It is
impossible to explain my excitement when one of my favorite bands of all time,
Black Label Society, led by guitar messiah Zakk Wylde, announced not only were
they touring, but coming to Syracuse, a scant fifteen minute jaunt down route
81. My lovely fiancée purchased tickets
for me as a Christmas gift, and wound up accompanying me when my brother, the
original recipient of the other ticket, was unable due to the fact that the concert date was moved and his work schedule could not do the same. It’s odd that Black Label Society even made
it to Syracuse, as many bands just refuse to come here (with good reason,
Syracuse is awful). When Motley Crue
came around for their farewell tour, Alice Cooper opened for them on nearly all
of the dates except Syracuse. Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper were set to
play Syracuse a couple years ago but backed out at the last minute and went to
Buffalo instead. Syracuse is like that
girl that everyone knows has herpes that only the desperate guys will fuck. Black Label Society is not desperate though,
they could play anywhere else (and they have!) so the fact that they stopped by
the Salt City made me one happy camper.
First
things first, the venue, the F-Shed, was a roomy place. A decent concert venue if you didn’t factor
in the fact that the sound system was atrocious. This may be one of the worst sounding concerts
in terms of the technical aspect of the show that I have ever been to. Somehow, someway, it didn’t interfere with
Black Label as much as the two opening bands, but shit, it was terrible. It would have to be a great band and a decent
ticket price for me to even consider visiting the F-Shed again.
The first
band, Butcher Babies was beyond bad, in my opinion. I am not a fan of scream-metal bands,
especially ones fronted by women, so my judgment is naturally going to be
colored in this respect, but my goodness, they were bad. Unintelligible, loud for loud’s sake. Hell, any time there are two singers in a
band, I get nervous. With Butcher Babies
it was for good reason. Hatebreed was a
bit more intelligible, but still loud and screamy, and just not my cup of
tea. I am glad they had a relatively
short set as they were not at all what I was there to see.
Now,
the headliner, Black Label Society, did exactly what they do every time. They came out and just tore the roof off the
place from the very beginning. Zakk was
at his absolute best, despite a grueling tour schedule, and the rest of the
band was just awesome. I hate to say it,
because it’s hard to see Black Label without him, but I didn’t even miss Nick
Catanese as his replacement, Dario Lorina stepped in and killed it. Though I will say, next to Zakk, Dario looks
emaciated and it makes for a funny side by side image.
The
music was superb, with Zakk mixing it up, with a little from nearly every album
(though I don’t remember much from Order
of the Black which is a shame). Zakk
even played piano for “In This River” while Lorina tickled the ivories for “Angel
of Mercy”. It was a solid a night of
music as I can remember seeing in a long time, even with the auditory headaches
of the F-Shed. If you have the
opportunity, I cannot recommend a show any more highly than Black Label Society. This may be one of the best concerts you ever
go to, seriously.
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