LIVE REVIEW: Avatar @ O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
A room full of smoke and mirror theatrics and a circus of freaks (and geeks) were marching towards the grand hall of O2 Forum Kentish Town for a show unlike any other, a spectacle to feast your eyes upon as soon as the lights dim and the curtains unfold. However, this isn’t like any regular circus act. Oh now boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, non-binaries and fairies gather round to witness one of the greatest metal bands to ever walk our feeble planet, witness the madness because we are simply living in their world and we are nothing but puppets on a string, willed by their commands and demands. Tonight the devil will dance with AVATAR, and we are his mortal servants.
Warming us up towards tonight’s cirque du soleil is MASTIFF. A band that made sure to combine old school thrash elements with beefy hardcore breakdowns and gnarly grit in Jim Hodge’s vocal performance and the response was met with glee; a real storm bringer for tonight, amping the crowd up with anticipation. Not one to miss an opportunity to interact with fans and embracing those who were new to the band they had them up and chanting, “FUCK THE TORIES”. A setlist featuring a colossal list of tracks from their most recent album, Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth. Whilst setting a different vibe than what was (later) experienced with VEIL OF MAYA and AVATAR that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; especially when the end results are met with a crowd whose response are sweaty mosh pitters and excitement brewing in the atmosphere. It’s satisfying to know you succeeded in your aim to gear the crowd up for the rest of the night.
Rating: 8/10
“Lets. Fucking. Fly. London.” as quoted by the energetic Lukas Magyar and that’s exactly what VEIL OF MAYA did (ironically in more ways than one). Opening with Viscera, it was clear that VEIL OF MAYA were bringing the big guns with their performance; Lukas showcased his versatility with his pristine cleans, antagonising lows and demonic highs throughout their set; a concoction of older material (Punisher & Leeloo) met with the newer era of the band (Synthwave Vegan & Godhead), the former really bringing together those electronic elements beautifully with the harsh edge of the guitars, and pounding drums. VEIL OF MAYA were a band often mentioned by the Warped Tour kids of mid 2010’s, the kids who often skateboarded in beat up classic Vans/Converses, the ones with the equally as bad edgy haircuts too and to now see them being the main support for a band as incredible as AVATAR is a beautiful thing to witness. Oh how far these boys have come and musically, the production has amped up making for incredible sounding live shows.
As they soared straight into their closure for this evening, Mikasa, an unfortunate reminder of reality hit as an incident occurred at the front. It was hard to decipher exactly what happened though it had our brain rattling, asking ourselves and others around ‘did someone faint?’ or ‘perhaps someone got injured in the pit? Or accidently hit at the sidelines or by a crowd surfer?’. Nonetheless, the situation was handled with grace despite the looming feeling of disappointment as they walked off stage with a swift exit full of promise in their steps, though unable to continue due to time restraints. This serves as a reminder, however, that artists have a duty of care and safety towards their audience at these shows and to continue such a set would be irresponsible at best.
Rating: 9/10
Ladies and Gentlemen, the eagles have returned again and disappoint, they did not. They set the scene for tonight’s spectacular freak show opening with Dance Devil Dance before launching into The Eagle Has Landed where the room had become a choir with the amount of voices bouncing across the walls of O2 Forum Kentish Town, it’s clear that everyone here tonight aims to embrace the music in its entire glory. Before we are able to proceed with what is sure to be an absolute firecracker of a show, Johannes Eckerström kindly reminds us to give our consent to be violated through an ear assault and tonight my friends ‘there is no safe word’. Alas, we are now able to continue our quest to Avatar Country.
Meeting at the halfway mark we seem to be missing a certain frontman. As if by thought and circus tricks alone he reappears situated by the stairs leading to the balcony with… balloons? You’d be correct in thinking that Johannes would proceed to make a circus act out of himself by making a dog out of a balloon matched with a continuous smile that really brings this ‘character’ of himself to life. Divine chaos are simply the only words that can describe a band like AVATAR; and this is one – of many – times that we see them in their element; as performers and entertainers. The real star of this segment is the trumpet; it appears he’s a man after our hearts with his ability and talent to go above and beyond what is typically expected from other heroic metal bands of the scene. Though, it makes you wonder if in a previous life AVATAR were a multi-platinum selling ska band; it would explain a lot…
Throughout the night AVATAR did little to disappoint as they brought out old classics and fresh meat alike into their carefully curated setlist. Weather it was a swarming crowd reciting the words to Bloody Angel and Colossus or the demand for the mosh pits to open up and commence their night of fun activities of insanity during Valley Of Disease, we even bared to witness to a small group of individuals start a rowing put that was believed to only exist at AMON AMARTH shows. Vocally Johannes’ cleans have a certain 80s twang; lungs of molten lava that are on par with that of legend Rob Halford even but let that not distract you from his fiery harsh vocals. The musicianship this band showcases from start to finish is mesmerising; incredibly in sync with one another they just click in place when stood on stage, clearly nobody would be able to replicate nor replace the other. Though if you’re still aimless searching for a reason why AVATAR are trailblazers of the scene then perhaps the fifty year old crowd surfer could answer for you; if you’ve managed to get the old folk on your side you’ve got to have a spark of magic in your step, or hands in their case with their intricate, foot stomping riffs, delicate, ethereal clean tone and of course, theatrical elements galore.
The latter half of the show has just as much enthusiasm as the first half if not more between John Alfredsson throwing out a confetti cannon drenching the crowd in colour amidst the black clothing, Johannes becoming a real life jack in the box, and even toning down the evening, stripped back with nothing but Johannes and his piano, a tonal change from his wild antics on stage and commanding the crowd like a conductor at an orchestra. If that wasn’t enough to wet your appetite Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström went off on a guitar battle; clearly a draw with the talent exuberating from the pair.
Tonight was nothing short of an ode to the freaks and the outcasts, the miscarriages and mistakes and the foreigners after both your cars & women as quoted by the charismatic Johannes; it’s goes without saying that if AVATAR were a dish at a gourmet restaurant they’d be a 15 oz ribeye steak with all the trimmings after their show stopping performance. AVATAR have stamped their mark on where metal needs to go in terms of their live shows; this level of production blows a large portion of bands out of the water and that combined with their impeccable nature of vocal and instrumental performance is something a lot can learn from. You need to be at your highest level of performance whilst putting on a spectacular show that can only be experienced at your show. A band destined for stadium tours and you can only imagine the utter beauty in chaos they’d cause playing The O2 or Wembley Stadium. And just like the end of a MCU movie they utter the words, dissolving into the air and our heart, ‘AVATAR will return’ before bowing before us. The end has descended but greatness was witnessed.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Adriana Vasile here:
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