Article and Photos by: Abigail Buckler

Las Vegas, NV — It’s Friday night and a near capacity crowd is on hand at the House of Blues for Black Label Society joined by Eyehategod and Corrosion of Conformity. One thing is certain — the crowd is in for a night of loud music.

The night starts off with Eyehategod, a sludge metal band from New Orleans.  Lead vocalist Mike Williams and guirarist Jimmy Bower have been with this band since the inception.  This starts the night off with a loud bang.  From there, Corrosion of Conformity takes the stage. While this band hails from North Carolina, it is often thought of as a New Orleans band due to front-man Pepper Keenan being from there. It’s good to see these two bands on the same bill as Bower and Keenan are also members of Down with Phil Anselmo. Corrosion is an extremely heavy band with excellent musicianship which makes them an excellent fit for this show. The crowd here is treated to two amazing guitar driven bands, getting the night started off right!

Black Label Society is up next. The curtain drops and fog cannons explode — Zakk Wylde stands behind his skull covered mic stand and proceeds to shred the guitar.  The crowd is mesmerized watching Wylde play.  The songs all seem like an extended guitar solo, but this is what people came for, and there’s no arguing with his skill.  The set churns through song after song at a defining volume.  The highlight for many of the crowd comes when Zakk proceeds to wander through the crowd playing a lengthy solo behind his head. The crowd parts for him like the red sea before he heads back to the stage.

It has been a while since we have seen any of these bands live, with Bower and Keenan busy with Down, and Zakk doing his solo tours and Zakk Sabbath.  It is clear the crowd appreciated seeing these bands again.  Zakk will be going back out with Zakk Sabbath, and Corrosion of Conformity have announced they have a headlining tour coming soon so the fans are sure to be satisfied throughout this next year.