AVENGED SEVENFOLD AT FREEDOM MORTGAGE PAVILION IN CAMDEN
Avenged Sevenfold kicked off the first official day of the “Life Is But a Dream…North American Tour Pt. I” in Camden, NJ at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion. The tour comes to celebrate the new album Life is But a Dream… released on June 2nd. With support from Kim Dracula and Alexisonfire, anyone attending this tour is in for a time of non-stop rocking out.
When Alexisonfire took the stage, the energy in the room exploded. Many may know guitarist/vocalist Dallas Green from his other project, City and Colour, but you’re in for something way different with Alexisonfire. Never succumbing to a break during the set, Alexisonfire jammed through a 10 song setlist, giving fans a ton of energy along the way. Vocalist George Pettit is an absolute madman in his performance, jumping around and headbanging every chance he gets. Alexisonfire was a great opener to have for this tour, and really got the crowd ramped up and ready for Avenged Sevenfold.
In the in-between period while waiting for our headliner to come on, the crowd started to chant the band’s name. You could tell they were getting antsy, anticipating the moment the band would take the stage. The minute the lights dimmed for Avenged Sevenfold, everyone in the audience started screaming. Vocalist M. Shadows took a seat in a chair center stage, wearing a full ski mask that covered his face. Visuals immediately started flashing across the giant screens covering the walls of the stage. Each of the three large screens spanned the length of the walls and from floor to ceiling. Avenged Sevenfold opened up their set with “Game Over”, and moved into “Mattel”, with both of these tracks being the start to the new album as well. Fans immediately began singing along to every word as the members all moved across the stage, and it didn’t take long for crowd surfers to start making their way over the barricade. Next up was “Afterlife”, which never fails to take me straight back to my high school days in a blast of nostalgia that I’m sure many other fans were also feeling. You could tell that many of the people there have been fans of the band for a very long time.
Something to note is that this tour was very no frills. With the exception of the large screens and some platforms, the stage stays empty, allowing the band to freely move around. It’s them and the stage, which isn’t a bad thing at all. There’s zero distractions here to take away from the incredible live sound that Avenged Sevenfold gives to their fans. The riffs are flawless, vocals are pristine, and drums are dead on the whole show. It’s a true rock performance.
Throughout the set they played a healthy mix of tracks from across their discography including some new such as “Nobody” and some old such as “Bat Country” and “Unholy Confessions”. Around the midpoint of the set, “So Far Away'' was introduced with a tear jerking speech, dedicating the song to A7X’s previous drummer, The Rev, who passed away back in 2009. M. Shadows mentioned, “If you live in the moment, time will slow down and you can enjoy the ones you love… It’s something that we didn’t know when we lost Jimmy “The Rev”... You know you think it’s gonna last forever and then reality smacks you in the fucking face.”
Rounding up the set at the end, A7X played “G”, “(O)rdinary”, and “(D)eath”. It was a knockout ending to an already killer show. With the tour having just started, there are plenty of dates left to catch Avenged Sevenfold on the road. Take a look into the stops and make it out to one if you can!
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!