Hard Rock Casino and Vinyl Las Vegas present Zakk Wylde.
Zakk Wylde brought his Book Tour of Doom to Vinyl Las Vegas, inside the Hard Rock Casino, and the Berzerkers were there en force to check out the variety show, where Wylde treated the fans to an intimate night of acoustic music, select readings and stories of chaos from the road. The stripped down stage featured Wylde and a stable of guitars, and the night started with acoustic versions of select Black Label Society, Pride & Glory and Zakk’s solo tunes, and also some very impressive piano solos before Wylde took a break to read from his book Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide to World Tour Domination. Reading directly from the book didn’t last long before Wylde merged into personal stories from the road, drinking tales, all complete with a multitude of F-bombs and dirty anecdotes, and the small room had a feel of listening to someone tell tales in your living room and you sharing a drink and laughing along. Wylde took another turn at the piano after storytelling and gave the fans a tear-jerking version of “In This River” and more acoustic versions from his personal library, intertwined with dramatic acoustic and electric solos. The night came toward a close with a Q&A session where the microphone was handed out for questions from the crowd, and to the surprise of the Berzerkers the first one up to the mic was Guns N Roses’ guitarist DJ Ashba, who after keeping a low profile in the back kicked off the Q&A telling Zakk he was a “great influence” and “Axl says hello”. The crowd dived in and questions ranged from favorite tour moments to several about Zakk’s times and tales with Dimebag Darrel, and Wylde accommodated the room with stories that made everyone laugh and cry. Just as we thought the night was over there Wylde jumped back on the piano for another extended solo, and finished the night with BLS tunes “Rust” and “Stillborn”.
