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Black Label Society with Sevendust and Dope
This past Saturday night, the local Atlanta chapter of the Black Label Society was out in full force. Everywhere you looked, there was people wearing BLS t-shirts, jackets, and bandanas. And everywhere you looked, Zakk Wylde look-a-likes stalked the venue.
The venue chosen for the concert was a little strange. Located in Duluth, Georgia, about 20 to 25 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, the show was held at a huge (and I mean huge!) bar called "Wild Bills". This night club hosts everything from local cover bands, to nationally known tourinig rock and country acts. And occasionally, hosts "Fight Nights", with ultimate fighting type contests. Needless to say, I was expecting a "wild crowd", and the crowd did not disappoint. I would say well over 2500 people packed the club for a night of outrageous rock-n-roll.
Opening the show was Dope, a band I personally have not heard much of, but they started the night off right. Even though only getting about 30 minutes of stage time, they put on an entertaining show, which included a rocking cover of the old Billy Idol tune "Rebel Yell". I was disappointed they did not play the song "Sick", which is a tune I am familiar with and enjoy. They did play a song called "Die MF Die". I was thinking, with this crowd, that may not be such a good idea...but I did not see anyone follow through with the "gist" of the song.
Next up was Atlantas own Sevendust. Again, I am not that familiar with this band, and not knowing any of their tunes, I found it a little hard to really enjoy the music. They are extremely heavy, but they are very active on stage, and entertaining to watch. They do fit in well on a Black Label Society bill, musically and physically! The entire band, just like Zakk Wylde, looks like they are work out maniacs, spending plenty of time in the gym lifting weights and staying in shape. Sevendust surely pleased the fans who were there to see them, as they played a nice set, that was probably close to an hour long.
Finally, it was time for the headliner, and the reason I was there...Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society. When the huge BLS banner hiding the stage was removed, I immediately noticed the huge wall (and I mean, it was a WALL!) of double headed Marshall stacks. The bottom of the drum riser even had more Marshall speaker cabinets. BLS bludgeoned the crowd with an intense wall of sound, and played songs from throughout their catalog. Zakk even set down at the piano for several tunes as well, which was a good break from the metal onslaught.
While at the piano, Zakk dedicated the song "In This River" to his lost friend, Dimebag Darrell, the slain guitarist of Pantera. Huge pictures of Darrell unfurled accross the Marshall stacks. A moving tribute to an assinated brother of rock. Despite this moment, the show was heavy metal madness, with a volume loud enough to rock out the largest of stadiums. In fact, my main complaint would be that the wall of sound constructed by BLS on this night was just that...a wall of sound, where everything roared, but nothing had much clarity, at least to me.
Whoever was doing the sound for BLS just could not seem to get the mix right all night. It was like a constant roar, whereas the Dope set did seem to have a lot of clarity. Voclas and lead guitar stood out when needed, and did not get lost in the sound. To my own amazement, I ended up enjoying Dope more than Black Label, even with not being familiar with many of their tunes. I knew everything BLS did, but it was not as good of a show as I expected, due to the sound issues. Perhaps the building itself was not that conducive to a hard rock show at extreme volume.
Anway, it was good to see Zakk shredding again. He is, in my opinion, one of the better guitar players on the planet. Having not seen him since the 1980's with Ozzy, it was good to see him healthy and strong, doing what he does best. Zakk even played more than his standard Gibson Les Pauls. During the show, he also used a Gibson flying V, and a guitar that looked like a cross between a V and an Explorer. Of course, all of his guitars had the colorful striping finishes.
I should be able to hear again real soon, when the ears stop ringing.
The venue chosen for the concert was a little strange. Located in Duluth, Georgia, about 20 to 25 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, the show was held at a huge (and I mean huge!) bar called "Wild Bills". This night club hosts everything from local cover bands, to nationally known tourinig rock and country acts. And occasionally, hosts "Fight Nights", with ultimate fighting type contests. Needless to say, I was expecting a "wild crowd", and the crowd did not disappoint. I would say well over 2500 people packed the club for a night of outrageous rock-n-roll.
Opening the show was Dope, a band I personally have not heard much of, but they started the night off right. Even though only getting about 30 minutes of stage time, they put on an entertaining show, which included a rocking cover of the old Billy Idol tune "Rebel Yell". I was disappointed they did not play the song "Sick", which is a tune I am familiar with and enjoy. They did play a song called "Die MF Die". I was thinking, with this crowd, that may not be such a good idea...but I did not see anyone follow through with the "gist" of the song.
Next up was Atlantas own Sevendust. Again, I am not that familiar with this band, and not knowing any of their tunes, I found it a little hard to really enjoy the music. They are extremely heavy, but they are very active on stage, and entertaining to watch. They do fit in well on a Black Label Society bill, musically and physically! The entire band, just like Zakk Wylde, looks like they are work out maniacs, spending plenty of time in the gym lifting weights and staying in shape. Sevendust surely pleased the fans who were there to see them, as they played a nice set, that was probably close to an hour long.
Finally, it was time for the headliner, and the reason I was there...Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society. When the huge BLS banner hiding the stage was removed, I immediately noticed the huge wall (and I mean, it was a WALL!) of double headed Marshall stacks. The bottom of the drum riser even had more Marshall speaker cabinets. BLS bludgeoned the crowd with an intense wall of sound, and played songs from throughout their catalog. Zakk even set down at the piano for several tunes as well, which was a good break from the metal onslaught.
While at the piano, Zakk dedicated the song "In This River" to his lost friend, Dimebag Darrell, the slain guitarist of Pantera. Huge pictures of Darrell unfurled accross the Marshall stacks. A moving tribute to an assinated brother of rock. Despite this moment, the show was heavy metal madness, with a volume loud enough to rock out the largest of stadiums. In fact, my main complaint would be that the wall of sound constructed by BLS on this night was just that...a wall of sound, where everything roared, but nothing had much clarity, at least to me.
Whoever was doing the sound for BLS just could not seem to get the mix right all night. It was like a constant roar, whereas the Dope set did seem to have a lot of clarity. Voclas and lead guitar stood out when needed, and did not get lost in the sound. To my own amazement, I ended up enjoying Dope more than Black Label, even with not being familiar with many of their tunes. I knew everything BLS did, but it was not as good of a show as I expected, due to the sound issues. Perhaps the building itself was not that conducive to a hard rock show at extreme volume.
Anway, it was good to see Zakk shredding again. He is, in my opinion, one of the better guitar players on the planet. Having not seen him since the 1980's with Ozzy, it was good to see him healthy and strong, doing what he does best. Zakk even played more than his standard Gibson Les Pauls. During the show, he also used a Gibson flying V, and a guitar that looked like a cross between a V and an Explorer. Of course, all of his guitars had the colorful striping finishes.
I should be able to hear again real soon, when the ears stop ringing.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by RJhog on -
Gordon, I have been to Wild Bills before. It was not for a concert, just a few friends from Augusta went up there to have a good time. You are right, that place is huge. I read somewhere another pretty well known band is playing there soon, but I can't remember who it is. Would you mind sharing any of Wild Bills upcoming concert dates for bands that you think we may be interested in seeing? Don't go to any extra trouble, just if you know some really good band is coming there. Thanks Gordon.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon Williams on -
Great White this Friday, the 24th of April! Have not heard about any other bands possibly on the bill.
By the way, listening to your page right now! Love this old Mothers Finest! What a great live band they were....lots of energy and synergy!
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Permalink Reply by RJhog on
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I was thinking Great White, but I wasn't sure. I'd love to see them, but Fleetwood Mac is Saturday, so Great White won't be happening for me. I am planning on buying their new cd that came out today. Thanks for the info. I have another cd on order by Mother's Finest. Their self-titled debut. I'll post some songs when I get it.
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Permalink Reply by Scandal2000 on -
I liked the first few BLS albums but I have never entirely been able to get into them. I really like Zakk Wylde's Pride and Glory material.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon Williams on
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Yes, I like "Pride And Glory" as well. Its like Zakk took a break from extreme heavy metal, and did a southern rock album, and I know Zakk is a southern rock fan.
But my favorite BLS is "Blessed Hellride". To me, its one of the better lead guitar albums around. Zakk just shreads on this album. But, he does slow it down, with 3 different slower, ballad type songs with piano and accoustic guitar. But overall, just a very heavy record with lots of guitar.
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