Vengeful SEVENPAYER/PAUPUPA/SULLIVAN KING – MOHEGAN SUN

Vengeful SEVENPAYER/PAUPUPA/SULLIVAN KING – MOHEGAN SUN

By Kat Gullage

He was avenged seven times brings their 'Life Is But A Dream' tour to Mohegan Sun Arena for the first time with Poppy and Sullivan King in direct support.

Genesis 4:24 “If Cain be avenged sevenfold, surely Lamech seventy-seven times.” This Bible verse refers to the punishment that God would give to whoever killed the repentant Cain. It is also its origin Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) pen name.

A7X made a stop in Uncasville on their sixteen date, third leg of the 'Life Is But A Dream…' tour. It was their first time at this venue and their adoring fans hadn't seen them live in five years. They were ready.

Sullivan King opened the show. Sorry to say I only caught the end, but it was EDM fused with metal. The DJ also played decent guitar and screamed into a microphone. The light show was rave worthy, the bass was pounding and it was loud. Two guys sitting next to me said it went on “in your face” for forty-five minutes.

Poppy was next. Her journey began as a viral YouTube star, leading the way to a music career that includes five studio albums. Her sound is a fusion of EDM and heavy industrial metal chords. Poppy's voice mimics this, sometimes sweet and quiet caramel, sometimes loud throaty growls. I couldn't decipher what she actually sang in relation to what was previously recorded, as the mix was heavy on the amplification. Poppy's setlist included twelve songs from three of her five studio LPs. She wore a tight white bodysuit, red on one leg from the knee up, with a short sleeve excessively crossed and white fingerless gloves.

Poppy kicked it off with “BLOODMONEY” from Disagree“Church Uniform” by Zig, “Bite Your Teeth” and title cut “I Disagree”. Poppy moves and bounces across the stage. The graphics are bright and exciting, but they don't compare to Sullivan King's lasers or what I'm expecting A7X to pack There are occasional stacks of smoke, but they don't contribute much. I could see that the guitarist/back up singer, Nicolas Perez, seems to have great timing with Poppy. But the drummer, Ralph Alexander, immediately catches my attention. A lot of magic happens there. I was very impressed.

“X” except Am I an IA girl? Followed by “Hard” from Zig“Sit/Stay” another Disagree the piece is served. Poppy doesn't address the crowd at all during the set. “VAN” a Bad Omens cover is thrown into the mix. Poppy wraps it up with four more songs, including three from Disagree. “Fill The Crown”, “Anything Like Me”, “Scary Mask” – from her five-song EP, Choke, and “Concrete”. Poppy was strong, fun, and a perfect segue from Sullivan King to A7X.

Me to my kid, Lil KAT: Poppy opened up He was avenged seven times.
Lil KAT: Give her my phone number! Tell her to hit my line! It's on my playlist! (pulls up “Girls in Bikinis”)

Mohegan Sun Arena has a capacity of 10,000. The shows I usually attend have the floor 100% open and seats everywhere else. For this event only half the floor, the front half, was an open pit. Behind it were only rows of collapsible folding chairs. What the hell; I thought that was crazy. We expect full open space at these types of shows. The recliners ended up having to stand up all night to see over the pit peeps.

The place was packed, it felt like a full house. The fans were buzzing in anticipation when A7X took their places on stage in a recording of “Nightcall” (Kavinsky). The huge screens came alive with images and lyrics before they blew the doors off the venue with a near-perfect rendition of 'Game Over' from their new LP Life is but a dream. Singer M. Shadows had this black Kanye mask over his entire head, although his voice broke several times during the song, I don't think that was the reason. Also, M. has the most adorable dimples and this mask steals the show.

“Mattel”, also from LIFE, it was expected. Screens were filled with images of a cute house transformed into a haunted house transformed into a house on fire. The powerful fifteen-song set from seven of their eight studio LPs opened with fan favorite “Afterlife,” a track from He was avenged seven times. A huge hand that seemed to be coming towards us appeared as M. shouted “Connecticut! We will work hard on this energy level.”.

The band: M. Shadows (Matthew Sanders) vocals, Zacky Vengeance (Zachary Baker) rhythm guitar, Synyster Gates (Brian Haner Jr.) lead guitar, Johnny Christ (Jonathan Seward) and Brooks Wackerman on drums are hitting on all cylinders. M. in the crowd “I want to thank Mr. Brooks Wackerman for coming here tonight. Brooks was so sick yesterday that he couldn't get out of bed. So thank you Brooks for putting up with the show tonight. And if the show stops or the drums stop, you know it was your fault (he shows us) and he's probably dead.” Brooks beats the drums a bit.

continues M.Oh Mohegan Sun. This guy over there, he used to tell me every night (points to the guy in front of the pit) we play XBox together, it would be like you should play Mohegan Sun bro, it's the best place. I live in Orange County, do I look like Mohegan Sun? Okay, a casino? So we booked this tour originally for an arena down the road and he said you have to play Mohegan Sun. Well, here we are. And that's for you, “Hail To The King”. Fans erupt at the first notes of the title track.

Back to ZOE for 'We Love You' as the lyrics re-emerge on huge movie screens. This heavy piece was our director's choice. A very long intro gives way to “Shepherd Of FIre” off of Hail to the King. Now the band members are transforming into demons, in real fucking time, on screens. “Connecticut laughs The scene?” The title track is next with fiery imagery flying at us. “Roman Sky” away from City of Evil it started off nicely with stunning Roman architecture and planetary graphics, but M's voice was a little off on the high notes.

It took forever for the next song to start, another one City cut, “Blinded in Chains.” The fans roared during the awkward pause, but my editor commented “Maybe the drummer died.Back to the demon-transforming images, a modern take on A-ha's “Take on Me” video. M. mentions “Let's press play on this disc.” Audiences lose their shit over 'Bat Country' and a real pit breaks out. Back to LIFE for “Nobody,” my pick of the set. Flawless performance, simplified graphics in black and white images. Syn starts chewing on a broken string that broke during the solo.

The title track “Nightmare” once again excites the fans and the crowd surfers peak the action in the pits. The audience claps enthusiastically with the chorus”your fucking nightmare!”. M then gives Brooks another shout and he does a quick burst of solo. They visited Waking The Fallen with “Unholy Confessions” and M.'s voice is on point. The show closes with “Save Me” by Nightmare backed by a smoky graveyard scene and “Cosmic” away from ZOE, a good choice for a cool down song with blue wavy images. They thank their fans and exit the stage. There is no encore.

Me to Lil KAT: Revising He was avenged seven times.
Lil KAT: How many tickets did you get? Their graphics are difficult!

He was avenged seven times they are a tight unit and put on an awesome live show. M.'s voice may have broken a few times but otherwise he sounded great. And he bends it night after night. Their graphics are difficult! They are truly the pioneers for rock bands and technology. They have an exciting concert, “Looking Inside”, intended for use with VR and it's actually them, not an avatar! There is one A7X hub in Fortnite and fans are also invited to join their Discord.

Recently, they created a reward scheme for fans! (Consider all the other bands!) You can earn points for every purchase: music, tickets, merch, etc. and use points for everything from posters to meet and greets! If you can catch the love of the fans A7X live, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

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