Black Label Society Slays in Lynchburg, Virginia

Photography by Out with Ambler

Review by Paige James

Phase 2 in Lynchburg, Virginia was taken quite literally by storm on Friday, August 3, 2018. Even in rainy weather, the turn out for this show was astounding. Lead singer Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society was on location hours before the 7:30pm show to sign autographs, take pictures, and chat with loyal metal fans. This show came very close to selling out and was not an event to miss.

At 7:30 PM, a New Orleans based band entitled EYEHATEGOD started off the evening’s musical entertainment. They rocked it out with a cool southern yet punk rock and blues sound.

The night ramped up a good three notches when Corrosion of Conformity came to the stage. They played it OUT with so many great songs. From start to the end of set, the crowd was completely enthralled and enthused with the entire performance. COC began with Bottom Feeder, and moved to Broken Man, then Wolf Named Crow leading into Albatross and finishing strong with Clean My Wounds.

At 10:00 PM, the infamous Black Label Society came to stage fully prepared to rock listeners for an entire two hour set. A total of 17 songs were played by the kilt adorned Viking Wylde. Starting strong with Genocide Junkies and Funeral Bell the crowd went ABSOLUTELY wild for Wylde. BLS fed off the crowd energy and rewarded fans by only playing harder as they transitioned into Bleed for Me, All that Once Shined, switching to Room of Nightmares, and over to The Blessed Hellride. The night’s music got completely Wylde as Zakk took his guitar and came out in the crowd during Fire it Up. He was up on the table tops, playing his fingers off and even made the executive decision to scurry up to the folks in VIP Lounge playing his instrument over the railing during the song. After making his way back to the main stage, most fans thought the show was coming to a close however Black Label Society finished strong by playing Concrete Jungle and widely known and popular hit Stillborn.

This was by far an amazing concert that should absolutely be seen when these bands make their way to a venue anywhere close to you.