Avatar is currently out on The Great Metal Circus 2024 Headline Tour which has been captivating audiences worldwide. The North American leg began recently on May 8th in Indianapolis, IN and will conclude on May 19th in Milwaukee, WI. We were so excited to catch the tour when it made a stop at Piedmont Hall in Greensboro, NC back on May 10th. When we arrived at the event, the line waiting to get in was HUGE!! It circled the parking lot and had started down the block. Almost everyone in the crowd was decked out in their Avatar merchandise and many fans had their faces painted to match vocalist, Johannes Eckerström.
Fans piled in as soon as the doors opened and I found quite a few were just as excited to grab some new merch on the way to their spot in this general admission room. Not all though, a lot rushed to the front of the barricade to get as close to the action as possible. It wouldn’t be long before openers, OXYMORRONS would hit the stage and help get this already packed crowd completely riled up. Next up, Conquer Divide would also hop on stage for their set. Both openers were amazing, OXYMORRONS have an extremely high energy set, perfect to get everyone jumping. The guys would actually stay out after their set just to hang out and meet fans in the crowd. Conquer Divide not only had everything jumping and dancing around, but also singing along to their popular songs.
The anticipation kept building as the stage was set for Avatar to come out. Every few moments there would be a wave of cheering from the crowd before the band even hit the stage. Everyone was excited! Drummer John Alfredsson would come out first with a single spotlight as he got ready behind his drum kit. The lights again would go out and when they came back on, the rest of the band would show up in their individual portals which had been built on the stage. Then the stage was filled with smoke just as the opening chords of “Dance Devil Dance” began, the title track off their latest release. The crowd was immediately jumping, headbanging, screaming along, let’s say everyone was moving. Everyone. And the first few crowd surfers would reach the front of the stage before the first song finished.
The band treated this excited crowd to a HUGE headline set. 18 songs in total, Avatar played for over 2 hours for their fans and had just as much energy from the beginning all the way until the end.
I’m Music Magazine Associate Editor/Photographer Daphne McKinney
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