Avenged Sevenfold - Phones 4U Arena, Manchester - November 30 2013 (Live Review)
Friday, 06 December 2013
Written by Heather McDaid
Avenged Sevenfold have had a pretty good year, and to dispute the fact would be to fly in the face of reason. Between selling out Wembley Arena and being confirmed as headliners for Download Festival’s 2014 edition, they also put rock music back at the top of the charts worldwide with ‘Hail To The King’. At Manchester’s Phones 4 U Arena, they wrote another successful chapter.
Five Finger Death Punch, the main support, drew a more than respectable response from the crowd, who sang along gamely throughout, even as frontman Ivan Moody launched into an a cappella Far From Home. Building through Under And Over It and Burn MF through to the climax of The Bleeding, their set was a masterclass in getting in, making an impression and getting out.
Avenged Sevenfold made their entrance to the sleek tones of Shepherd Of Fire, deathbat looming over the arena, and a make-or-break moment fell surprisingly flat as sections of the audience questioned the choice of opening song. But, as the band segued into Critical Acclaim, any fleeting doubts dissipated.
Johnny Christ strutted around the stage from the off, as Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance simultaneously shredded to their heart's delight. M. Shadows, the band’s frontman, practically skipped with excitement at times, but there was an overriding air of confidence as a mind-blowing stage show - complete with pyro - went off around them.
Having paid tribute to Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, the band’s late drummer, the band tackled an emotional Fiction and it was in the second half of the set that the real big hitters came out, split up by a self-indulgent guitar solo from Gates. Bat Country closed the main set before a triumphant encore of of Chapter Four and Unholy Confessions.
As the house lights came up numerous fans vividly debated the setlist, with Beast and the Harlot and Almost Easy notable omissions, and there’s a sense that, with Download on the horizon, it may need some fine tuning. Still, for this night at least, Avenged Sevenfold’s enjoyed a hard-earned celebration.
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