This gig I have been looking forward to for absolutely ages!
Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour, bands I've been fond of for years!I have Seen Stone Sour 3 times previous to this and Avenged sevenfold once before.
Hellyeah [7/10] are an American super group featuring members of Mudvayne, Pantera, Damageplan and Nothingface. They play a style of hard rock that’s heavily cowboy/western influenced; I saw them play the main stage at Download festival 2010 and I was very impressed. Tonight, however, I am not as impressed as I was with them at Download. Musically spot on yet front man Chad’s vocals seem a bit off tonight and between songs he just seems to be repeating himself being a little bit cliché as a rock front man. Aside from this Vinnie Paul’s reputation absolutely sticks with him tonight, he is an absolutely fantastic drummer. The mention of Dimebag Darrell however is respected by everyone but it seems slightly irrelevant as he was never a part of Hellyeah. Then end their set with “Alcohaulin’ ass” which is the best song they played tonight and Chad’s vocals sounded much better on it than the rest that included screaming.
Avenged Sevenfold [9/10] hit the stage with some force. The intro to “Nightmare” starts playing and the crowd absolutely loses it. Unexpectedly as well as everyone was expecting Stone Sour to be on first. Their stage layout is spectacular; they have gates with A7X engraved on them, a background of a very creepy building and lots of fire. After “Nightmare” they launch straight into “Critical Acclaim” using a tape for the backing vocals as to not replace The Rev. The backdrop then changes to the Nightmare album cover as they then introduce Mike Portnoy on drums as The Rev’s replacement by giving him a drum solo that then launches into “Welcome to the family”. They play another 2 songs: “Beast and the Harlot” and “Buried alive” (In which the gates all light on fire and the pyrotechnics are insane!) before the background changes again. This time it’s of The Rev hugging the other band members, this is a very emotional moment of the show where they dedicate the song “So Far Away” to their recently deceased drummer. It changes back to their original creepy building backdrop and they blast though “Afterlife”, “God Hates Us” and “Unholy Confessions” (With Slayer intro) all of which have very explosive mosh pits with “unholy confessions” gaining Birmingham biggest circle pit of the entire tour thus far according to M Shadows! As we’ve gained this title they allow us to choose between “Almost Easy” and “Bat Country” to end the show with (a first on the tour as usually it’s always “Almost Easy”) and the crowd unanimously votes for “Bat Country”. An amazing ending to an amazing set by an amazing band.
Stone Sour [8/10] coming on last to night as a part of the alternating headline agreement had a very, very tough act to follow. The room was defiantly a bit emptier when they strode onto the stage making it perfectly clear who the majority of the crowd had come out to see. Never the less there is still a big crowd eager for them to play and they get into it. They have the imperial march playing whilst they get into position behind the sheet covering the stage with "SS" lights all over the place; it’s just magical to look at. Opening the set with a song from the new album "Mission Statement" and instantly you can tell that they are going to be fantastic as per usual. They continue through the set with “Reborn”, “Made of scars”, “Say You’ll Haunt Me” and “Get Inside” opening up the pit and making people go insane. They then really please me by playing my favourite song from their new album Audio Secrecy: “Unfinished”. They play a couple more songs from the new album, "Bitter End" & "Digital" not too many but still showcasing the album. There is nothing cliché about this band, they play their music and they really get into it on stage. Between songs Corey Taylor has a good laugh with the crowd keeping their interest and riling them up. Tonight Corey definitely shows us why he has the reputation as one of the best front men/singers in the rock and metal scene today; especially during “Bother”, being on his own with a guitar in front of 16,000 people takes some serious guts. Straight after this he plays the intro to “Through glass” as the rest of the band rejoins him on stage; this is a highlight of their set as everyone in the room knew this song and sang along, it was truly amazing. Ending the set on a heavy note they kick into “Hell & Consequences” to reignite the pits and head banging before closing the show with “30/30-150”; possibly their second most famous song behind “Through Glass”. This show continues the streak of me never seeing a bad Stone Sour show.
Purchased myself a very nice Stone Sour t-shirt and headed out of the arena very pleased with the show I’d just witnessed however I think it would have been improved if Avenged Sevenfold were on last as the crowd energy and stage show was more than what Stone Sour had, overall I’ll give the show an [8/10].
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