No Sour Notes From These Bands
Birmingham NIA was invaded Thursday 28th October by two of the soft metal greats of this century; causing moshing mayhem amongst their fans.
Birmingham NIA was invaded Thursday 28th October by two of the soft metal greats of this century; causing moshing mayhem amongst their fans.
BRUISES and circle pits were inevitable when Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour announced their joint headline tour. It was promised to be brutal night fuelled by adrenaline, kept alive by face melting rock. And it was.
The crowd were given a taster of the pandemonium to come when the support band ‘Hell Yeah’ took to the stage. The self-confessed alcoholic heavy metal rockers blasted their tunes whilst drinking and encouraging the crowd to do the same. Though they set the tone, nothing could compare to the next bands performance.
Avenged Sevenfold were the second band to grace the stage; a curtain covered the set before the much anticipated drop, revealing the elaborate, somewhat creepy, setting of fire podiums and an oversized gate. M. Shadows opened the set with a massive roar of ‘Nightmare’ which the crowd eagerly joined in with. The atmosphere of the NIA was immediately cranked up to maximum as the Californian metal band set the stage alight with tracks from new and old albums. Smoke drifted over the stage, reminiscent of an eerie graveyard making their set look similar to the artwork of their newest album ‘Nightmare’.
Tragedy hit the band last December when they lost their drummer and dear friend, Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan. Emotions were high as M. Shadows stopped to say a few words of respect for Jimmy, accompanied by a chanting crowd who harmoniously shouted the drummers name ‘Jimmy’ as a farewell to the much beloved band member.
The band were joined by the former ‘Dream Theater’ drummer Mike Portnoy, a musician The Rev respected. Mike was given a warm welcome by the fans of Avenged, who knew that he wasn’t there to take the place of The Rev, but was there to help the rest of the band continue to rock with Jimmy in their memories. Overall he gave an amazing performance, full of character and passion.
Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance shredded the much loved riffs and solos of ‘Beast and the Harlot’ and ‘Buried Alive’ with Johnny Christ on bass, brewing up a storm of a circle pit, usually seen in the festival size arenas. The band even awarded the crowd for this epic pit, the choice of the last song; which, after much screaming, was ‘Bat Country’.
The crowd were given a taster of the pandemonium to come when the support band ‘Hell Yeah’ took to the stage. The self-confessed alcoholic heavy metal rockers blasted their tunes whilst drinking and encouraging the crowd to do the same. Though they set the tone, nothing could compare to the next bands performance.
Avenged Sevenfold were the second band to grace the stage; a curtain covered the set before the much anticipated drop, revealing the elaborate, somewhat creepy, setting of fire podiums and an oversized gate. M. Shadows opened the set with a massive roar of ‘Nightmare’ which the crowd eagerly joined in with. The atmosphere of the NIA was immediately cranked up to maximum as the Californian metal band set the stage alight with tracks from new and old albums. Smoke drifted over the stage, reminiscent of an eerie graveyard making their set look similar to the artwork of their newest album ‘Nightmare’.
Tragedy hit the band last December when they lost their drummer and dear friend, Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan. Emotions were high as M. Shadows stopped to say a few words of respect for Jimmy, accompanied by a chanting crowd who harmoniously shouted the drummers name ‘Jimmy’ as a farewell to the much beloved band member.
The band were joined by the former ‘Dream Theater’ drummer Mike Portnoy, a musician The Rev respected. Mike was given a warm welcome by the fans of Avenged, who knew that he wasn’t there to take the place of The Rev, but was there to help the rest of the band continue to rock with Jimmy in their memories. Overall he gave an amazing performance, full of character and passion.
Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance shredded the much loved riffs and solos of ‘Beast and the Harlot’ and ‘Buried Alive’ with Johnny Christ on bass, brewing up a storm of a circle pit, usually seen in the festival size arenas. The band even awarded the crowd for this epic pit, the choice of the last song; which, after much screaming, was ‘Bat Country’.
Avenged gave a Pyrotechnic blasting, face melting, ear bursting and presumably bone breaking performance; and it was clear by the enormity of the crowd that this was a gig long overdue.
The stage was once again covered while the last band ‘Stone Sour’ set up for what would be the crescendo of the night. Though Corey Taylor’s other band ‘Slipknot’ is more widely known it did not stop the fans from pouring in, by the time they came on stage not one inch of the NIA floor was empty.
The band played tracks from all three of their albums including their newest edition ‘Audio Secrecy’ which was released in September this year. There was a partial split of the audience, those who mainly came to see Avenged and those who came to see Stone Sour, but it seemed that almost everyone was enjoying the clear rock and roll being projected from this band.
Corey Taylor’s energy is second to none; he took full control of the audience of the NIA, splitting the crowd into circle pits as if he were some biblical figure. He would silence the crowd and cause uproar at a wave of his hand. From this performance it seems that Mr Corey Taylor is on his way to becoming a rock God, but he still has a little way to go.
The guitar thrashing from Jim Root and Josh Rand gave intense backing to Corey’s vocals, capable of sending goosebumps down the spine of many rock fans. With Shawn Economaki on bass and Roy Mayorga on drums, Stone sour were a force to be reckoned with.
To offset the full-on hardcore rock, Corey belted out the powerful ballads ‘Bother’ and ‘Through the Glass’, which balanced their set, but didn’t calm the crowd. Mosh pits were still visible through these slow tracks. It was either the alcohol or pure love for heavy metal driving these moshers to continue.
After the death of ‘Slipknot’ member and friend Paul Gray earlier this year, there were many doubts that Corey and Jim would be able to give a steady performance with Stone Sour, but like Avenged they were empowered by the spirit of their friend to carry the rock on. Gray however was not mentioned in their set, something they will leave for the ‘Slipknot’ tour.
Even with all the tragedy that both bands have faced, they came, they saw and they blew the roof off the NIA in Birmingham.
The band played tracks from all three of their albums including their newest edition ‘Audio Secrecy’ which was released in September this year. There was a partial split of the audience, those who mainly came to see Avenged and those who came to see Stone Sour, but it seemed that almost everyone was enjoying the clear rock and roll being projected from this band.
Corey Taylor’s energy is second to none; he took full control of the audience of the NIA, splitting the crowd into circle pits as if he were some biblical figure. He would silence the crowd and cause uproar at a wave of his hand. From this performance it seems that Mr Corey Taylor is on his way to becoming a rock God, but he still has a little way to go.
The guitar thrashing from Jim Root and Josh Rand gave intense backing to Corey’s vocals, capable of sending goosebumps down the spine of many rock fans. With Shawn Economaki on bass and Roy Mayorga on drums, Stone sour were a force to be reckoned with.
To offset the full-on hardcore rock, Corey belted out the powerful ballads ‘Bother’ and ‘Through the Glass’, which balanced their set, but didn’t calm the crowd. Mosh pits were still visible through these slow tracks. It was either the alcohol or pure love for heavy metal driving these moshers to continue.
After the death of ‘Slipknot’ member and friend Paul Gray earlier this year, there were many doubts that Corey and Jim would be able to give a steady performance with Stone Sour, but like Avenged they were empowered by the spirit of their friend to carry the rock on. Gray however was not mentioned in their set, something they will leave for the ‘Slipknot’ tour.
Even with all the tragedy that both bands have faced, they came, they saw and they blew the roof off the NIA in Birmingham.
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