(House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista FL) On this night of August 12 2022, Black Label Society put on a master class of Southern Metal, anchored by lead vocalist / lead guitarist Zakk Wylde, rhythm guitarist Dario Lorina, bassist John DeServio, and drummer Jeff Fabb.
A huge Black Label Society flag spanned the entire width of the House of Blues stage. Wavering from the a/c units, the flag united all of tonight's concert-goers in the general admission standing room area of the venue. Once the flag was dropped from the ceiling mounts, the Orlando BLS Chapter and its corresponding members of Berserkers watched their Father Zakk blaze through 12 songs, kicked off by Funeral Bell.
With his head-banging hair being tossed from side to side, Wylde was nailing every possible strong guitar-playing pose on that stage while he led the 2,000-person crowd into a frenzy, all while fashioning his trademark kilt standing dead-center on that stage immediately adjacent to his crucifix-adorned microphone stand perched atop of stack of human skulls. Recovering from a slight vocal scare just a few months ago in May during which he had to cancel a couple of shows having temporarily lost his voice, Father Zakk's voice tonight sounded great and soulful.
Wylde looked strong and his raspy voice fully complemented every single different guitar that was rotated into Wylde's hands for each song that got played. However, there were a few moments during the show when he interjected some vulnerability. Occasionally in between songs, he would take a knee and stop in front of the drum set, facing the large cross that was subtly on display throughout the show. During the 7th song, Zakk handed his guitar over to one of the stagehands as he strutted over toward the keyboard on the far end of the stage. In a tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, Zakk played a pretty emotionally tender version of 'In This River' while images of Dimebag and Vinnie were draped over the speaker backdrops. For a few moments, the headbanging stopped and Berserkers were treated to a very heartfelt and genuine part of the show here. As the song concluded, he lugged his way over to find another guitar and he thrashed the hell out of his guitars again!
As we neared the end of tonight's show, in song #10, a guitar duel transpired between himself and Dario, with both musicians erupting into alternating solos, which culminated with both men slowly raising their guitars overhead and eventually both guitarists were playing their instruments behind their heads. 'Suicide Messiah' and 'Stillborn' rounded out the final songs of this set, and it was amazing!
Wylde and Black Label Society played a hard-hitting 12-song set amongst their fraternal brotherhood of loyal fans. I've watched Wylde previously as part of the Generation Axe tour, and he makes every effort to try and draw you into his world with every note that he hits on that stage, and it's very clear that he is catering to, and playing to his beloved fans. He's very entertaining, and he puts on a very powerful musical display both in his straight up Viking-like physical appearance but also in the musicality of his guitar shredding and vocal grittiness.
Great show tonight!
--Bailey Guinigundo, Orlando BLS Chapter
A huge Black Label Society flag spanned the entire width of the House of Blues stage. Wavering from the a/c units, the flag united all of tonight's concert-goers in the general admission standing room area of the venue. Once the flag was dropped from the ceiling mounts, the Orlando BLS Chapter and its corresponding members of Berserkers watched their Father Zakk blaze through 12 songs, kicked off by Funeral Bell.
With his head-banging hair being tossed from side to side, Wylde was nailing every possible strong guitar-playing pose on that stage while he led the 2,000-person crowd into a frenzy, all while fashioning his trademark kilt standing dead-center on that stage immediately adjacent to his crucifix-adorned microphone stand perched atop of stack of human skulls. Recovering from a slight vocal scare just a few months ago in May during which he had to cancel a couple of shows having temporarily lost his voice, Father Zakk's voice tonight sounded great and soulful.
Wylde looked strong and his raspy voice fully complemented every single different guitar that was rotated into Wylde's hands for each song that got played. However, there were a few moments during the show when he interjected some vulnerability. Occasionally in between songs, he would take a knee and stop in front of the drum set, facing the large cross that was subtly on display throughout the show. During the 7th song, Zakk handed his guitar over to one of the stagehands as he strutted over toward the keyboard on the far end of the stage. In a tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, Zakk played a pretty emotionally tender version of 'In This River' while images of Dimebag and Vinnie were draped over the speaker backdrops. For a few moments, the headbanging stopped and Berserkers were treated to a very heartfelt and genuine part of the show here. As the song concluded, he lugged his way over to find another guitar and he thrashed the hell out of his guitars again!
As we neared the end of tonight's show, in song #10, a guitar duel transpired between himself and Dario, with both musicians erupting into alternating solos, which culminated with both men slowly raising their guitars overhead and eventually both guitarists were playing their instruments behind their heads. 'Suicide Messiah' and 'Stillborn' rounded out the final songs of this set, and it was amazing!
Wylde and Black Label Society played a hard-hitting 12-song set amongst their fraternal brotherhood of loyal fans. I've watched Wylde previously as part of the Generation Axe tour, and he makes every effort to try and draw you into his world with every note that he hits on that stage, and it's very clear that he is catering to, and playing to his beloved fans. He's very entertaining, and he puts on a very powerful musical display both in his straight up Viking-like physical appearance but also in the musicality of his guitar shredding and vocal grittiness.
Great show tonight!
--Bailey Guinigundo, Orlando BLS Chapter