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04/03/2009 Black Label Society, Sevendust, Dope, The Infinite Staircase (Rochester, NY @ The Main Street Armory)
By Eric | April 4, 2009 9:36 am
Adam and I arrived within five minutes of each other, and much like Shinedown, there really was no line to speak of, and the place wasn’t that crowded at first. We milled around during the first band, The Infinite Staircase. A four-piece from Staten Island, they sounded pretty decent, nothing earth-shattering. Apparently their drummer is Sebastian Bach’s son.
Up next was a band I’d hoped I’d never seen again: Dope. They’re still not any better, and mercifully, they only got a half-hour set. Die Motherf*cker Die, indeed.
Adam and I waded into the thick of things during set change, and after chatting up a couple of the people around us, the full-contact sport known as a Sevendust live show began. And they switched the set up a little bit! Opened with Inside, but then we got Alpha! Definitely a fun live song. Then one of the more tiring streches in a 7d set I’ve experienced: Denial, Pieces, Clueless, Waffle. They brought it down a quarter of a notch with Suffocate and Praise, into Ugly, then finished it up with Bitch and the usual frenzied closer, Face To Face. Sevendust show number 12 was easily one of the more enjoyable ones, everyone down front was very cool, most everyone was a 7d fan, so lots of screaming along too! Awesome awesome awesome.
We got out, caught our breath, got a drink, got a picture of the Sevendust setlist from the soundboard (didn’t get to keep it, ah well), and camped out in front of the soundboard to watch Zakk and the Doom Crew do their thing. I had not seen Black Label Society to this point, and I’m glad I caught them this time. To me, they don’t seem like the type of band where you’re going to be in the pit and throw down; even though they’re heavy, they’re more of a chill type band, sit back, chug some beers, and have a good time. And we did. There’s a reason that Zakk Wylde is considered one of the premier guitar players in metal today, and we saw it. Every song had great solos, the trademark squeals, and the rest of the band was more than capable at backing him up. What stood out to me was the ease with which Zakk transitioned to playing the piano for the slower numbers (Damage is Done and In This River), and the fact that he can do that just as well, and he can actually sing when called upon (I’d argue that most of the regular “heavy” BLS songs are not stunning vocal displays). After “Fire It Up”, we were treated to an extended Zakk solo (literally, it was just him up there), which culimnated in a great take on the National Anthem. Zakk seemed genuinely appreciative of the crowd, constantly referring to “the Rochester chapter of the Black Label Society” to much crowd approval. No worries about curfew on this night, as the show didn’t end until about 12:40am! It was a great show, great crowd, and a fun night all around. Apparently BLS has been playing the same setlist for the last couple years, with slight variations, and tonight was no different. But since I’ve never seen it, it was quite alright by me!
BLS Setlist: Black Mass Reverends, Destruction Overdrive, Faith Is Blind, The Rose Petalled Garden, Suicide Messiah, Genocide Junkies, Damage Is Done (on piano), In This River (on piano), Fire It Up, Guitar Solo / Star-Spangled Banner, Stoned And Drunk, The Blessed Hellride (both Zakk and Nick had double-necked guitars for this one!), Concrete Jungle, Stillborn.
Topics: Concerts | Tags: 2009, Black Label Society, Dope, Main Street Armory, rochester, Sevendust, The Infinite Staircase | 11 Comments »
April 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Did you see the dude who brought a monkey into the place and was walking it around up in rafters? Strange….
April 6th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I think you could use that list to play Mad Libs.
April 6th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
@PJ: No, someone brought a monkey? That’s insane.
@Lisa: An all song title / band name Mad Libs would be a riot!
April 10th, 2009 at 7:22 am
“Up next was a band I’d hoped I’d never seen again: Dope. They’re still not any better, and mercifully, they only got a half-hour set. Die Motherf*cker Die, indeed.”
i agree. oh MAN do I agree. cocaine, heroin, alcohol and vikodin, eh? bang bang bang and YOU’RE dead, frackers.
no enemy. that surprised me. i like hearing at least ONE of enemy, black, or crucified…
was the stage setup awkward at your venue, what with Morgan’s setup being in front-ish, so there wasn’t much room for the guys to run amok?
April 10th, 2009 at 7:35 am
@Krista: If you’ve ever read any of my old, old reviews, you’d see the Dope hate from ’01 (especially this show). They are one of those bands that I can’t believe still exists, let alone gets a record deal.
Me and my buddy were suprised by no Enemy as well. They didn’t play Black at the radio show last year, so I wasn’t so surprised there. But like I said up top, the stretch of Denial, Pieces, Clueless, Waffle all in a row was AWESOME.
And the stage was rather big, so it was the usual jump-fest. No worries there.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:31 am
yeah, my hate of dope goes back to when they were opening (with static x and chevelle) for sevendust, and then pm5k. then staind. then cold a few years later. man it was like they just kept showing up to piss me off!
April 15th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
i think all of you are closed minded assholes and pussys..dope maybe not super cool and still have that early ninty nintys sound but they are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than sevendust,come on sevendust suck dick
April 17th, 2009 at 7:16 am
I agree with you 100% about Dope. I attended the 4/10/09 show in NYC. To be a good sport, I tried my hardest to show at least some interest when they came on stage. That is until they did a cover of NWA’s “F*ck the police.” I lost all respect for them right then and there. Only perps hate the police.
7D was AMAZING, as usual. I was there for them (although it was a great bonus to see Zakk Wylde shred his guitar up close). They performed the same set list at the NYC show. I can’t wait for them to headline.
Anyway, great review!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:43 am
To clarify, I agree with “woopop’s” review, NOT with the oh-so-intelligent post by “Nick” (that, unfortnately, my reply is under).
April 18th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Hey Krys,
Thanks for checking out the site, and no worries, I completely understood who you were agreeing with 🙂 My Dope turning point was way back in 2001, at a show with Cold, where Edsel was pretty much a dick. Usually I can overlook crappy music if you put on a good show, but they couldn’t do that either.
April 25th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Hey,
Just checked out your 2001 Cold review. All those comments you made about Dope were hysterical – and so spot on.
As a side note, COLD is one of my favorite bands. Was so incredibly happy when they did their reunion tour. They’re supposed to be touring again in the Fall of 2009. They’re releasing their “very last album.” Such a shame they broke up. If you go to my youtube you can check out some vids from the show: http://www.youtube.com/angrychairrapture
=)