Avenged Sevenfold
August 11, 2017
USANA Amphitheater – Salt Lake City, UT
Avenged Sevenfold, the American heavy metal band announced that they would be touring the U.S in recognition for their new album, The Stage. Tickets were getting sold like crazy in every state the band was touring, including Utah. After six long years, A7X finally made their return to Salt Lake City.
The two bands, Ho99o9 and A Day To Remember, riled up the fans before Avenged Sevenfold could even hit the stage. Ho99o9 opened the night with high energy, getting the crowd started. A Day to Remember kept the high energy going. Insane mosh pits started throughout the entire performance, and many ladies were rocking out while sitting on top of men’s shoulders. However, A Day to Remember really presented something unique that got everyone in the crowd filled with either excitement or curiosity; the band has a special thing they do in each concert for one song, “crowd surfing on crowd surfers”. For the entirety of that one song, there was an insane amount of people standing on top of other people crowd surfing. By the time these two bands ended their performance, everyone was definitely ready and pumped for A7X.
Around 8:50pm, the background music silenced as the stage came to life. The setup of Avenged Sevenfold included digital
The Stage World Tour_8/11/17;SLC, UT
screens all around the stage that presented special images and effects for every song. For the opening song, it was only fitting to have an astral background to represent the theme of the album, The Stage. One by one, the members of the band stepped onto stage as fans screamed with the excitement they’ve been waiting for years to release. As lead vocalist, M. Shadows stepped last on stage, the band went full blast into performing the first two songs, The Stage and Afterlife.
Shadows greeted the crowd with such excitement that everyone was cheering for, “Salt Lake City, how you guys fucking doing this evening? You know I was backstage and I was like I wondered what we played last time.. We haven’t been here in six fucking years! What the fuck is wrong with us?… Alright. Six fucking years.. This song goes out to all you people that waited for us, we appreciate it!… Hail to the King…”
After outstanding performances of the songs Hail to the King, Paradigm and Buried Alive, A7X decided to change the atmosphere of the crowd. The band started to play the song So Far Away, and Shadows spoke words from his heart to his fans that engulfed the entire venue with lighters and cell phones, “… We’re so thankful to have you guys tonight here, but as we have and as I’m sure some of you have, we’ve all lost people from our lives that we wish were here with us tonight. So let’s get those lighters and cell phones in the air and let them know we’re celebrating their lives down here tonight, Salt Lake City!”
As So Far Away ended, the stage dimmed and took a beat before coming alive with the song everyone had been waiting for.. Nightmare. Right as the opening note started, the crowd screamed and prepared themselves. It seemed like every fan sang and cheered along to the lyrics of the song throughout the entirety of it. This excitement from the crowd kept going on throughout the songs God Damn, Almost Easy, and even through Brooks Wackerman’s drum solo.
With the concert coming close to the end, Shadows decided to speak to the riled crowd once more,
“Thank you, thank you.. Did you guys have fun with our friends of Ho99o9 and A Day to Remember? I like this tour man, there’s three bands that sound hell of a lot different, but it seems like you guys enjoyed all of it so that’s good. Okay.. so what the fuck has been going on the last couple of weeks? Uh, are we going to go into fucking war with North Korea? We wrote this song awhile back, but it makes sense today because shit in this world is fucked up. I wish we could all just get along smoke a little herb and hang out. And that’s not possible because humans fucking suck. We want to fight everybody all the time, but not here, not tonight. This is our fucking family, so thank you guys. And why don’t you dance with us when these horns kick in?”
The band performed Sunny Disposition, Warmness on the Soul, Planets, and Acid Rain before thanking Utah for the amazing time, and wishing the crowd a good night. However, fans were determined to receive the encore they had been waiting for the past six years. They ended the night with Bat Country, A Little Piece of Heaven and Unholy Confessions.
Review By: Yesenia Beltran
