By Dave Parsons
Playing an amazing mix of classic and new songs, Avenged Sevenfold brought their Life Is but A Dream tour to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, March 25, 2024.
It had been a decade or so since the last time I saw them live, but the band never missed a beat or drifted from that memory.
The band entered the large stage to a soft recording as the lead singer sat on a chair wearing a black ski mask. Avenged Sevenfold came together to rip into Game Over, which is the first song on their latest CD, also titled Life Is but a Dream… The second song Mattel, was also from the new CD. They started digging into their long recording history with Afterlife, and followed it up with the crowd favorite Hail To The King.
This tour was well thought out as the pictures on the screens fit in with the songs they were performing, giving the songs a visual aspect. While they did play songs from their entire catalog, almost half of the setlist was from the new CD. The crowd predictably responded more to the older songs like their breakthrough hit Bat Country, which also had some swirl pits start on the half standing/half seated floor.
Despite the long nod to the latest recording, and it being a Monday night crowd in an arena, Avenged Sevenfold, worked the crowd into a frenzy more than once, at one point prompting the band to salute the crowd calling Pittsburgh, “The most energetic crowd we have seen on this tour.”
Opening the show was Sullivan King, who has a very unique live show. Alternating between genres as a disc jockey, atop an enormous juke box surrounded by video screens, he takes time to shred some riffs, add some live vocals, and gets the crowd warmed up for the evening to come.
Sullivan King rating: 7.5/10 – Animated about what he does during the performance and starting the show off on an energetic foot. – Graphics and singing are 10/10 especially after the first song. The rob zombie hellbilly reference was a huge bonus. – Only negative is that this heavy metal disc jockey act might be a little bit on the too new edgy side for this old school heavy metal gal.
Poppy: 8/10 – Rocking opening act, gives off a good blend of heavy metal and kawaii vibes. – The lead singer reminds me a bit of a gothic Melanie Martinez in terms of performance personality. – Had the audience enchanted from song 1. perfect for warming up right before avenged sevenfold.
Avenged Sevenfold: 9.5/10 – Definitely a work of art, telling a story or paintings picture with each song. Through the mind melting images and strong emotional lyrics. Play an amazing mix of classic and new songs. – Still as amazing as when I last saw em a little over a decade ago. As the tour motto goes “ain’t nothing but a dream “ tonight will definitely be one living rent free in my head for a while. – Named Pittsburgh PA best city for most energy from the fans and concert goers during the tour so far. Talk about a “hail to the king.”
Sullivan King Setlist
1 Bad Times
2 Thrones Of Blood
3 Codename: Reckless
4 The Dead March
5 Self-Destruction
6 Let Me Go
7 Don’t Get Loose
8 The Death Of Peace Of Mind
9 Blame
10 Bass To The Dome
11 Unbound
12 Domination
13 Laserbeam
14 Riot
15 Watch the Crown Fall
Avenged Sevenfold Show Setlist:
1 Game Over
2 Mattel
3 Afterlife
4 Hail To The King
5 We Love You
6 Shepherd Of Fire
7 The Stage
8 Roman Sky
9 Blinded In Chains
10 Bat Country
11 Nobody
12 Nightmare
13 Unholy Confessions
14 Save Me
15 Cosmic
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