Avenged Sevenfold/Coheed live

Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed And Cambria
Aragon, Chicago
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

There were so many pre-driver’s license females at Avenged Sevenfold and Coheed And Cambria’s co-headlining stop in Chicago we felt dirty being there, convinced directing our eyes anywhere but the stage would surely earn us a savage beating from an unhappy father. And this is the challenge that faces Sevenfold, not beatings from dads, but how to earn respect from the metal world when your fanbase – the crowd was predominantly A7X devotees – looks cherry picked from an Incubus show.

The band can’t be blamed, though, because the last thing their music does is pander to 14-year-old girls shopping at Gap. Their set was a fast-and-furious 60 minutes that shifted into high gear immediately with the whining guitars of opener “Beast And The Harlot” and only let off the gas once, for the acoustic “Seize The Day.” The band put on a run-and-gun show, making ample use of the ramps that led up and around The Rev’s drum kit, which made the fact they never tripped on acrobatic material like “Blinded In Chains” even more impressive.

In fact, the major knocks from nay sayers – “Motherfuck all those motherfuckers,” frontman M. Shadows eloquently said before “Trashed And Scattered” – is the group’s image (Mötley Crüe-meets-Danzig) and stage names (also including bassist Johnny Christ and guitarists Zachy Vengeance and Synyster Gates), but anyone willing to listen and look can’t ignore the emphasis on epic, technically proficient music like that of their heroes Iron Maiden and Metallica. The Rev is one of the few drummers in rock capable of stealing attention from the drum riser, and Gates is on his way to being a bona fide guitar hero. At one point in the set, while their bandmates disappeared backstage, Rev backed Gates for five minutes of unapologetic shredding. And while he indulged in some Eddie Van Halen wankery, most of the crowd stared at him dumbfoundedly, like he was playing “Johnny B. Goode” at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance. Gates was also the star of A7X’s cover of Pantera’s “Walk,” which Shadows introduced by saying “If it weren’t for this band, Avenged Sevenfold wouldn’t exist.” While paying tribute to Pantera post-Dimebag’s murder isn’t news (and “Walk” is about as obvious a choice as it gets) A7X were honest to Pantera’s power-groove style, and Gates was surprisingly agile, nailing Dimebag’s solo note for note.

In fact, Avenged Sevenfold were as impressive technically as prog-rock virtuosos Coheed And Cambria. The fact they played before Sevenfold to mostly Sevenfold fans despite being a co-headliner didn’t rattle Coheed, though. A geekier Tool/hipper Rush to Sevenfold’s geekier Guns N’ Roses/hipper Dream Theater, Coheed’s set was split into two parts: pre-“Wake Up” and post “Wake Up.” Before that song, their set was vibrant, featuring much of the material – “In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3,” “The Crowing,” “Blood Red Summer” – that represent the band’s crafty mix of pop sensibility and progressive instinct. After “Wake Up,” a slow, sappy, plodding moment that felt completely out of place in the setlist, the momentum was lost. “Welcome Home,” which normally runs roughly seven minutes, seemed like 27 minutes of laser light show material instead. Guitarist’s Travis Stever’s talkboxing during “The Willing Well: IV – The Final Cut” was a cool nod to Coheed’s classic rock roots, and frontman/guitarist’s Claudio Sanchez’s behind-the-back/with-the-teeth/with-a-violin bow was awesome . . . for the first five minutes. Then it went on, and on, and on, much like the second half of Coheed’s set.

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly