Trivium vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy commented in an interview (via Metal Hammer ) about the terrible experience he had playing at the Ozzfest festival in 2005. The tenth edition of the festival was marked by a conflict between the organizers, represented by Sharon Osbourne , wife of Ozzy Osbourne , and the British band Iron Maiden .
Heafy recalls the incident and recounts how he got involved in the confusion: “I remember that on the last day of the Iron Maiden tour, the tour was going to continue, but we were asked by some people from the Ozzfest staff, 'Hey, do you want to throw eggs at Iron Maiden?'. I was like, 'Why the hell would we do that?'”
The vocalist has always been a fan of the British band and had already attended some of their shows during the festival. Matt says that Trivium not only ignored the offer but also decided to show their support by wearing Iron Maiden shirts and including a cover of "The Trooper" in their setlist for the festival, which ended up resulting in a negative reaction from the Ozzfest staff for the remainder of the tour.
Heafy reveals that his band had to pay $30,000 to be part of the festival, which included the costs of renting a bus and hiring a tour crew. A significant amount of money for a band that was still on the rise.
Matt adds: “We were bullied by the festival staff. They drove their golf carts right in our faces, threw dirt at us. Paolo [ Gregoletto , Trivium bassist] almost got arrested at one of the shows. It was a strange time. We paid thirty thousand dollars to be bullied like we were in high school.”
With Trivium defending Iron Maiden, Heafy also reveals that this incident kept them from receiving invitations to play at Ozzfest again. The vocalist claims to have received a conditional offer in recent years to return to the festival: "We were recently told that if we apologized, we could tour again someday."
Trivium was scheduled to perform again in 2016 at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, but the band was included as part of the lineup representing Knotfest.
Trivium participated in Iron Maiden tours.
Although Trivium initially faced backlash at Ozzfest for supporting Iron Maiden, the band benefited in the long run. In an interview (via Ultimate Guitar ), Matt Heafy recalls: “[Iron] Maiden took us on tour after that. I don’t know if it was because of that, but I heard they liked The Crusade (Trivium’s 2006 album). I think they liked the transition to The Crusade , they liked that kind of backing band.”
Matt believes the occasion was important for the band's development: “It was like that era had dissipated, that bullshit era of intimidation. Now you only see small, stupid squabbles, but nothing too serious. I hope no new band goes through what we went through, but it made us who we are today. It made us stronger, for sure, and showed us who our real friends are.”
Trivium has since participated in almost all of Iron Maiden's tours, with at least one performance on the A Matter of Life and Death Tour (2006-2007), Somewhere Back in Time World Tour (2008-2009), The Final Frontier World Tour (2010-2011) and Legacy Of The Beast World Tour (2018-2022).
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