{"id":931793,"date":"2026-10-17T19:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T19:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/931793\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T19:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T19:48:16","slug":"avenged-sevenfold-afterpay-arena-review-us-metal-band-stuns-sydney-singer-describes-weird-vibes-in-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/931793\/","title":{"rendered":"Avenged Sevenfold, Afterpay Arena review: US metal band stuns Sydney, singer describes \u2018weird vibes\u2019 in crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"

It had been 12 long years since Avenged Sevenfold were last on these shores and it felt as though the Californian heavy metal outfit were making up for lost time as they took to the stage in Sydney.<\/p>\n

It had been even longer since I had last seen them. In 2008 I watched them support Iron Maiden at London\u2019s Twickenham Stadium.<\/p>\n

Traditional Maiden crowds in the late 2000s were notoriously hostile toward modern American metal acts, and the band endured relentless booing and missile-throwing. Singer M Shadows abruptly stopped midway through the set, saying someone was injured in a crowd surge. They never came back on.<\/p>\n

The crowd was very different this time around as thousands of adoring fans at the Afterpay Arena were treated to a pulsating two-hour setlist and a mesmerising light show.<\/p>\n

As the lights dimmed, the eerie xylophone intro to Nightmare played out before guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates came out with their signature squealing twin lead harmonies and chugging metal riffs in fine form.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an incredible opener to a metal show as the song showcases what the band does best, it\u2019s heavy but intricate, melodic and catchy.<\/p>\n

Shadows has had issues with his voice over the years, battling surgery and his vocal chords blowing out from his all-or-nothing approach to singing.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect, but he sounded great. He has a raspy Axl Rose-type quality to his voice, but he can also scream and get the crowd going.<\/p>\n

At one point he stopped to tell the crowd out how he\u2019d missed Australia, but that it had never felt far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cSydney, it\u2019s been a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s many of you that we\u2019ve never met, but I want you to know I have been keeping track of you through television every night. My kids watch Bondi Rescue every single night. I swear the number of Australian coming into my earholes every night is f**king crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then tried a bit of crowd work and waved the mic around to get a response from different parts of the audience. He noticed it was much quieter in the seating sections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting a weird vibe in this place because I feel like everyone in the stands is very polite and everybody on the ground is a f**king maniac,\u201d he said. \u201cIs that true? I don\u2019t want to turn you guys against each other or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band then launched into the stripped back ballad So Far Away which they dedicated to their late drummer The Rev, who died in 2009.<\/p>\n

The set was made up of a good mix of songs that would please their biggest fans as it mixed songs as early as the post hardcore anthem Unholy Confessions right up to their most recent tunes that have a very different vibe.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t followed the band an awful lot since the noughties after they had released City of Evil, but I was impressed by a lot of the songs I\u2019d never heard before.<\/p>\n

They are the type of band that\u2019s never boring even when they\u2019re playing something pretty weird. When they\u2019re not heavy, they\u2019re doing interesting vocal harmonies or the guitars are going hell for leather.<\/p>\n

Highlights included the twangy southern rock inspired ballad Gunslinger which showcases how damn catchy they can be and a no-holds-barred rendition of Bat Country which had the circle pit operating in full swing.<\/p>\n

Even though I was one of the \u2018polite\u2019 audience members in the stands I couldn\u2019t help but give myself a mild case of whiplash as I headbanged.<\/p>\n

They closed out with the creepy but catchy A Little Piece of Heaven and 2023\u2019s Cosmic which I felt was a bit of a meandering song to close on.<\/p>\n

The band has certainly been through some ups and downs in their multi-decade career, but they appear to be in a very good place and enjoying their craft.<\/p>\n

Although they\u2019ve faced flack from the metal faithful over the years for being a bit different, they\u2019ve fostered a loyal fanbase that went absolutely nuts.<\/p>\n

Avenged Sevenfold are playing two more shows on their Australian tour.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 18 October 2026: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD<\/p>\n

Tuesday, 20 October 2026: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It had been 12 long years since Avenged Sevenfold were last on these shores and it felt as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[498650,498601,498614,39187,28340,381463,498611,93752,376963,498656,498645,495174,498616,376766,376730,498620,498615,498625,498600,498647,498622,498618,498662,398087,377075,498627,498644,498609,498628,498631,498629,498651,498587,64,119673,63,498652,294413,498638,53644,498591,498595,498643,446912,651,161941,498623,9278,69296,498634,385659,498603,134,422545,448497,498639,498642,498654,498608,498658,235080,438887,498655,441156,498604,454749,498633,25790,8176,7145,498596,2022,354496,498599,498624,498605,403913,149888,402997,498626,498613,386444,319999,498648,498635,221809,498657,53645,498594,498653,498632,8567,670,434,498607,380250,133661,498610,498612,498606,377127,498661,498663,377511,498641,440490,459619,498619,468547,498649,393515,498588,498640,498637,377805,392174,392175,386482,386315,498646,498593,395597,380074,498636,498621,498602,498659,498589,498630,498617,498592,372169,378871,379782,25230,34224,498660,498598,498590,498597,498664],"class_list":["post-931793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-s-cosmic","tag-s-twickenham-stadium-traditional-maiden-crowds","tag-12-long-years","tag-39187","tag-28340","tag-381463","tag-2009-the-set","tag-93752","tag-a-bit","tag-a-crowd-surge","tag-a-fking-maniac","tag-a-good-mix","tag-a-little-piece","tag-a-long-time","tag-a-lot","tag-a-loyal-fanbase","tag-a-meandering-song","tag-a-mesmerising-light-show-as","tag-a-metal-show","tag-a-mild-case","tag-a-no-holds-barred-rendition","tag-a-pulsating-two-hour-setlist","tag-a-raspy-axl-rose-type-quality","tag-a-response","tag-a-show","tag-a-very-different-vibe-i","tag-a-very-good-place","tag-a-weird-vibe","tag-adoring-fans","tag-afterpay-arena-review","tag-an-american-rockstar","tag-an-awful-lot","tag-an-incredible-opener","tag-au","tag-audience-members","tag-australia","tag-australian-coming","tag-avenged-sevenfold","tag-ballad-gunslinger","tag-band","tag-bat-country","tag-battling-surgery","tag-before-they","tag-bondi-rescue","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-entertainment-centre","tag-catchy","tag-city","tag-crowd","tag-crowd-work","tag-different-parts","tag-each-other-or","tag-entertainment","tag-every-night","tag-every-single-night","tag-evil","tag-fine-form-it","tag-flack","tag-full-swing-even","tag-guitarists-zacky-vengeance-and-synyster-gates","tag-guys","tag-heaven","tag-his-all-or-nothing-approach","tag-his-band","tag-his-vocal-chords","tag-his-voice","tag-interesting-vocal-harmonies","tag-iron-maiden","tag-issues","tag-king","tag-leather-highlights","tag-london","tag-lost-time","tag-metal-riffs","tag-modern-american-metal-acts","tag-my-earholes","tag-my-kids","tag-nightmare","tag-october-2026","tag-on-the-band","tag-on-the-crowd","tag-one-point","tag-polite","tag-qldtuesday","tag-relentless-booing-and-missile-throwing","tag-rod-laver-arena","tag-sevenfold","tag-singer","tag-singer-m-shadows","tag-singing-i","tag-some-ups-and-downs","tag-songs","tag-sydney","tag-television","tag-the-afterpay-arena","tag-the-audience","tag-the-band","tag-the-californian-heavy-metal-outfit","tag-the-circle-pit","tag-the-creepy","tag-the-crowd","tag-the-crowd-going-at","tag-the-eerie-xylophone-intro","tag-the-ground","tag-the-guitars","tag-the-late-2000s","tag-the-lights","tag-the-metal-faithful","tag-the-mic","tag-the-noughties","tag-the-number","tag-the-post-hardcore-anthem-unholy-confessions","tag-the-rev","tag-the-seating-sections","tag-the-set","tag-the-song","tag-the-songs","tag-the-stage","tag-the-stands","tag-the-stripped-back","tag-the-twangy-southern-rock","tag-the-type","tag-the-years","tag-their-australian-tour-sunday","tag-their-biggest-fans","tag-their-craft-although","tag-their-late-drummer","tag-their-most-recent-tunes","tag-their-multi-decade-career","tag-their-signature-squealing-twin-lead-harmonies","tag-these-shores","tag-this-place","tag-this-time","tag-this-weekend","tag-thousands","tag-track","tag-two-more-shows","tag-us-metal-band-stuns","tag-us-rockstar","tag-weird-vibes","tag-whiplash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-j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