What happens when you haven’t seen a band live in a while? You begin to miss them. Sometimes you crave them. And when the band takes a longer hiatus, then you really start wanting to see them again. Avenged Sevenfold hasn’t been on the touring cycle since 2018 and when COVID came in 2020 it halted everyone from touring. So when the band first announced the release of their eighth studio album Life is But A Dream… fans were extremely excited. With new music usually means a new tour. After the release of their first single in seven years titled “Nobody”, the band announced the Life is But A Dream…North American Tour. While Florida didn’t get to see them on Leg One of the tour, they did get the announcement for Leg Two. I was there to cover their stop at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL.
I know those in the Central Florida area were elated to see Avenged Sevenfold again. The last time I saw them was in Orlando when they were supporting Metallica’s tour in 2017. So how popular was this Tampa show? I made my way to Tampa in great time only to sit off the I-4 exit ramp for nearly thirty minutes to get into the parking area for media. After parking, I walked with a massive crowd of people to the venue. Once inside, it was insane to see the massive crowd filling the seats and the lawn. The last time I saw a crowd that large there was for Rob Zombie. I was excited as much as anyone else and couldn’t wait to get started.
On this leg of the tour supporting Avenged Sevenfold was Falling In Reverse. The rock band formed in 2008 and released their first album The Drug in Me is You in 2011. The album peaked at #3 in on the Billboard US Rock chart and the album was certified Gold. Their popularity boomed right away with fans. They released three additional albums and their popularity continued to grow far and wide. Their last album was their EP titled Neon Zombie released in 2023. Falling in Reverse is Ronnie Radke (vocals), Max Georgiev (lead guitar), Christian Thompson (rhythm guitar), Tyler Burgess (bass) and touring musician Luke Holland (drums).
The one think you always get from Falling In Reverse is energy. You hear it and feel it in their music. You can certainly see it in their on-stage performance. Ronnie Radke is one of the most animated vocalists in the business. He is constantly moving and doing whatever it takes to get the crowd to match his energy. And his vocals are great with a power punch with every note. Max, Christian, and Tyler match Ronnie’s energy with their performances, which to me, why you feel that in every note. And Luke is right with the rest of the band, playing hard and fast. And their setlist was absolutely solid with songs “The Drug in Me is You”, “Zombified”, “Just Like You”, and the super hot track “Popular Monster”. Falling in Reverse also tributed the late Steve Harwell by performing Smash Mouth’s “All Star”. Solid performance from the band that night. You can find their music and merch over at https://fallinginreverse.com/.
It was then onto the headliners in Avenged Sevenfold. The band formed in 1999 and released their first album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet in 2001. Their follow-up album Waking the Fallen in 2003 peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum. The band’s following four albums were all also certified Platinum with albums Nightmare and Hail to the King both reaching #1 on the Billboard 200. The band now touring on Life is But A Dream… released on June 2, 2023 was their first album in seven years. Avenged Sevenfold is M. Shadows (vocals), Synyster Gates (lead guitar), Zacky Vengeance (rhythm guitar), Johnny Christ (bass), and Brooks Wackerman (drums).
The moment the band stepped onto the stage the venue erupted in cheers. M. Shadows say in a chair at the front of the stage wearing a ski mask with the words “Nobody” and “We love you” across the front of it. With Synyster on a platform on one side of the stage, Zacky on a platform on the other, Johnny hanging back in the middle of the stage, and Brooks far back on his drums, you already could feel this show was going to be something unique and special. Synyster and Zacky played so well that night with every riff. They were smooth during transitional notes, speedy when they needed to pick it up a step, and very playful when they were just having fun. Zacky looked calm and at peace as he played. Synyster was definitely in the zone through all of his riffs and it was just amazing to see how talented he is as a guitarist. The alacrity of his fingers on some of those songs was truly incredible. Johnny was definitely more playful on stage wearing his sunglasses while strumming through his notes. While we couldn’t see Brooks we could absolutely hear and definitely feel his playing. The rapid-fire beats and thunderclap-like booms when those drumheads were struck energized the crowd. M. Shadows vocals were absolutely on point with those powerful screams at one moment and melodic clarity at another. He also knows how to enrapture a crowd to get them engaged and singing along. I can recall when I saw them at 2017 and this version of Avenged Sevenfold has truly outdone themselves.
A sixteen-song setlist provided the fans with nearly two hours of music that night with some really great selections. The opener of “Game Over” from Life is But A Dream… set the tone giving the fans a taste of new music from the band. They also included in their list “Mattel”, “We Love You”, and the first single from the album “Nobody”. The band also went old school playing some of my favorite tracks including “Hail to the King” the title track from the 2013 album, “Nightmare” the title track from the 2010 album, and “Bat Country” from the 2005 album City of Evil. One of the most touching moments of the show, which the band has done before, was M. Shadows speaking to the crowd about the people we lost. He reminded people that life gets crazy and we focus on things in this world that aren’t as important as living our lives. He paid tribute to their former drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan and tribute to the crowd who have lost friends and family performing “So Far Away”. It was a truly touching moment. The band encored their set with three songs from Life is But A Dream… with “G”, “(O)rdinary”, and “(D)eath”. The three happen to spell out GOD when reading them in the order presented down the tracklist.
Besides Avenged Sevenfold’s amazing music performance, I absolutely need to call out the fantastic production set the band used throughout the show. The stage was surrounded by three massive screens. Those screens were used to project images throughout the show. During “Mattel” the backscreen displayed a burning house while the stage was lit up in red as if everything was on fire. In the red against the backdrop, M. Shadows looked very creepy, which sold the vibe the band presented. During the show those screens presented various things from album covers to random light patterns to even the band themselves. On the venue screens, various filters were used when showing the band on stage including a beautiful black and white filter and another that made band members appear to be on fire and were burning away. Overall, their production on this tour was phenomenal.
Overall, this was a fantastic show and absolutely recommend seeing this tour if it comes your way. I promise you will not be disappointed. You can find Avenged Sevenfold’s new album and merch over at https://www.avengedsevenfold.com/.
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