[koncert] JARED JAMES NICHOLS & ZAKK WYLDE @ CULTURE FACTORY, 07/06/2016

Many old, but also new fans of southern rock, seventh day of June, the summer of two-tousand and sixteen, booked SDMF holiday in their calendars. The coming of Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt, a.k.a Zakk Wylde, was greatly appreciated by the Croatian audience. Despite the fact that the holiday hasn't yet been officialized by the government, Culture Factory in Zagreb was crowded. After almost thirty years of career, Zakk had finally decided to visit Croatian fans and pompously show us his latest work - Book of Shadows II. The concert began by Jared James Nichols, a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Wisconsin, who started his career only recently. His first EP came out in 2013, while a full-length album of the same name - Old Glory and the Wild Revival was released last year. Exactly at the scheduled time, along with his drummer Dennis Holm and bassist Erik Sandin, Jared bravely walked on stage. To say that the hall was half empty at the moment would be too mild. But that didn't stop the band to lure in all the people from outside, within the first few minutes of their gig. The sound of something the Croatian audience haven't gotten used to, induced the curiosity in those who were at the time of the beginning of the show still drinking last drops of their beers somewhere around the venue. During the show, James showed his enviable musical talent, but also the skill of animating the crowd. Although, we believe, in the audience weren't many people who knew the lyrics and could sing together with the band, catchy melodies, Jared's high quality solos and good communication skills kept the audience interested throughout the show. The fantastic trio got a discrete encore invite, but sadly for us, and we believe the rest of the crowd, they didn't returned on stage. Probably because of the schedule. Kmeeee! Around 21:30 we were gifted by the revelation of long-awaited Zakk Wylde. The audience didn't hide its enthusiasm. On the contrary, the level of loudness at the moment surpassed most of our concert experiences. Considering that southern rock is made mostly for American audience, and that it's not popularized in our region, also that Zakky decided to treat us with the pieces of his solo career, even though Black Label Society is slightly more famous around here, we didn't expect so much of enthusiasm. Let alone the nationalization of a holiday. Wylde impressively sorted out the Book of Shadows domino from the year of '96, starting with Sold my Soul, and later followed by Road Back Home, Between Heaven & Hell, Trowin' It All Away, As Dead As Yesterday and Way Beyond Empty. So it is not to be surprised that the atmosphere in the venue had been sensibly more dynamic during those songs. What followed was Autumn Changes, the first song on the new album - Book of Shadows II, released exactly twenty years after its forerunner with one roman digit less in its name - the album whose presentation was the reason Zakky came to visit Croatia. It seemed as though the audience had gone quieter. However, it was only because of not knowing the new lyrics. Despite of the somewhat apparent lessening of a loudness, each solos were accompanied by a strong, approving howls, especially after their duration transcended a couple of minutes. Speaking of solos, the key moment of the gig was the one in which Wylde finally gone wild and got down from stage and into the crowd, ripping his guitar strings with his nails, teeth and other multi-practical thingies, while his faithful fans were trying to get through the army of securities, just to touch their Messiah. Maybe even took a few pictures, stole his pick, let down a tear or simply be in a trance.

Suddenly everything's gone quiet with the first single of the album - Sleeping Dogs. The concert was over. However, this wasn't all! We've forgotten to mention how Wylde gave us the opportunity to see not only his arsenal of guitars, but also his piano playing skills, and even played a little on his "sabbathian" harmonica. Even though this lineup isn't very different from the one that adorn BLS, the label of multi-instrumentality, Zakk shared with the rest of the band members who proved the dignity of being and playing next to the legendary guitarist. If we were to grade rock 'n' roll, this concert would earn a straight A! The only thing that every nerd has to be blamed for is the lack of communication and the anti social handicap. But, if the knowledge is justified by nonverbal means, we are going to believe that this was the case of nothing else but a successful problem solving. SDMF!!! meli & veda

terapija // 08/06/2016

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