The gods of metal blessed Albany with a visit from guitar legend Zakk Wilde. Extending the holiday season for many, Wylde visited with his Black Sabbath tribute band, Zakk Sabbath, to the NY capital with 2 days left until the New Year. With him came Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens and Led Zepplin tribute band (find a better word) Zoso for a night celebrating the OGs of rock and metal.
Though the line outside was short at first, a never-ending stream of fans began to fill the floor of Empire Live for a sold out performance. First to take the stage were true ladies of metal, The Iron Maidens. The iconic speech from Winston Churchill could be heard prefacing the well known Iron Maiden song Aces High. Vocalist Kirsten Rosenberg sang with the voice and vibrato that would make Bruce Dickinson proud. The Iron maidens rocked their way through a 6 song set of Iron Maidens, arguably, most iconic songs like The Number of The Beast, The Trooper, and Run to the Hills. The crowd cheered as guitarist Nikki Springfield and Shani Kimelman took turns shredding through guitar solos while bassist Wanda Ortiz and drummer Linda McDonald backed Rosenberg on vocals. Finishing out their performance was crowd favorite Run to the Hills, leaving fans cheering as the maidens left the stage.
Switching gears from metal to rock was the band Zoso, paying tribute to the English rock pioneers, Led Zeppelin. Bathed in light atmospheric light, Zoso kicked off their 9 track set with a cover of Good Times Bad Times. Vocalist Matt Jernigan sang with an uncanny resemblance to his Led Zeppelin counterpart Robert Plant as well as the rest of the Zoso band perfected performances of the Led Zeppelin members. Flying around the stage was guitarist John McDaniel playing the complicated guitar solos with ease while bassist Adam Sandling and drummer Bevan Davies completed the Led Zeppelin experience. Like The Iron Maidens before them, Zoso treated the packed house to some of their namesake's most iconic songs. Tracks like The Immigrant Song, Black Dog, and Over The Hills and Far Away had the audience singing along as they watched McDaniel play his heart out during those well known guitar riffs and solos born from the fingers of Jimmy Page. After completing the last song of their performance, Over the Hills and Far Away, the members of Zoso took one last bow to a cheering crowd before making way for the main and most anticipated performance.
Taking a side step from his band, The Black Label Society, Zakk Wylde took his tribute band on the road. With him came bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson and fellow The Black Label Society bandmate and drummer Jeff Fabb, filling in for Joey Castillo. Before hitting the stage for the 13 song set, a recording of Black Sabbath's Supertzar played over the speakers. Not long after Fabb entered the stage with Nicholson following soon after to begin a cover of Supernaut. Wylde made his entrance to a roar from the crowd, brandishing his iconic guitar with the purple and black spiral. Throughout the set, Wylde didn't disappoint, his hands flying across the frets of his guitar during extended solos. As a reminder to anyone who doubted his skill, Wylde would frequently raise his guitar behind his head mid riff without missing a note, his long hair flying. Long hair seemed to be a common theme of the night and Zakk Sabbath was no exception. Both Nicholson and Fabb joined Wylde and frequently let their long locks fly as they treated the audience to classic Black Sabbath songs like Into The Void, Children of The Grave, and N.I.B. Fans young and old raised horns and fists with Wylde's encouragement as he stood on a platform shredding away, stopping only when his solo had finished with his hands raised high and clapping to the beat. The show ended with a cover of one of the most iconic Black Sabbath songs, War Pigs. The cherry on top of this performance was Wylde leaving the stage mid solo to make his way through the crowd to the sound stage. staging above the excited crowd, Wylde shredded away with his guitar resting behind his head and kept it there while making his way back to the stage to finish the song. As the show came to an end, Wylde, Nicholson and Fabb took center stage to take a bow and toss guitar picks and setlists into the crowd, who were eager for more. The venue lights came on as the massive crowd filed out onto the street. Thus ending the night and 2024 with old school heavy music.