After watching their live show evolve and progress over the years, Avenged Sevenfold has really surpassed, in many ways, the ranks of other major arena bands with their brand new Hail to the King tour. Though their music is already ripping, blazed with relentless smoking hot Synyster Gates riffs and M. Shadows powerfully gravelly vocals, the show is now coupled with a major stage production that rivals the visually stimulating sets we remember from Kiss, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. No view is obstructed like the seating charts may suggest by showing towers of speakers on each front corner of the stage. Instead, the speakers are high off the ground leaving a wide open stage for great views from anywhere in the house.
The Hail to the King tour is beefed up with supporting act, The Deftones, one of frontman M. Shadow’s musical influences. “If you younger fans don’t know much about The Deftones, do yourself a favor go out and buy a bunch of their albums,” Shadows yells out to the crowd. Playing stuff off their more recent albums and of course their signature release White Pony, The Deftones delivered and got the crowd primed and ready to roll for an action packed night that was only just beginning.
Lights off, fans to their feet with deafening cheers. Avenged Sevenfold kicks off their Chicago show at Allstate Arena with the pounding, drum heavy “Shepherd of Fire” off their latest release Hail to the King. Without a moment to waste, Avenged Sevenfold kept it in high gear with one of their fist-in-the-air favorites “Critical Acclaim”. While the band plays, fire is shot up from the stage floor and out from the set’s backdrop. Fire and explosions continue throughout the show at a rapid rate while a full on lightshow and flowing images are displayed to complement each song with a perfect touch. As the band takes on the title track of the new tour and album, a skeletal king somewhere in the neighborhood of two stories high emerges and settles in just behind drummer, Arin Ilejay.
The band plays a good amount from Hail to the King including “This Means War” and the theatrical driven “Requiem” while also taking on several tracks from Nightmare – “Welcome to the Family”, “Nightmare”, “Buried Alive” and an inspired dedication “Fiction” to former drummer James The Rev” Sullivan who passed away in 2009.
Each member had their game faces on and came to play. M. Shadows showed his continuous growth as not only a vocalist but also in displaying a strong presence as unequivocally one of the most commanding frontmen in music today. Bassist Johnny Christ, sporting a black mohawk, thumped his way around the stage fingering one intricate progression after another and riling up the crowd while Zachy Vengeance pulled off one guitar harmony with Synyster Gates showing why they are currently one of the best guitar duos in heavy music. Gates even treated fans to a sizzling guitar solo that turned into an all-out band jam.
Avenged Sevenfold’s set consisted of a majority of newer material from “Nightmare” and “Hail to the King” and I only regretted the band not playing more from their self-titled release Avenged Sevenfold and City of Evil, playing three songs total - “Afterlife”, “Critical Acclaim” and “Bat Country”. Still, no complaints here – the Hail to the King tour is a massive, fist-pumping ride that gets the adrenalin going from beginning to end.
The band did go back in time ten years and rewarded us long timers by cranking out back to back encores from their Waking the Fallen album “Chapter Four” before closing the show with a balls out version of “Unholy Confessions”.
Seeing the Hail to the King tour will convert the curious onlookers and undoubtedly make current fans even bigger fans.
Setlist - Allstate Arena Chicago, IL October 3rd
$11. Shepherd of Fire
$12. Critical Acclaim
$13. Welcome to the Family
$14. Hail to the King
$15. Doing Time
$16. Buried Alive
$17. Fiction
$18. Nightmare
$19. This Means War
$110. Afterlife
$111. Guitar Solo / Band Jam
$112. Requiem
$113. Bat Country
$114. Chapter Four (encore)
$115. Unholy Confessions (encore)
