Uproar Music Festival Hits "Hot-lanta"... Part III

Saturday, September 4, 2010
Aaron’s Lakewood Amphitheater – Atlanta, GA
Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival
Part III… The Main Stage Headliners

(From Part II…) Avenged Sevenfold was up next, but how would their set be received during their first tour without drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan?

After 20 minutes filled with the anticipation of the ginormous crowd, it was finally time. A long, black curtain had been drawn across the stage to hide the massive set being built just a few feet beyond. With an explosive bang, it dropped to reveal a stage the likes I haven’t seen since Motley Crue’s Carnival of Sins tour back in 2006. But we’ll get to that in a minute, because there was something else to quickly gain our attention.

For months leading up to this show, I’ve been hearing rumors about a crazy opening to the A7X stage show. It’s been perpetuated in recent weeks by the DJ’s on Sirius/XM satellite radio’s Octane channel, who caught an earlier show on the tour and went as far to say something along the lines of “… if you miss the first five minutes of their set, you’ll never forgive youself.”

High above the stage, on one of the swinging bridges normally reserved for lighting technicians, stood a relatively young man. Well dressed in black pants, a black button down, and bright red tie, he stood illuminated by a single spotlight and quickly showed the crowd what he held in his hands. A noose. I faintly remember hearing the morbid opening notes to the band’s new single “Nightmare” as I was held mesmerized by the scene unfolding high above me. You can guess what he did next.

Gasps and screams were heard throughout the audience as the man wrapped the noose around his neck and stepped off the bridge without a second thought. (Obviously, the man was assisted by a harness and cable, thus eliminating the need to actually die in front of the thousands in attendance.) The crowd barely had time to catch their breath before the band appeared onstage amongst bright lights, scorching flames, an elaborate cemetery stage setting and their signature heavy beats, all the while with a lifeless body swinging just above their heads. It served as a tangible reminder of the theoretical elephant in the room. While this is just one person’s perspective, here is my interpretation.

In case you don’t already know, the future of A7X became very uncertain late last year with the sudden death of drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. Just 28 years old, Sullivan was a driving force for the band whose members grew up together in Huntington Beach, California. They were just days from going back to the studio to record their new album, of which Sullivan had a hand in writing many of the new tracks. So the question stood. Would Avenged Sevenfold carry on?

With a respectable amount of time taken off to grieve, the band ultimately decided that they could best honor the memory of their beloved brother by continuing to make the music Sullivan was so deeply passionate about. They went back to the studio to proceed with the new record and enlisted the help of Sullivan’s drummer-idol, Mike Portnoy of the band Dream Theater. The first single and title track of the CD, “Nightmare” is appropriately named considering what the band has been through over the past eight months. Which brings us back to man swinging above our heads.

Fans from all over the world grieved after news of Sullivan’s death broke. They clamored for any messages from the band or family to help them with the loss of their icon. And though I don’t doubt or question the love of these fans in any way, it’s still nowhere near the same emotional roller coaster that the remaining four members of A7X went through. These guys were schoolyard chums, brothers that knew nothing outside of each other for the larger portion of their live. No one can argue that their grief was infinitely worse than that of even the most devout fan. So my theory is that, by making us witness this man jump with our own eyes, we would be invested in him, feel for him and grieve his loss. It’s the only way they could help us understand even the tiniest portion of what they’ve been through. And in turn, help us understand what “Nightmare” is truly about even if the lyrics were eerily written before Sullivan’s death.

Yes, I admit, this elaborate stunt could have just as easily been about shock value, in which case many will argue it was in extremely bad taste. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it. But after witnessing this man’s fall from the rafters, I now understand there is a great difference between reading about death and seeing it first-hand (even if it was just pretend.) The experience made the lyrics of the song come alive, especially as the man continued to hang there, completely lifeless above the heads of the rockers as they opened their set, until a crew of medics rolled out a gurney and a body bag to remove him from the stage at the end of the song.

Regardless of the band’s intent behind the opening stunt, the music was spot on. Opening with their newest single “Nightmare” (the title track to their most recent album that knocked Eminem from his #1 spot on the billboard charts after five weeks), was an excellent choice to rev up the crowd’s energy level. A7X fans new and old were all familiar with the tune and gave the band back just as good as they received.

After “Nightmare,” lead singer M Shadows slowed things down a bit (even if only for a moment) with the opening of the next song “Critical Acclaim.” I can’t say I know of any other rock songs that begin with the mournful notes of a church organ, lending a creepy gothic feel to the beginning of an otherwise heavy tune. “Critical Acclaim” is more in line with the band’s early music: fast, loud and hard. Appropriately enough, that’s when the massive fireballs made their presence known, casting out a heat upon the audience the likes of which I’ve only ever experienced at a KISS concert.

Next was another new single from the last album, entitled “Welcome to the Family.” Again, it’s amazing to hear how many people in the crowd knew all the words to this one, considering it had only been released just prior to the concert. The song was followed quickly thereafter by “Beast and the Harlot” from the band’s third album City of Evil, before bringing things back to the “Nightmare” album with the song “Buried Alive.”

Afterwards, the band took a brief break to formally honor their lost brother. The backdrop of the stage set changed to a giant mural, depicting Sullivan in a brotherly embrace with his band mates. They celebrated Sullivan with the song “So Far Away,” a slow ballad that speaks to those left behind after the loss of a loved one. The amphitheater was lit up like the Vegas strip with lighters and cell phones as the song poignantly culminated with the line “How do I live without the ones I love?”

Once the official tribute to Sullivan was complete, the band went back to rocking hard with a mix of songs old and new like “Afterlife,” “God Hates Us,” and “Unholy Confessions.” Their encore was short and sweet, as they came back on stage to the roar of the crowd for just one more song, “Almost Easy.” As usual, Avenged Sevenfold put on a spectacular show. The crowd came to be entertained and that is exactly what we got. The only noticeably missing element was the absence of the song “Scream” from the setlist. I realize that a band with a backlog of popular songs like A7X can’t play all their hits at every show. But I still found it strange that they didn’t play the song that was such a huge hit from their last record and such a signature from their last tour.

When the house lights came up, I was a bit surprised by the large number of fans filing out of the amphitheater. Normally you would expect people to hold their ground for the headliners after standing there for hours throughout the day. But this was obviously not the case as Disturbed prepared to take the stage.

Now let me be very clear, I like Disturbed (so Disturbed fans please don’t start sending me hate mail after you read this review.) But as a friend of mine said, “I prefer them in concentrated doses.”  After a while, all of their songs start sounding the same to me and I find myself wondering, “didn’t they already play this?”

My personal preference in a rock band is that they showcase high energy in their live performance and that their catalogue of music be diverse. I don’t feel that Disturbed really meets either of those standards. Their energy is average at best, due to the fact that they portray themselves as serious, mature rockers. They have opinions to be voiced and commit themselves fully to providing the best musical sound possible.

This is fine and I applaud them for that. It’s just that when I travel six hours and shell out money for tickets, gas, and a hotel, I find myself with a feeling on entitlement. Maybe I’m a greedy fan, but I want it all: the sound, the lighting, the special effects AND the musical performance. I want the total experience. If all I cared about was good quality music, I could have just stayed at home and listened to the CD on my Bose stereo. But I go to concerts for more than that CD can offer me.

Another strike that Disturbed had against them was going on after Avenged Sevenfold. I understand that Disturbed in considered to have seniority, but in reality they released their first record only one year prior to A7X. I guess it comes down to who has sold the most records. That honor undoubtedly belongs to Disturbed who sold more than 4 million albums with their first release The Sickness.

It would be hard for any band to follow Avenged Sevenfold and not feel anticlimactic. The fans were in sensory overload and, like junkies, were looking for more. I think you had to be a diehard Disturbed fan to get that kind of high from their performance. Don’t get me wrong, it was good… solid. But it wasn’t what I needed to end the night with a bang. So about half way through the set, I headed to the car to beat the traffic, hanging out in the parking lot just long enough to hear the opening lines to “Down With The Sickness.” I happily listened to the full song in my car all the way back to the hotel.