Avenged Sevenfold @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ

Live Reviews | Feb 6th, 2006

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Opening Bands: CKY, Bullets and Octane
Date: February 3rd 2006
Venue: Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ

Avenged Sevenfold are probably one of my new favorite bands, and seeing them live definitely did it for me. Their mix of hardcore, punk, and metal is what attracted me to them when I first heard their new album, CITY OF EVIL. I immediately ran out and bought SOUNDING THE SEVENTH TRUMPET and WAKING THE FALLEN, 2 more amazing albums, each one with it’s own sound. Not knowing what to expect from the opening bands, I didn’t go into the show expecting too much of them and I was too impatient and excited to see Avenged…

Days of Contempt were up first. We missed most of their set getting their late but what I heard I enjoyed, not enough to buy their CD or see them again. To me it was like seeing some random local band out of boredom, then again I’m not the biggest fan of most new hardcore bands anyways.

Next up, Bullets and Octane. Now these guys I was iffy about. Seeing them come up on stage dressed like Motley Crue and the singer acting a bit TOO rock star like…but, once they started playing, I was more than impressed. These guys put on such an amazing f-ing show, I was speechless and fell in love with a new band. Bullets and Octane sound like a cross between Bad Religion and Poison, weird I know, but it’s true. They have an album coming out April 11th, and you can check them out on myspace. Listen to all of the mp3’s they have on the site, you too will be impressed. They were full of energy and knew how to work the crowd. Definitely a band I’ll see over and over again.

And now we have CKY. I had NO idea these guys were going to be opening. I wasn’t disappointed either. They actually impressed me, and I’ve never really been a fan of theirs. They joked with the crowd about coming out to a Michael Jackson song, playing Cher’s “Believe” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (not THEM playing it, but blaring the CD versions of these songs ahhh) when the crowd wasn’t being rowdy. It amused me.

Now, the moment I was waiting all night for…Avenged Sevenfold. They played an awesome mix of old and new songs including: “Beast and the Harlot”, “Unholy Confessions”, “Burn it Down”, “I Wont See You Tonight” and of course “Bat Country” and even a fabulous cover of Pantera’s “Walk”. There was a circle pit all night, and hearing M Shadows sing when he should have been screaming was interesting…(he had surgery awhile ago apparently and can no longer scream…which explains why City of Evil is such a different CD than the previous 2). Not bad, but just different. Full of engery, never a dull moment watching these guys. I’m excited to see them next time they come around.

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