The brotherhood of the Almighty Black Label Society brought its POWAH and PAIN to the Chicago chapter in the Grimmest of ways on January 3rd 2018. Loud and Proud is how Zakk Wylde does it to kick off the New Year on an ice-filled, frozen city kind of evening. With Zakk embarking tours supporting Book of Shadows II (eOne), Zakk Sabbath, and of course performing with Ozzy it’s been over 2 years since BLS has taken the Blessed Hellride. The family of the House of Blues Chicago BLS DOOM crew came out in droves and packed the hall to the limit on a sub-zero night in Chicago. The house wasn’t heating up inside, it was burning up! The anticipation of the crowd was insurmountable – ready to rock with Father Zakk and the crew once again.
The evening proved to be a power metal, ear-splitting, very loud night with EyeHateGod getting things started. The crowd was starting to thaw a bit, but once Corrosion of Conformity hit the stage this crowd was ready to come out of the deep freeze. The 2 openers did their job and got this crowd pumped up, with a mosh pit going the HOB crowd was thoroughly thawed and ready to “Fire it Up”!
With the ‘Funeral Bell’ ringing and the BLS intro looming the Almighty Black Label Society took the stage to thunderous roars from the crowd. BLS kicked everything off with ‘Genocide Junkies’ going way back in the archives and kept the crowd pumping song after song. Mid-way through the set BLS touched on a couple of songs from the highly anticipated upcoming release Grimmest Hits (Due out January 19th via eOne) ‘All That Once Shined’ (a heavy power blues song with a Black Sabbath inspired guitar riff) and of course ‘Room of Nightmares’ which was the 1st track released, a truly heavy traditional BLS song that you can’t help but to put your fist in the air and start banging your head!
With having so much time away from the Brotherhood of the Almighty Black Label one would think “What to Expect on this tour?” Expect more of the same – In your face POWAH, classic Zakk Guitar Riffs, PAIN and of course the brotherhood of dedicated fans toting BLS biker cuts dedicated to Society of the Almighty Black Label!
Black Label Society will be on tour now through April 2018 with a little stop on the floating vessel that is Shiprocked! The show does not disappoint and is a much see for 2018!
BLS Setlist:
Genocide Junkies, Funeral Bell, Suffering Overdue, Bleed for Me, Heart of Darkness, Suicide Messiah , Overlord, All That Once Shined, Room of Nightmares, Low Down, Bridge to Cross, In This River, The Blessed Hellride, Fire it Up, Concrete Jungle, Stillborn
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RICK TRIANA