AVENGED SEVENFOLD AND LOCAL H
Opening for Metallica’s WorldWired Tour 2017
Soldier Field Chicago
Sun 6/18/17

Avenged Sevenfold and Local H open for the mighty Metallica on their North American WorldWired Tour from Soldier Field in Chicago.
Avenged Sevenfold and Local H- proving exactly why they deserve to be opening for Metallica, and proving it even with short setlists, even with the little amount of time allotted to them to perform live from Soldier Field in Chicago.
Thought I’d take the time to revisit these images while in the ninth month of a pandemic- giving both bands their due before revisiting the edit for Metallica.
As far as production goes- Looks like throughout A7X’s set that Metallica was very accommodating, allowing the band to use their gigantic runway from the main stage, along with heavy use of vertical pyro as well.
Avenged Sevenfold, one of the most technically proficient bands to have come out of the genre Metalcore, and to continually play music that is fast and heavy from beginning to end is encouraging and well worth the visit to photograph them live.
I’ve always liked this band, sticking true to their roots, the guitar interplay of Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance, along with M. Shadows, who have guitar and vocal lines that make it look so easy- but you know and I know that it’s anything but.
Granted- it’s a sea of Metallica shirts as far as the eye can see- but even then, the crowd that showed up early for Avenged Sevenfold, mostly on the main floor, were equally excited to see A7X perform live.
Same goes for openers Local H, who although had a rather brief set, made the most of their time belting out their established and well liked tunes one after the other after the other.
The awkward thing about both bands is that they started in sunlight- at the rather early hour of 6pm. but those that arrived early heard two powerful sets from two very good bands.
As far as Scott Lucas and Ryan Harding of Local H- they actually won a Metallica contest for an opening slot on several dates of the HardWired tour and, as far as Chicago’s date with Metallica goes, this contest put Local H over the top spearheaded by Lauren O’ Neil and Walter Flakus of 101KQX, along with an extra push by Chicago’s Mancow.
You could tell that Scott Lucas seemed grateful for the opportunity, and Scott Lucas was energized as he worked the crowd into a frenzy for what was yet to come as the evening progressed.
Hits like “Bound for the Floor” and “High- Fiving MF” were front and center, as well as they should be.
So there ya go- two truly terrific live bands to get the crowd riled up before the main event with Metallica, even while having to play their songs in the daylight.
Doesn’t matter at all to Chicago fans.
They know and love hard and heavy when they hear it, and respond accordingly, even on a Sunday evening.
Now off to work on the Metallica revisit edit.
Cheers- Bobby Talamine – Music Photographer