Author: Primož Novak
Location: Ljubljana/Kino Šiška/Slovenia
Concert date: 06.06.2016
Ticket price: 26€/30€
It hasn’t even been a year since Zakk Wylde took the stage at the Metaldays festival, where he showed off his crushing power with Black Label Society. With BLS, Zakk is mostly known as the guitarist who really »shreds«. But on every BLS album, Zakk has also shown a tender side with various ballads. Even before Wylde launched BLS, he put out the mellowed-out album Book of Shadows, which showed him in a different light than on his first solo album, Pride and Glory. 20 years after Book of Shadows, Wylde decided to make a second part, once again proving he can make a dark, gentle album that’s more than just music for nursing a hangover. Wylde may have taken a risky step when he hit the road in support of the new album on a tour where he wouldn’t play the familiar BLS tunes, only songs from both Book of Shadows albums. But judging by how packed the Kino Šiška hall was, Wylde has a pretty decent base of listeners.
No gig without a support act this time, either. Zakk was accompanied on the tour by Jared James Nichols, who’s these days considered one of the most promising guitarists drawing on the virtues of hard rock and blues. Nichols only has one album and one EP behind him, which maybe isn’t the best indicator at first, but live, Nichols undoubtedly delivers. Especially with his remarkable playing, where he doesn’t use a pick, which makes his grips and soloing all the more impressive. Nichols warmed up the crowd more than solidly and got everything ready for the star of the evening. Stylistically, Nichols isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but he knows how to spice up the whole scene with catchy, punchy songs. He’s definitely a guitarist worth following in the future.
A few minutes before ten, Zakk Wylde took the stage, the legendary guitarist who made his name as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist. On this tour, Wylde played with the same lineup as in Black Label Society. Even though the show was pretty mellow, you couldn’t say the whole thing was dry. With the very first song, Sold My Soul, Wylde closed it out with a long solo spree where he practically showed off all his skills, including playing behind his neck and with his teeth. Wylde definitely put on a real show for lovers of endless virtuoso soloing. The rest of the band tried the whole time to make Zakk’s show as varied as possible, even though all the songs were basically mellow, dreamy, melancholic and occasionally downright syrupy. Besides Wylde, guitarist John DeServio also got plenty of attention, doing a great job on the sonic backdrop with piano, acoustic guitar or even electric guitar when Wylde sat down at the piano. The bassist and drummer didn’t exactly stand out; they filled out the sound nicely, but there were no highlights, especially from the drummer, who didn’t have any inventiveness to spice things up a bit.
Many in the crowd probably hit their peak of the night when Wylde walked out into the audience during Yesterday Tears and pulled off another spectacular solo. That got Wylde more attention and enthusiasm for his mellow repertoire. Wylde more than convincingly carried the show through to the end, with no feeling of routine, even though there were fewer and fewer people in the crowd with every song. Since it’s basically all gentle songs where mostly Wylde’s soloing stands out, it can quickly get boring and predictable, which probably appeals mainly to Wylde’s passionate fans and guitar lovers. Still, with this show Wylde revealed his other, mellow side, once again proving he’s a world-class guitarist who’s willing to try something different. Next time, though, we’d rather see Wylde visit us with Black Label Society and throw the kind of party he’s known for.
photos: Klemen Udovč
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