I always say that one of my favorite parts of a concert is right before the band comes on. Lights go out, intro video or music starts to play. It’s such an adrenaline rush. A7x was no exception; they had my heart racing. The curtain was down at the Oakdale Theater for at least 45 minutes. All I could see was a bright red light shining through the bottom of the curtain. Then dry ice started to seep through and I look over at my friend Anthony and say “Here we go dude!” “It’s time!” We waited for this show for a few months and it was finally here. We were about to listen to real metal played by real musicians.

The lights go out; I jump out of my seat and the curtain goes up. The stage is very reminiscent of Maiden’s Powerslave stage. Two sets of stairs go up to a mini stage behind the drum riser. Five screens play different light shows and random video images. They have a few different back drops that display the logos and the Death Bat.

We hear the organ intro from “Critical Acclaim” off of the self titled CD. Vocalist M. Shadows sits at the small organ with a hood over his head. He looked like the crypt keeper. He then lets out a skin tearing scream that opens the CD. Bodies begin bouncing and the show has finally begun. Guitarists Synyster Gates and Zachy V play like its easy. Their amazing dueling solos come right from the Maiden handbook. They are probably the two best metal guitarists under 40 playing out there now. Johny Christ’s bass playing tears a hole in your heart and The Rev’s drumming is so powerful it makes your whole body shake when he hits the heads. He is also the first drummer that I’ve seen who has three bass drums. My buddy Anthony claims he has 3 legs also.

The second song, “Almost Easy” was just as powerful as the first. The whole place was on their feet. Even the large number of parents who brought their kids to the show were on their feet!

M. Shadows told us right away that we were going to hear some old songs and new ones. We were treated to tracks from Waking the Fallen and the standards from City of Evil.

A few songs in, Shadows said that he wanted to apologize for not coming to play Oakdale earlier and that we were a “fucking awesome” crowd. Does he say that at every show? Probably. Do I care? No! We were also told that they were definitely coming back and that we would have a new CD next time.

I knew that we were going to get an encore. I was excited that they chose “A Little Piece of Heaven”. This song to me is what the inside of Alice Cooper’s brain looks like. I suggest going to You Tube and watching the video. If you’re a fan, you’ll love it. If you’re not a fan,y ou may become one or you’ll probably be offended like this girl I recently came in contact with. She told me that after seeing the video she would never support A7x again! Why wouldn’t you support a band who has a song about a man who wants to propose to his girl, freaks out when she says no, kills her, eats her heart, has sex with her corpse, and now has to deal with her again because she comes back and does the same thing to him? The corpses get married and go on a joint killing spree. Personally, I think that’s the most romantic song ever.

* The Oakdale Theater’s name was changed to The Chevrolet Theatre. For personal reasons I refuse to call it that.

Official Avenged Sevenfold Website

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