Avatar The Great Metal Circus – a night you shouldn’t miss.

Photographer: Luke Jamroz

A metal circus, a crowd surfers delight, and some intense metal – let’s go!

On a beautiful night in May, Piedmont Hall tucked into Greensboro Coliseum became the perfect setting to welcome the star-studded event.  

Ever since the first moment this tour was announced, we knew we’d be front row, errr photo pit bound. But let me rewind unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve at least seen a photo of this massively talented band, Avatar.

The band was formed in 2001 making this a 23-year journey of ecclectism and brutal riffs. The circus of eager fans has been collected on the countless tour engagements and to be honest sometimes still on the underground funnel of music news.

I usually am inundated with “listen to this band, check this guy out!” and somehow I stumbled upon the band on a random playlist at a house party. It was kind of an epic moment. Made sure to book the team a show with them immediately and decades later it’s still a good time.

With 9 albums, over 20 singles, and 2 EPs, Avatar is paving a path for metal freaks-a-like. If you are wearing a painted face or donning a wrangler robe, some kind of face paint, low growls, and amazing breakdowns are about to happen at this show.

They have a rabid fandom, a king-sized catalog to pick from, and a newer (within 1.5 years) to perform new music to draw you in even further. 

After we were done having our stretch and warm up set we were given the go to hop in the pit for our first 3 songs to shoot and dance. 

First up was  Oxymoron, a hip-hop rock fusion band out of Queens.

The band was the brainchild of two brothers Kami (K.I.) and Demi (Deee).

After touring a tiny bit and wanting to record and have a full band for tour they added drummer Matty Mayz, and vocalist/bassist/guitarist Jafe Paulino.  They are branded as speaking to and for the rejected. A voice to the disgruntled. Live they were full of energy and the crowd was amply eating them up. And their awesome get-up I would love to rock wookie leg-warmers, thanks!

They came out to play with young fans posing for photos…

Even jumped in the photo pit to say “YO!,” to the togs and fans.

Their latest album Melanin Punk (2023) is available streaming everywhere.

Once the band was done we decided to roam around a little, grab a drink, stretch again because let’s be real we aren’t 20 anymore (at least some of us!) talked to some fans and hawk eye listened to some of the oddest stories ever.

Please do this at every metal show. I’ve found the metal community to be some of the most solid and interesting human beings alive and when the anticipation of seeing your favorite band is about to get on stage; adrenaline is high and so is the intensity of conversations. 

It was finally the moment all had been waiting for since the announcement of this tour, the lights dimmed, the crowd roared and on stage popped AVATAR. 

The mosh-pit was thick, and the fans jumped in unison while belting their lungs out.

First up was founding member; drummer John Alfredsson to get set up at his kit, and within the next few moments the place erupted into a frenzy. Vocalist Johannes Eckerström emerged through the thick smoke to capitalize on the energy of the crowd and belted out hit after hit.

Even the tiniest fans were loving it!

We were treated to an 18-song set, spanning 6 works of their catalog and an extended remake, to end the night 3 encores. This was a full show with all the bells and whistles all that was missing was a fire breather but we can wish! 

You won’t want to miss the latest on Avatar, their new album is currently in the works and is set to drop in mid-2025. We will keep you updated as this develops.  

See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!

If you captured any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see. 

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