Concerts: Black Label Society / Black Tusk / Crobot @ Rock City Nottingham, 18th Feb 2015 - Sea of Tranquility - The Web Destination for Progressive Music!

Main Menu

Concerts:

Black Label Society / Black Tusk / Crobot @ Rock City Nottingham, 18th Feb 2015

Posted on Monday, March 09 2015 @ 08:39:07 CDT by Dean Pedley

This year there seems to be some killer tour line ups being churned out and this time BLS have brought quite the quandary in terms of support bands. SoT once again raced off to Rock City for some midweek madness.

I have to say I've been looking forward to seeing Crobot since hearing them some months ago and from the off I am not disappointed. The Pennsylvanian's come out of the blocks full force with their delightfully vintage visceral sound. Frontman Brandon Yeagley epitomises the soul and feel of the 70's but giving it his own modern twist. Their debut album, 'Something Supernatural' is a cracking slab of music and much more powerful live. The band is visually captivating, throwing themselves all over their allotted stage area. Their eight song set finishes with the crowd well and truly won over; Crobot will and should be huge.

Black Tusk have had a hard time recently, after losing their bass player Jonathan Athon to a motorcycle accident, going out on the road must seem slightly weird without him. While the sound of the three piece is solid and loud I can't help think I've just been listening to the same song for 45 minutes. It's sludgy, stoner mish mash of Metal is perfectly played but to be honest I'm bored off my tits! Good band but following Crobot was probably a mistake.

With a huge BLS curtain draped in front of the stage Zakk & Co take to the stage with sirens blasting and a P.A loud enough to wake the dead in other countries. There's no denying, Papa Zakk has done well since leaving Ozzy and continues to churn out albums at alarming rates. New kid Dario Lorina who replaced long time guitarist Nick Catanese is blending in well with his stick thin frame next to Zakk's wrestler arms. Playing a well-chosen set with a sprinkling of tracks from latest album 'Catacombs Of The Black Vatican' seems to keep the Bezerkers very happy. Sadly a 20 minute fret wank brings a slight bump in the set, I don't mind guitar solos but this is simply noise wankery.

Luckily all is forgiven when the subdued tones of 'Angel Of Mercy' & 'In This River' gently flow over the audience and almost brings a tear to the eye. 'Concrete Jungle' & the mighty 'Still Born' brings the deafening set to its climax. For all of his talent Zakk may have to adjust the set slightly on his return later in the year for Bloodstock festival, tonight however belonged exclusively to Crobot who truly stole the show.

Words & Pictures Mark Davies