Avenged Sevenfold, Black Tide, Operator, The Confession - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA - November 15th

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 11.22.2007

The Hot Topic tour stopped by Philadelphia to showcase four bands from the hard rock/metal genre...

Black Tide, The Confession, Operator, Avenged Sevenfold

Date: November 15th, 2007

Place: Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA


Avenged Sevenfold has some die hard fans. There is no doubt about that. They are the type of band that could sell a whole album of white noise and sell 300,000 copies. These die hard fans were out in full force on Thursday, November 15th to see Avenged play alongside openers Black Tide, The Confession, and Operator.

I had heard about Black Tide from their Myspace page. I was very impressed with their sound, which was a throwback to the 1980’s, with a solid mix of Motley Crue and thrash metal. That would be impressive enough, but then you have to take into the account how young the band members are. The lead singer, and guitarist, Gabriel Garcia, is only 14 years old. Yeah, you heard me right. The kid is only 14 and he sings like he is 25 or something. His vocal range is great and its amazing to see somebody that young singing like he is. The other members, Alex “Lex” Nunez (Guitar), Zachary Sandler (Bass), and Steven Spence (Drums), all range from 16-19 years old.

I did miss about half of their set, getting to the show late on the account of my party getting lost. However, from what I saw, they definitely kicked some major ass. I saw them play about five songs and each one really got the crowd excited. “Shockwave,” “Warriors of Time,” and their excellent cover of Metallica’s “Hit The Lights” got the people head banging and putting the devil horns in the air. The four piece from Miami, Florida have a bright future and I look forward to hearing their debut album coming out next year.

The Confession was up next, and other than the lead singer’s weird obsession with looking like singer Scott Weiland, nothing really stood out for me. It was probably because I had never heard of the band, didn’t catch any of the song titles, and of the fact that their sound was like an Atreyu reject with better guitars.

Operator was up next, and to say they were the surprise of the night would be an understatement. The band, which I later found out featured former Puddle of Mudd guitarist Paul Phillips, blew the roof off of Electric Factory with their hard rock sound, which sounded like Guns N Roses took a time machine and went to 2007. Lead singer Johnny Strong really shocked me with his vocal range. He hit high notes that would impress James LaBrie and really showed some strong stage presence. Their cover of Guns N Roses “It’s So Easy” won me over instantly. Their set, which I sadly don’t remember, was so good I bought their debut album right after the show ended.

After a half hour wait, the main band came out. Avenged Sevenfold came flying out of the gate, and didn’t let up the entire time.

Setlist (mostly in order)

1. Critical Acclaim
2. Remissions
3. Beast and the Harlot
4. Burn It Down
5. Afterlife
6. I Won’t See You Tonight Pt. 1
7. Almost Easy
8. Scream
9. Bat Country
10. Seize The Day
11. Unholy Confession

The crowd was absolutely on fire the entire time. They sang their hearts out like it was the end of the world and most of them knew every single word. I felt like an idiot at times, as I didn’t know much from the new album, and everybody around me was singing each song word for word.

The band sounded good and didn’t mess up on any of the songs. It was great to see Gates and Vengeance dueling on the stage. The Rev’s vocals were just as good live as they were in the studio. There weren’t any crazy surprises in the set list, with the exception of “I Won’t See You Tonight Pt. 1.” This song is one of my favorites of Avenged Sevenfold’s and, while not as good as the studio version, the band pulled it off and got the cell phones and lighters in the air.

I really only had two complaints about the show. The first was the length of Avenged Sevenfold’s set. While I understand that there were three bands before them, and it was a Thursday night, the band could’ve played for a bit longer. Including the encore, they were only on stage for about an hour and ten minutes. It was an exciting 70 minutes, but still, I think a song or two was needed in there.

The second complaint was Shadows vocals, specifically on the old songs. His vocals have improved since the last time I saw them, back in 2006 (I believe) with Coheed and Cambria, but the old songs still don’t sound right without the screaming. The big culprit was “Unholy Confessions,” which lost some of its edge and didn’t fit with the singing.

Even with these small complaints, the rest of the show was great. I was surprised by the quality of the opening bands and the headliners, Avenged Sevenfold, put in an energetic performance that had their fans at the Electric Factory leaving satisfied and content.

The 411: The show was great and it was nice to hear opening bands that were actually good. Black Tide impressed me with their sound, especially since all of the members were under 20. Operator kicked my ass and was definitely the surprise of the night. The Confession wasn't anything special, but Avenged Sevenfold made up for that with a short, but sweet set. If you haven't got the chance yet, and tickets are still available, check this tour out.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]