Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold with guests, Black Veil Brides, Asking Alexandria, and Hollywood Undead at Resch Center in Green Bay, WI

When I heard A7X was going back on tour after they finished with the Uproar tour, I was hoping to see a Chicago date but this would not be the case.

Only options would be either Madison, WI or Green Bay, WI and since the Green Bay show was going to have Hollywood Undead opening for them I picked this one and glad I did.

The Resch Center is located right next to famed Lambeau Field, as I entered I was greeted by some of the nicest people at any venue I been to and very well organized.

After watching Black Veil Brides put on a mediocre show, Asking Alexandria and Hollywood Undead killing it before A7X came on to show Green Bay who the champs were in the world of Metal.

If you never been to a A7X show before your missing out on one of the best live acts you will see in music, with pyro, props and kick ass musicians.

I been lucky enough to have seen them 4 times now and I always walk away wanting to see more.

As the lights dimmed and the huge curtain hiding the stage fell to reveal a huge death bat that spewed flames out.

Opening the show with Nightmare off the album of the same name, this song starts out slow with eerie music playing before it blast you in the face.

This was followed up with Critical Acclaim one of my favorite songs, I love the fact A7X has not lost its edge as some other bands have done as they have grown bigger and Welcome to the Family where Zacky Vengeance & Synyster Gates come together in the middle of stage and play off each other in almost a guitar duel.

One thing you noticed in a A7X shows is how much the guys enjoying playing up on stage in front of their fans, they are always messing with each other and even Zacky who is more the serious one was drinking Green Bay finest beer on the side and telling his tech how good it was. You can see the brotherhood these guys have and how they like to share it with their fans that come to see them.

They continued with Almost Easy and then what was a fan’s dream moment M.Shadows called up a fan (Ryan) to come up on stage and sing Buried Alive. Shadows asked the crowd would they like for Ryan or him to sing the song, while most of the crowd said Shadows, he said fuck it and let Ryan sing but joked with him saying he would be on the side microphone in case he needed him. Talk about pressure but Ryan did a hell of a job and half way through Shadows did take over to finish up the song.

As they finished Shadows told Ryan to stage dive off into the crowd, as he got into the crowd he crowd surfed in reverse, almost like riding off into the sunset with a memory of a lifetime to keep forever.

This is one thing that separates A7X from other bands I cover. They never allow themselves to settle be it they change the set list at every show or to invite fans on stage to play with them, you will not find another band of this popularity who would do this.

So Far Away was played next, which is a song about losing their drummer The Rev and now has become an anthem for all the fans who have lost someone in their life, this song still gets me every time I hear it.

Afterlife and Second Heartbeat of their 2^nd album and one of the hardest songs to sing, with past vocal issues for Shadows he ripped through it and proved they can still play the metalcore better than anyone.

They finished the night with A Little Piece of Heaven, Bat Country, and intense version of Unholy Confessions. Not to leave out Drummer Arin IIejay and Johnny Christ on Bass because they fill out the sound that make Avenged sound so amazing and IIejay has done a great job filling big shoes.

The encore was Beast and the Harlot and the fans did not want them to end the show, the one regret I have is not hearing any songs from the album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. I hope to one day see A7X play certain cities all 5 albums spread over 2 or 3 days because this would be something I could see them pulling off.

As they guys go on a break after 2 years strong on the road, I have to say it was pleasure covering them this year and I can’t wait till they go back on the road, for fans looking to see them live this year you can check out last tour dates here http://www.avengedsevenfold.com/shows

All Photos Provided by Peter Lizano