July 10, 2002: Ozzfest launched its nationwide tour featuring 21 acts spread across two stages at Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center, Scranton.
Montage became the launch pad for the gathering because two early dates were postponed because of a surgery Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager, underwent for her colon cancer.

In addition to the festival’s namesake, the all-day event featured music from Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Black Label Society, Adema, Drowning Pool and P.O.D. on the main stage. On the second stage, audiences found bands Ill Nino, Neurotica, Apex Theory, Lostprophets, AndrewWK, Down and Pulse Ultra.

When it finally came time for the one and only Ozzy to take the stage, he treated those gathered to a sneak preview of the upcoming season of his and his family’s popular reality television series, “The Osbournes.” After that, he greeted fans with, “I (expletive) needed you guys tonight, man,” and proceeded to moon the crowd.

He went on to play “Crazy Train,” “War Pigs,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Iron Man” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” During one point in his set, Ozzy told the audience, “You guys aren’t (expletive) wild enough! I can’t (expletive) hear you” – to which the thousands on the mountainside responded with a thunderous chant of, “Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!”

He ended the evening with “Bark at the Moon” and “Paranoid,” but that wasn’t the end for Ozzfest in Northeast Pennsylvania – it returned to Montage in 2003 and 2006.

Related –

Time Warp 2003 – Ozzfest bring big names to Montage Mountain 

Local History – Ozzy Osbourne causes legal flap in Scranton