Black Label Society (w/ Corrosion Of Conformity, Red Fang) @ Town Ballroom (Buffalo, NY) on February 5, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

First off, I’d like to acknowledge what an amazing package this tour is. Black Label Society in a modest sized Buffalo, NY venue WITH Corrosion Of Conformity AND Red Fang? Amazing!!! This show had my money the day it went on sale. Half of the tour featured EyeHateGod as show openers, another killer band. I’m more of a Red Fang zealot, and thus went to Buffalo instead of Toronto. As fate would have it, Zakk wound up being sick for the January Montreal and Toronto dates and couldn’t perform.

Both Black Label Society and Corrosion Of Conformity are on the road supporting new albums, conveniently released a week apart in January of this calendar year. Both of these albums are truly incredible releases; High points in both band’s respective catalogs of studio releases. We were fortunate to get to hear some of this new material live tonight. Black Label Society performed “Trampled Down Below” and “All That Once Shined” and premiered a live version of “A Love Unreal” for the Buffalo crowd. Corrosion Of Conformity dropped “The Luddite” amidst their shorter set of ten songs; their other nine tracks performed this evening being focused more on keeping fans of their back-catalog happy.

Red Fang strolled out on stage at 7:30 pm and performed for about a half an hour – dropping live versions of songs like “Blood Like Cream,” “Into the Eye,” “Wires,” and “Hank Is Dead” for early attendees in the venue. Aaron Beam thanked Black Label Society for including them on this run of live dates and expressed how great it was to be on the road with such great bands.

Corrosion Of Conformity delivered just over an hour of live tunes, servicing some of their most treasured songs in a painfully-too-short time slot. Pepper Keenan introduced “Vote With a Bullet” as being a thing now more relevant than it ever was, and crowd favourite “Clean My Wounds” boasted a lengthy guitar jam that fans in the room all seemed to totally enjoy. I was bummed that Reed Mullin was absent this evening. I believe he is due for surgery to help with some long-standing leg problems. He was missed tonight.

Black Label Society delivered a killer 90-minute set of dominating riffage tonight. Cast against a large BLS logo, Jeff Fabb sat up on a riser perched in between stacks of beautiful speakers as he bashed out the beats to this evening’s monumental tracks. Zakk Wylde stood atop his riser (positioned to his left beside his microphone) numerous times throughout tonight’s show to twirl his head about maniacally as he performed each song’s intricate guitar solo. The dynamic duo of John DeServio and Dario Lorina flanked on either side of Wylde divvied out the accompanying guitar riffs with signature panache as swelling red, and yellow lights and decibels of killer BLS material poured out over everyone in the Town Ballroom in a most excellent fashion.

The self-described Grimmest Tupperware Party On Earth delivered the goods this evening. A $40 ticket to see three great bands back-to-back like this is simply money well spent. The show was sold out, and everyone in the room was chanting along with Zakk Wylde, John DeServio, Jeff Fabb, and Dario Lorina for the majority of the evening’s performance.

Notes:
One: The lighting this evening was tragic. Apologies for my dimly lit and blurry images. They are an accurate representation of the evening’s show aesthetic however, and some of them work in this fashion.

Two: I wanted more new stuff!! The new COC album No Cross No Crown is so badass. I could have done with hearing another two or three of those killer tracks. Even them playing the Queen cover of “Son And Daughter” would totally slay live. Same goes here with Zakk; “Bury Your Sorrow,” “The Betrayal” and “The Day That Heaven Had Gone Away” from Grimmest Hits would totally sound killer live. Maybe next tour?

Corrosion Of Conformity Setlist:

01. Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo)
02. The Luddite
03. Seven Days
04. Vote With a Bullet
05. Long Whip/Big America
06. Who’s Got the Fire
07. 13 Angels
08. Broken Man
09. Albatross
10. Clean My Wounds

Black Label Society Setlist:

01. Genocide Junkies
02. Funeral Bell
03. Suffering Overdue
04. Bleed for Me
05. Heart of Darkness
06. Suicide Messiah
07. Trampled Down Below
08. All That Once Shined
09. Room of Nightmares
10. Bridge to Cross
11. In This River
12. The Blessed Hellride
13. Fire it Up
14. A Love Unreal (Live Premiere)
15. Concrete Jungle
16. Stillborn