I am pretty sure the feeling of trepidation wasn’t only felt by myself this evening. A peculiar gig consisting of two bands of which don’t share the same acoustics, just screams out a controversial show doesn’t it? The emotional death of Avenged Sevenfold’s drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, at the end of 2009 raised anxious concern in the minds of attendees. Will it be the same without the Rev? Corey Taylor also suffered a great loss this year; as Slipknot lost one of their founding members, their much loved bassist, Paul Gray. Supporting the co-headlined tour, Hellyeah’s drummer, Vinnie Paul, lost his brother Dimebag Darrell of prestigious Pantera, to a horrific shooting back in December 2004. With the depressing deaths of inspirational rock heroes to many – the tour portrays a vast sense of importance - to celebrate the lives lost.
Hype was built up as a black curtain concealed the stage. The atmosphere was mounted by mutterings of restless fans longing to find out who was on first. As the opening recognisable melody of ‘Nightmare’ began, the crowd was rapidly transfixed. Sevenfold poured on to the stage with effortless poise, taking their familiar stances before the bombardment of riffs and heavy use of double bass pedals initiated. Pyrotechnics immersed the giant graveyard gates stage set, before M. Shadows in his trademark aviators screamed “NIGHTMAREEEE!” setting off the pummelling crowd.
Commanding the stage with their metal demeanour, they performed a much loved rendition of ‘Critical Acclaim’. M greeted the audience with the well waited “Hello Birminghammm!” They hurtled through ‘Welcome to the Family’, ‘Beast and the Harlot’, Metallica inspired ‘Buried Alive’ and ‘God Hates Us’, the brandishing of guitars and heavy roars instantly satisfied the stormy crowds. Mid-set; the backdrop changed to reveal a painting of The Rev hugging his band brothers, which received a roaring reception. Shadows drilled a wedge of emotion through the crowd by paying a tribute to The Rev, referring to him as the “crazy motherfucker up there” prior to dedicating the solemn performances of ‘So Far Away’ and ‘Afterlife’. As a treat for carrying out the largest circle pit so far on tour, Shadows gave the crowd an ultimatum of ‘Bat Country’ or ‘Almost Easy’ to finish their set. The classic, ‘Bat Country’ won hands down and ended with a boom of insanity.
Stone Sour opened the more modest stage set with 'Mission Statement', moving swiftly into 'Reborn' and 'Made of Scars', with fists pumping and whirlwinds of clashing circle pits emerging, it was obvious the crowd was rattled from Taylor’s notorious stage presence. They continued with a mix of old and new songs ‘Say you’ll haunt me’, 'Get Inside', 'Unfinished' and 'Your God'. The sign of the acoustic guitar meant nothing else but ‘Bother’ and ‘Through Glass’, transforming the thundery crowd into a sea of emotion – revealing a more vulnerable side to Corey Taylor, compared to the deindividualised, masked guy we all know in Slipknot. New track ‘Digital’ acted as a catalyst for lunacy, as the crowds countered the lyrics riddled with expressive beliefs about present society. ‘30/30-150’ couldn’t have been a better track to finish the mind blowing, moving night - as colossal cannons blasted the diffusing confetti into the air to mark the end of the show.
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