Drowning Pool drummer Mike Luce says his band's stint with the Ozzfest tour this past year "was amazing."
From reviews of the tour, it seems Drowning Pool put its best foot forward and became the dark jewels of the show.
During a telephone interview from Little Rock, Ark., Luce said "There were only two ways we could have done it. We could have gone over well," or they could have tanked.
Drowning Pool — Luce, vocalist Dave Williams, guitarist C.J. Pierce and bassist Stevie Benton — will get a chance to shine for Utah audiences when it opens for Disturbed in the E Center on Sunday, Oct. 7.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through Smith'sTix at 467-TIXX or 1-800-888-TIXX.
Drowning Pool's album "Sinner," which features the breakthrough single "Bodies," was released three days before the beginning of Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest tour, which raged through the country during the summer and featured bands like Slipknot, Black Sabbath, Otep and the Union Underground. The timing proved to be the chance of a lifetime for Luce.
"Sharon (Osbourne's wife and the tour's producer) likes to gamble," Luce said. "And she knows what she's doing. She likes to take chances on new bands, and we didn't want to let her down."
And that determination carried the band through the tour. "We played the same tour with Black Sabbath," said Luce, who cited Kiss as his No. 1 musical influence. "And it was nice to feel we won the respect of the crowd. It was also great to see our friends from the other bands on the tour come out to the sidelines to watch our set."
Drowning Pool formed in 1990 in Dallas, Luce said. But it wasn't until 1996 that the current line-up was in place. "It took us a while for all the right components to be set. And from then, things started rolling."
Dallas rock radio gave the local boys air time, and the band caught the ear of Wind-Up Records, which eventually signed Drowning Pool in 1998. "Getting the music out wasn't the big challenge in our lives. We were determined to play anywhere we could. The real challenge was learning to live with each other."
The future looks wide open for Drowning Pool after releasing a great album (No. 34 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart) and landing a great opening slot on a respected tour. But Luce looks at the oncoming road with a little suspicion.
"The music business these days if very fickle. If we're still a band in five years, it would be a great accomplishment. For us to have a third album out would be a big thing. The best thing for us to do from now on is take things as they come. It would be wonderful for us to stand the test of time like those guys in Black Sabbath."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com