Orion Music + More presents… Avenged Sevenfold
One of the highlights of Orion Music festival held by the mighty Metallica was seeing A7X playing at the same fest.
One of interesting stage moves was having A7X close out the side stage FUEL on Sunday night before Metallica came on. I know some fans were having doubts about this but
I saw this as a brilliant move; A7X is now at the point they can headline festivals as they did last year with Uproar and touring big venues across the globe. So seeing them still play with the sun still out and a smaller stage than the Main stage was a dream for me after a few years covering them. It felt like I was seeing them on tour from when they first started touring.
As the day wore on, the Fuel stage kept getting more and more crowded to the point when A7X came on, there were more fans there than at the main stage. Lars Ulrich came on to introduce them and shared how they toured with A7X overseas and was impressed at how many metal fans where lined up waiting to see them come on.
Playing two dates before this show and today being the last show for awhile as they take a break to rest up and possibly recording of new tracks, fans from all over came to Atlantic City to see the lineup of the decade. With the opening notes to Nightmare playing, the guys walked on stage to a huge roar of approval as. They looked onto a sea of people and the skyline of the casinos in the background.
M.Shadows was all over the stage and under his bandana and cap, you could see his hair growing long from the time off; his voice was on point and sounded great. Zacky Vengeance & Synyster Gates joined several times to play to the crowd. Gates, as always, in his playful mood as he made faces as he looked down to the photographers. Johnny Christ and Arin IIejay provided the tight drumming and bass playing A7X is known for. Seeing them all so close got the crowd into it, as mosh pits tried to form in the packed grounds.
They played 9 songs and a little over an hour; songs included Critical Acclaim, Welcome to the Family, Almost Easy and Buried Alive. Interesting note: one of the fans in the crowd was also at the show in Green Bay, WI last year when he was called on stage to sing-along during Buried Alive; no repeat but had to have been a great moment. They ended with, Beast and the Harlot and A Little Piece of Heaven which ended in fireworks being set off on the side of the stage.
Going past their set time, they came out for an encore of Unholy Confessions. By this time, I was waiting by the stage Metallica was going to be on and noticed not many people had left the side stage, leaving the main stage sparse with people. Once more fireworks went off as A7X finished up, leaving the crowd wanting more and making their mark at the Orion Festival that only one other band could match and beat Metallica.
Hoping to not wait till 2013 to see A7X again, but if so, there was no better sendoff than was played tonight.
Review & photos by Peter Lizano
1 comment
Dorothy Vandenberg says:
Jul 3, 2012
Being a huge fan of Avenged and a huge fan of live shows, I really appreciate this site and the people that report on the shows for this site. When I cannot make it to a show, I like to hear about it and see the live action shots. Thank you Peter for your excellent work!