After numerous canceled shows and tangles with the city council, Des Moines hard rock station Lazer 103.3 finally got to throw its outdoor party at Waterworks Park Aug. 18.

The event, cleverly titled “Lazerfest,” featured 13 bands on two different stages. In a way, the event was sort of a mini Ozzfest, with about half of its acts coming from the summer’s biggest rock tour, including big names like P.O.D. and Rob Zombie.

About 8,000 people filled the park for a day of music and things got off to a good start, thanks to great performances by two local bands. River Bottom Nightmare, who opened the second stage, and Index Case, who opened up on the main, played with a definite intensity and excitement that seemed to be lacking from some of the other featured groups.

River Bottom Nightmare kicked it old school with blazing guitar-driven rock songs. One of the group’s guitarists even went as far as to break one of his guitars at the end of the set. Pretty ballsy for a band that will probably have to do a month or two of shows to replace that ax.

Indianola’s Index Case set the standard early for the main stage. Dressed in their usual all-white gear, the foursome ripped through tracks off their latest release, “Glass.” But it was their final song, “Boredom,” that had concert patrons whipped into a frenzy and singing along with the chorus “I’m alone in my kingdom/ Boredom is my syndrome.”

Unfortunately things went downhill pretty quickly after this. Sinch, Epidemic and Seether all sounded like one band with three names and Cresco’s Rearview Mirror’s performance was tight, but uninspired and boring.

Things didn’t get much better on the main stage. The Lost Prophets clearly had fun on stage, but didn’t sit well with the crowd, possibly because the members looked like the Backstreet Boys with guitars and drums.

Probably the most head-scratching moment of the day was the Atomic Punks, a Van Halen tribute band. Yes, you heard right, a tribute band given main-stage status, something that didn’t seem to sit well with some fans. Mutters could be heard from the stage to the line for the bathroom.

Granted, the members of the band were good at their task of covering David Lee Roth-era Van Halen tunes, but that main stage spot might have been better used on another band.

As the skies gradually grew darker, the music gradually grew more bland. Stone Sour, led by Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Jim Root, excited fans but the music wasn’t anything the crowd hadn’t already heard that day. When not singing, Taylor could be heard telling females in the crowd to show him “those fucking titties.” Taylor’s solo version of “Bother,” his song on the Spiderman soundtrack, was the highlight of an otherwise sub-par set.

Rob Zombie put on a good show, tearing through his endless list of hits and spending a lot of time interacting with the crowd as well. At one time Zombie told the crowd that although he is used to playing Ozzfest, where there are about 20,000 more fans, he felt more energy coming from the crowd at Lazerfest.

That energy multiplied when Zombie announced that he was bringing out Zakk Wylde, guitarist for Ozzy and leader of Black Label Society. With Wylde on guitar, Zombie ripped off a monstrous version of “Thunderkiss ’65.”

As darkness set in, a crowd started to gather in front of the second stage in anticipation for Connecticut band Hatebreed. There may not be proper words for the intensity of the show that Hatebreed put on. And when the band called for a circle pit, a gigantic pit erupted, complete with flailing limbs, ripped T-shirts and lost shoes. Hatebreed didn’t stop moving, jumping, screaming or being crazy through its entire set.

Mother Nature had been very kind to the crowd for the entire day. Temperatures were mild and she had spared everybody from being drenched. But a brisk chill ran through the air while P.O.D.’s stage was being set up, and the minute the band walked on stage, the sky started to cry.

But vocalist Sonny said “let the rain fall” and the band trudged on through songs like “Set it Off” and “Boom.” The rain came and went but didn’t keep the band down. At times, though, it seemed the grueling tour schedule was catching up to Sonny’s voice, as he often wasn’t able to hold notes.

When the band started “Youth of the Nation,” the rain worsened, and many fled for cover.

As good as it was for central Iowa to host a big-time concert like Lazerfest, one can’t help the feeling of being cheated out of $33, or $40 if you bought at the gate. The event didn’t live up to previous Lazer outdoor events, mostly due to the below-average lineup.