On Saturday night, the Black Label Bezerkus concluded at the Warfield in San Francisco, California. The show was headlined by heavy metal axe master Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society, with Finnish metal band Children of Bodom and bluesy hard rockers Clutch serving some auditory whoop ass of their own.
Clutch opened up with balls. There’s no fireworks or costumes for these guys: they show up to play hard, play loud, and groove your ass to the rafters. Vocalist Neil Fallon has a voice like a grizzly and a beard that makes it look as if he lives in a mountainside cave. Guitarist Tim Sult rocks dirty chords and warm licks with, naturally, a Gibson Les Paul. Bass guitarist Dan Maines and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster hold it all together. During their set, there wasn’t a still body in the house; these guys really set the tone for the evening.
The lights turned dimly purple. Up next was Children of Bodom with their own brandon of Northern European metal madness, falling somewhere between death metal and prog metal. Lead vocalist/guitarist Alexi Laiho’s raspy vocals flew on top of shredding guitars and hard-hit drums, with keyboards and synth weaving spectrally through it all. These guys are no garage band, clearly taking a more classically influenced path.
A curtain with the Black Label Society insignia dropped in front of the stage, and moments later it shot upward as Zakk Wylde and his ear-wrecking crew took the stage. Zakk and the boys were in proper form, with squealing pinch harmonics and much chest-pounding. At about halfway into the set, Zakk took a break from singing to make his guitar do so, soaring into the kind of solo that has made him a metal god. Another highlight was when a piano was rolled out on stage for “In This River,” a number dedicated to fallen metal icon “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Bass guitarist John DeServio picked up a fretless for this one, with Nick Catanese taking over lead guitar, and Will Hunt providing the very subdued percussion. The boys in black picked it back up again with hard-hitters “Stillborn” and “Suicide” to close the show.
From the bands to the crowd, it was clear everyone had a great time. None of the guys on stage gave a hint that this was the last show of a two month-long tour. Kicking ass across country is tough work, and Black Label Society, Children of Bodom, and Clutch are right for the job.
