REVIEW: Avenged Sevenfold, Poppy, Sullivan King at Prudential Center | 03.31.2024
Avenged Sevenfold recently embarked on a 16-city trek across the US and Canada. Serving as the third and final leg of the band’s “Life Is But a Dream” North American tour, Avenged Sevenfold ended the run on a high and holy note this past Easter Sunday at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
THE SHOW
The night began with a hype and pyro-filled set from Sullivan King. King was equal parts metal musician and DJ. He wore both hats as he darted back and forth from his board atop a giant LED DJ booth to the stage down in front of it so he could belt out a scream or shred a guitar solo.
King's unique blend of Metal and Dubstep sampled iconic riffs and metal vocal lines among his own original songs that packed a heavy punch. If has been or if there were ever were to be a circle pit at a rave, Sullivan King would be the voice and the sound that got those ravers spinning.
Poppy took the stage next. A genre-bending artist in her own right, she opened with "BLOODMONEY" from her 2020 descent into Metal, I Disagree, Poppy stood still and was bathed in a sea of white light as she delivered the opening lines before headbanging along to the distorted tones ringing from the shadows.
Poppy's vocals were immensely powerful. I was particularly blown away by the rawness of her delivery of the final line of "Church Outfit." I also enjoyed getting to experience "V.A.N" live (sans Bad Omens).
Sat center stage in a chair and donning a ski mask was Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows. The intro to "Game Over" began to play, signifying the opposite of its namesake was imminent; the song was about to explode. With the song's sonic burst came an abundance of light and energy from the band as they kicked off their bookend performance.
"Who plays a show on Easter Sunday?" frontman M. Shadows joked to the crowd, taking note of a group of bunny ear-wearing fans pressed up against the barrier. Shadows accepted an offered pair of ears from the fans and put them on before pondering a future as a TikTok influencer. "Jesus Christ couldn't be here tonight", Shadows said moving on. "But we have the second most holy man: Johnny Christ." The crowd roared as Christ stepped forward and the band launched into "Hail To The King."
Avenged Sevenfold’s setlist touched upon the majority of the band’s albums save Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, and deep dove into their latest release, Life Is But A Dream. It was an epic end to the North American portion of their tour.
Avenged Sevenfold certainly earned some well deserved rest before they head overseas for a stopover in Indonesia followed by a tour of Europe. The band will return to the States later this year for a headlining performance at Rocklahoma.
THE SHOOT
SULLIVAN KING
- Shooting DJs behind a booth are always a bit of a challenge, but a put that booth on a giant stage and it becomes nearly impossible; such was the case for this set
- Aside from hopping on top of his boards at the beginning, it was very difficult to see Sullivan King when he was behind the booth.
- King will leave the booth to come to the front of the stage for a vocal part or a guitar solo; these are the moments to be prepared for in order to get your shots.
- King often played to one corner of the stage, made his way to the center, then to the other corner; if you're quick you can follow along with him to each stop. He doesn't stay still for long, though, so be ready to get your shot.
- There is a lot of pyro and while most of it will be going off while you can't see or shoot Sullivan King, he does utilize it during his front-of-stage guitar solos; something to keep in mind when framing the shots in case you want to include the pyro.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD
- Vocalist M. Shadows will sit for a portion of the first song, and will wear the ski mask for the first song only; the obstructive nature of the ski mask limits the shots you'll be able to get, so consider using this time to see if you can compose any shots of the other members.
- The lighting is hard and saturated and you won't get a reprieve from it. The colors will change a lot but the light is never clean.
- For it being such a big stage I didn't find it too difficult to get shots of the members with the exception of drummer Brooks Wackerman. He was so far back that unless you have a lens over 200mm, you're not going to get much more than a wide, full kit shot.
- During "Afterlife" there are lots of fire visuals on the screens, including a burning house – watch for M. Shadows' movements relative to those visuals and you'll get some pretty cool shots.
SULLIVAN KING
POPPY
AVENGED SEVENFOLD