, David Coverdale's Whitesnake, and Hollywood Glam Metal Band Poison on Sunday
Ozzy Osbourne headlines the Easter Sunday lineup with support from Whitesnake and glam metal band Poison.
Ozzy Osbourne was one of the founding fathers of heavy metal as the lead singer for Black Sabbath, who rose to fame with their 1971 album Paranoid. After being fired by Black Sabbath, Ozzy embarked on a solo career and went on to become a household name. In 1982 he bit the head off of a live bat on stage in Des Moines, Iowa and was arested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on part of the Alamo. More recently Ozzy and his family have become known for their reality television series The Osbournes.
Ex-Deep Purple singer David Coverdale formed Whitesnake in the late 1970s. The 1987 album, titled Whitesnake, reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart in the USA, while singles "Is This Love" reached number 2 and "Here I Go Again" reached the number 1 spots on the singles chart. The next Whitesnake album, Good To Be Bad, is set for an April release by SPV/Steamhammer and will be followed by European festival performances and a UK tour with Def Leppard.
Poison burst from Hollywood's Sunset Strip with their 1986 album Look What The Cat Dragged In. The album included MTV favorites "Talk Dirty To Me", "I Want Action", "I Won't Forget You", and the title track. The band's latest release, 2007's Poison'd on EMI records, sees Poison covering songs from various artists, including Saturday's main acts Kiss and Alice Cooper.
The ROCK2WGTN festival at Wellington's Westpac Stadium also includes New Zealand bands The Valves, Sonic Alter, and The Symphony of Screams plus pyrotechnics, lasers, stunt people, dancers, flame effects, giant screens and sets designed at WETA Workshops Studios. Tickets are available from Ticketek New Zealand.
Read about more metal festivals featured on Suite101 at Finnish Metal Expo.
