Monday, April 04, 2005
Black Label Society
Webster Theater, Hartford, CT, 4/3/05
Saw BLS at the Webster in Hartford last night - another great performance by Zakk & company. Sold out show was completely packed (though the crowd thinned out at the end). To start things off, some guy came out and did various Pantera riffs. He sounded pretty good, it was a nice gesture and in all honesty, was better than seeing a lame opening act. Meldrum didn't impress me, but they didn't really bother me either. They finished with a cover of "Walk" by Pantera...nice idea, but they didn't quite pull it off.
BLS's set was what really counted, and they didn't disappoint. The setlist was as follows:
Stoned & Drunk
Destruction Overdrive
Been A Long Time
Funeral Bell
Suffering Overdue
In This River
Suicide Messiah
Demise Of Sanity (order may be wrong on this one)
Spread Your Wings
T.A.Z./Acoustic solo
Mama, I'm Coming Home (crowd sing along, Zakk just played guitar)
Spoke In The Wheel
Fire It Up
Stillborn
Genocide Junkies
Sounded great as usual, a lot of jamming within and between songs. Zakk's guitar wasn't loud enough initially, but it sounded fine shortly into the set. "In This River" was incredible, decicated to Dimebag, with an extended solo in the intro and at the end of the song. "Suicide Messiah" also had a much longer solo after the pause that follows the last chorus. Very glad to see Zakk jam on the acoustic guitar for a while, a nice change from the usual solo I had seen in other shows. It was amusing when the crowd was trying to sing along to "Mama, I'm Coming Home"...there would be some mumbling at the beginning of each verse, then everybody would remember the words by the end. "Spoke In The Wheel" ended with the whole band joining and Zakk wailing away for quite a while. The heavier stuff obviously sounded excellent as always, but I think this setlist was a better with a few mellower songs and more improvised playing by Zakk. I would obviously love to see more from Sonic Brew, but I understand why he plays the newer material. He always puts on a great show no matter what, his guitar playing and overall showmanship make up for any problems with the setlist.
The crowd wasn't as wild as the last time he played the Webster. That 2002 show, along with Jerry Cantrell at Lupos in Providence, were definitely the two roughest shows I've ever been to. The crowd were still into it though. The long wait between Meldrum and BLS (at least an hour) probably had something to do with the lack of moshing, etc. My initial guess was that Zakk was watching the end of the Yankee game before he went on, but I could be wrong - word on the street is that he was out on the town, which wouldn't be surprising either. Overall a real solid show, just what I expected. Much better in a small club then seeing him on Ozzfest, still can't wait to see BLS again though.
Next up - Sevendust? Velvet Revolver? Audioslave? Hopefully all three (not likely - Audioslave is sold out), but at least two of those shows would be great. Scroll down for my Queens of the Stone Age reviews. I also may chime in with some thoughts/analysis on the current MLB seaons, as well as next year's UConn men's basketball team (sans Charlie Villanueva). Stay tuned...
Webster Theater, Hartford, CT, 4/3/05
Saw BLS at the Webster in Hartford last night - another great performance by Zakk & company. Sold out show was completely packed (though the crowd thinned out at the end). To start things off, some guy came out and did various Pantera riffs. He sounded pretty good, it was a nice gesture and in all honesty, was better than seeing a lame opening act. Meldrum didn't impress me, but they didn't really bother me either. They finished with a cover of "Walk" by Pantera...nice idea, but they didn't quite pull it off.
BLS's set was what really counted, and they didn't disappoint. The setlist was as follows:
Stoned & Drunk
Destruction Overdrive
Been A Long Time
Funeral Bell
Suffering Overdue
In This River
Suicide Messiah
Demise Of Sanity (order may be wrong on this one)
Spread Your Wings
T.A.Z./Acoustic solo
Mama, I'm Coming Home (crowd sing along, Zakk just played guitar)
Spoke In The Wheel
Fire It Up
Stillborn
Genocide Junkies
Sounded great as usual, a lot of jamming within and between songs. Zakk's guitar wasn't loud enough initially, but it sounded fine shortly into the set. "In This River" was incredible, decicated to Dimebag, with an extended solo in the intro and at the end of the song. "Suicide Messiah" also had a much longer solo after the pause that follows the last chorus. Very glad to see Zakk jam on the acoustic guitar for a while, a nice change from the usual solo I had seen in other shows. It was amusing when the crowd was trying to sing along to "Mama, I'm Coming Home"...there would be some mumbling at the beginning of each verse, then everybody would remember the words by the end. "Spoke In The Wheel" ended with the whole band joining and Zakk wailing away for quite a while. The heavier stuff obviously sounded excellent as always, but I think this setlist was a better with a few mellower songs and more improvised playing by Zakk. I would obviously love to see more from Sonic Brew, but I understand why he plays the newer material. He always puts on a great show no matter what, his guitar playing and overall showmanship make up for any problems with the setlist.
The crowd wasn't as wild as the last time he played the Webster. That 2002 show, along with Jerry Cantrell at Lupos in Providence, were definitely the two roughest shows I've ever been to. The crowd were still into it though. The long wait between Meldrum and BLS (at least an hour) probably had something to do with the lack of moshing, etc. My initial guess was that Zakk was watching the end of the Yankee game before he went on, but I could be wrong - word on the street is that he was out on the town, which wouldn't be surprising either. Overall a real solid show, just what I expected. Much better in a small club then seeing him on Ozzfest, still can't wait to see BLS again though.
Next up - Sevendust? Velvet Revolver? Audioslave? Hopefully all three (not likely - Audioslave is sold out), but at least two of those shows would be great. Scroll down for my Queens of the Stone Age reviews. I also may chime in with some thoughts/analysis on the current MLB seaons, as well as next year's UConn men's basketball team (sans Charlie Villanueva). Stay tuned...
