Thursday, Dec. 04, 2008
A7X at HOB
A7X singer Matt Sanders on stage at HOB, Nov. 28.
-Photo by Abby Sink, Art Director.
By Abby Sink
Art Director
Last Friday (Nov. 28), Numa, Saving Abel and Avenged Sevenfold rolled into the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach. I arrived at the venue about 45 minutes after the doors opened and there was still a line snaking around the building - that's always a good sign - a larger crowd usually means a more energetic show.
Washington, D.C.'s Numa was up first. Coming out on stage, they looked like any other local band from any town - dudes in their early twenties in jeans and T-shirts. When the music started, singer Chad Burrows started prancing around the stage like a young Mick Jagger, with vocals similar to Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria but with more of a rock and roll growl. The first song was called "Fuck You" and evidently, Burrows loves the f-bomb because it was his adjective of choice for the rest of their set - which was enjoyable and kept my foot tapping to the beat. A big, burly guy was standing beside me making fun of Burrows' strutting around the stage throughout the set, but I found Burrows to be charismatic and with a little more grooming - he could be a great front man. I really enjoyed Numa and I would purchase their music - in my opinion, one of the better unknown opening acts I've seen at House of Blues.
Next up was Saving Abel. They came out, played some decent, working man's rock and roll, wrapped up and were gone before I really even realized they were on stage. Singer Jared Weeks sounded like a pro wrestler with his husky, over-worked and over-done yell-like-talking to the audience, and frankly, his speaking voice annoyed me, but the audience seemed to enjoy what he was saying because they always responded with a yell back. Saving Abel finished their set with the only song I recognized - their hit - "Addicted.'' In all, I was kind of like eh, nothing to write home about really. They sounded good. The music was tight and Weeks' vocals were right on, but they just didn't do a lot for me.
Finally, headliners Avenged Sevenfold were up - just in time, as the crowd had begun chanting "SEV-EN-FOLD, SEV-EN-FOLD, SEV-EN-FOLD.'' From the moment the band came on stage, they rocked the house, they had high energy and the crowd returned it - jumping up and down, pumping fists in the air and lots of crowd surfing. Avenged Sevenfold went through what seemed like their entire catalog of songs - everything from "Bat Country'' and "Almost Easy'' (both have been played on the radio and most people are familiar with them) to "Unholy Confessions'' from their 2003 album "Waking the Fallen." They even slowed it down with the ballad "Dear God." Singer M. Shadows (Matt Sanders) did a great job playing to the crowd - and his voice sounded great.
About halfway through the show, everyone took a break which gave lead guitarist Synyster Gates (Brian Haner) an opportunity to do a righteous guitar solo that was broken down into three parts - after each, Gates made sure to thank the crowd.
As most Avenged Sevenfold fans are aware, the boys released a cover of Pantera's "Walk" in 2007 - which leads me to the best part of the show, hell, the best thing I've EVER seen at a show. Evidently, a kid down front kept yelling to Shadows' to do "Walk", Shadows kept coming back with "you want to do it; you think you can do it? Well come on up here." They pulled the kid from the fucking audience and Shadows turned over the microphone, and walked off the stage. The kid sang the song with the band. The crowd went insane, the rest of the band rocked out with the kid like he was supposed to be there. Everyone has their own rock and roll fantasy and Avenged Sevenfold definitely made that kid's come true. After a good hour on-stage it was time for the band to head out, but the crowd wanted more, again they began chanting "SEV-EN-FOLD, SEV-EN-FOLD, SEV-EN-FOLD.'' The band gave them what they asked for - they came back and played the fun "A Little Piece of Heaven" (go to YouTube and watch the animated video - a little gruesome, but fun) as an encore.
In all, I didn't know what to expect from Avenged Sevenfold. The guys put on a fantastic live show, and even though I've always liked their music, I left a real fan. I will go see them again.
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