Zakk Sabbath outshines BLS in Vancouver as Zakk Wylde kills with his Ozzy/Iommi thing

photo by the newt

By Steve Newton

My metal-lovin’ nephew Jeff took me to see Black Label Society at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre last night, but I came away as more of a diehard Zakk Sabbath fan than anything else.

For the uninitiated, Zakk Sabbath is the Black Sabbath cover band that BLS singer-guitarist Zakk Wylde first put together back in 2014. The power trio–which features Wylde singing like Ozzy Osbourne while blasting forth the killer riffs of Tony Iommi–has released two studio albums and tours intermittently.

On the current Black Label Society North American jaunt, Las Vegas hard-rock band Dark Chapel–which includes BLS guitarist Dario Lorina–opens the show, then BLS bassist John DeServio and drummer Jeff Fabb join Wylde in doing double-duty with Zakk Sabbath, blowing diehard Black Sabbath fans away with a choice selection of that legendary band’s early-’70s tunes.

And blow them away they did, especially me. Those five classic Sabbath songs were the highlight of the evening in my book.

Don’t get me wrong–Black Label Society were mighty impressive last night as well. Whether tearing through earlier BLS tunes like “Suicide Messiah”, or “Name in Blood”–the fiery opening track off its soon-to-be-released Engines of Demolition album–the quartet was smokin’.

jeff sutherland photo

The crowd was particularly responsive to “In This River”, the 2005 ballad Wylde always dedicates to his old drinkin’ buddy, slain Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, and the scorching version of “No More Tears”, which Wylde cowrote and played on for Ozzy Osbourne’s 1991 multiplatinum album of the same name.

But it was Zakk Sabbath’s covers of songs from the first four Black Sabbath albums that really won me over. Looking like a Celtic biker from hell in patched leathers, big boots, and a yellow plaid kilt, Wylde led the band through “Children of the Grave”, “Snowblind”, “Fairies Wear Boots”, “N.I.B.”, and “War Pigs”.

jeff sutherland photo

The diminutive DeServio–shades of Spinal Tap’s Derek Smalls–did himself proud recreating Geezer Butler’s wah-wah bass intro to “N.I.B.”, and during that wicked tune from Sabbath’s self-titled 1970 debut Wylde coaxed the crowd into raising their fists and hollering “Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!” until he thought the late Prince of Darkness had been suitably acknowledged.

The biggest highlight of the show for me came during the performance of “War Pigs”, the anti-war song from Sabbath’s other 1970 release, Paranoid. While taking an extended guitar solo on that tune, Wylde walked into the crowd, striding right past me down the aisle, before stopping in his tracks, putting his guitar behind his head, and continuing to shred. Then, while still playing behind his noggin, he stomped back towards the stage, which is when I snapped the photo you see at the top of this review.

That’ll go down as one of the top moments in my recent concert-going life–right up there with that time last summer when my fave band, the Drive-By Truckers, gave me a shout-out at the Commodore.

If only the foreboding lyrics to “War Pigs”–that whole “Evil minds that plot destruction/Sorcerer of death’s construction” thing–weren’t so shockingly relevant to today’s war swine and the grim situation they’ve got us into.

Day of Judgment, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercies for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
Oh, Lord, yeah

You said it, Ozzy.

jeff sutherland photo

To hear the full audio of my interviews with Zakk Wylde from 1994, ’96, and 2005 subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 600 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.