Fozzy
Fozzy @ Taste of Madison, Madison, WI 09/02/2018
Having spent the weekend covering Taste of Madison I was extremely happy to round it out with Fozzy. I was lucky enough to cover them at Sonic Boom in 2017. In my opinion my images from that set were not that great. Which has always made me want another crack at covering them. The band itself are the remnants of Stuck Mojo. A fairly influential rap rock punk band from the 90s and 00s. Fozzy though is not that in any way. With straight forward rock riffs and extremely catchy choruses it is no surprise they have gained the following they have.
Songs that stuck out were “Judas” “Burn Me Out” “Elevator” “Lights Go Out” and “Bad Tattoo”. The set was action packed. The entire band are extremely active. Founding member and guitarist Frank Ward might be the most active of them all. Ripping solos and sweet licks while standing on the edge of the stage, dancing around or jumping is no doubt where the eyes go to. Most of the crowd is there to see former WWE superstar Chris Jericho. Pretty obvious by the chants of “Y2J”. Jericho is no slouch though. He commands the stage while vocally performing to perfection. His on stage antics whether facial expressions, a CO2 gun, caressing the mic stand, jumping off of platforms and engaging the youth in the crowd only solidify his status a boss frontman.
Hearing “Judas” as the opening tune was quite the surprise. Arguably their most popular song to date. Hearing the harmony of “I become” whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Despite the inclement weather approaching, the crowd stretched from the stage all the way up the street towards to Capital Square right in front of the state capital. A pretty great attendance.
“Burn Me Out” another hit of theirs was pretty early on in the set, but the timing mixed well the other songs around it. The song projects a that party excitement and pleasure. Guitarist Billy Grey stood on the stage stand and engaged the crowd more over this song than any other. In what I feel is a pretty signature move of his, Grey rests his guitar on his hip vertically up right and shreds.
The final 3 songs played seemed rushed but for obvious reasons. The rain. By this point the it had been raining for half of the set. Fozzy refused to stop playing and finished their set out. “Enemy” a slow starting song was rushed. It still boomed with great effectiveness. “Bad Tattoo” gave the crowd a heavy blast of rock that is naturally faster paced. The band seemed to put the most energy and love into this song. It displayed how much these artists loved this song. At this point it is pouring and I packed up my stuff in my water proof bag. If anything I am always prepared. I ran to the tents behind the stage and listened to the final song “Sandpaper”. I like most of the crowd took off when it began to rain heavily. Fozzy though made it through their set. That took guts with the conditions down grading to being absolutely poor.
Regardless, Fozzy easily is a must see band. They are pure fun with a no nonsense presence on stage. I have seen a ton of bands through the years and these guys are the most active while performing. They nailed every single song performed. Most definitely a must see.
Set List:
1. Judas
2. Drinkin’ with Jesus
3. One Crazed Anarchist
4. Sin and Bones
5. Burn Me Out
6. Painless
7. Spider in My Mouth
8. Elevator
9. Do You Want To Start a War
10. SOS
11. Lights Go Out
12. Wolves at Bay
13. Enemy
14. Bad Tattoo
15. Sandpaper