Authored by Frankie J.
It comes to no surprise that the Swedish rock group Avatar would eventually bring their unique style of rock / metal flare to the iconic, legendary music venue “The Fillmore” in San Francisco. It simply doesn’t get any better than that and it pretty much sets the industry standard of “making it”.
Although I’ve heard of Avatar, I’ve never really paid attention to them or even gone out of my way to see what the fuss was all about … That is until I witnessed their first stage assault a few years ago at the Aftershock Festival, Discovery Park in Sacramento. When covering such huge events, I usually reserve my Nikon camera clicks and disk storage for the bigger bands. However when they hit the stage early in the day, and in bright sunlight, they did get my attention and I quickly ran up front to snap a few and I was instantly a fan! So naturally when this opportunity came across my desk, I didn’t even hesitate in wanting to cover this amazing stage presentation along with tight, well rehearsed, very well written arrangements of sold freakin’ rock music!
So here we go with my own unique way of writing technique. Most of my readers know I don’t write about what has been in the past. When it comes to a review on the band. I don’t care about that because every other writer covers that same old crap. I write about what is relevant today and going forward.
I’m the kind of photographer that love theatrics and stage presentation. A well choreographed show just makes better pics to tell the story of what makes this band! Avatar tells this story, and they do it well. It obviously shows because to sell the amount of tickets they did on the first headlining gig in San Francisco on a Thursday night, is simply amazing. That in itself gives bragging rights. The concert starts off with a kings court type of setting and a multi-teared stage set making this a serious production. With “Kungen” and guitarist sitting in his throne looking stately, the visuals enter the brain and stimulates the rock senses into the understanding that shit is about to happen.
Johannes with perhaps the strongest vocals in the industry belts out lyrics in amazing vocal ranges from growls to high pitch screams in octaves hard to believe, along with the antics and wide opened mouth he’s known for together, with period garb that stands out as part of the storyline. Add the rest of what holds this band together, you have Tim Öhrström – Guitars with incredible leads, Henrik Sandelin – stylish on bass and John Alfredsson’s heartfelt drums … And this my metal friends is what makes Avatar such an amazing band to see live. The bottom line is they deliver and wow the crowd realizing that the fans bought tickets to see them perform, so Avatar gives them a show, they give their fans bang for their buck, and they do it well!!
There’s no set list available and when I’m shooting, I’m not paying attention to the order of song as much as catching moments of the band on stage which is just as much of the story as the order of songs. But I will say that their hit “Let It Burn” had the entire venue raging!!
So at the end of the day, Avatar is the band I like to witness and cover live. They are complete, they rock, they roll, they are metal with a kick ass stage performance that leaves you speechless and leaves an everlasting memory in your brain. Bands that accomplish this … are gold! My suggestion? Buy a ticket and see them..
Authored by Frankie J …
Anyone got ear plugs?
Avatar is:
Johannes Michael Gustaf Eckerström – Vocals
John Alfredsson – Drums
Kungen – Guitars
Tim Öhrström – Guitars
Henrik Sandelin – Bass
