Atlanta Takes a Trip to the Metal Galaxy with Babymetal
As baseball’s focus began turning towards the post season, thousands of fans milled about the Battery Park in Atlanta, milling about the large campus between the many shops and restaurants. For those paying attention though, there was an entire sub set of people who were in the park for an entirely different reason and eventually they began crowding the front of the Roxy. The large marquee of the venue told the reason why, Babymetal, Japanese sensations in the heavy music world were playing at the venue along with Avatar.
Swedish metal act Avatar was the opener for the night, bringing their amusing theatrics to the people of Atlanta. For those who have never seen Avatar, they take an approach of “royalty” bringing a kingdom with them to each of their shows to masses of adoring fans. Dressed in full on uniforms, resplendent and elegant as if borrowed from a Victorian novel, the band puts on nothing short of an incredible charismatic and theatrical performance. To clarify, when we say the band, we mean the entire band. Every single member takes part in the festivities, performing antics like microphone jump rope and obviously the headbanging and guitar duos, all in front of the giant, circus-like Avatar lighting behind the band. Seeing them live is truly an experience and we recommend anyone seize the opportunity to catch them live if given the chance.
As the anticipation built in the crowd, the energy felt a lot like the music from the band itself. There was a fever pitch that felt very akin to a pop show while there was also the sort of pre-show tension that only comes from being at a metal show. A message was broadcast from the video screen behind the band, proclaiming the event was taking place in the name of the fox god and that impossible didn’t exist in the world of Babymetal. As the words “Are you all ready” lingered on the screen the silhouettes of the band crossed the stage.
As the lights came up, a tightly oiled machine of intense metal riffs and drum beats wafted through the air accompanied by the dulcet tones of the ladies in the band. The seamless hybrid of a variety of heavy metal genres colliding with upbeat, positive lyrical content from the world of J-Pop echoed about the venue as the tightly choreographed stage performance from the ladies left the audience visually in awe.
From start to finish the entire concert, both with Avatar and Babymetal was an experience to behold. If you’re in one of the cities where the festival is making a stop, we highly encourage you to take the time to check it out. The rest of the tour schedule can be seen below:
Sept. 18 – Detroit, Mich. @ The Fillmore Detroit
Sept. 20 – Chicago, Ill. @ Aragon Ballroom
Sept. 21 – Saint Paul, Minn. @ Myth Live Event Center
Sept. 23 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Uptown Theater
Sept. 24 – Dallas, Texas @ South Side Ballroom
Sept. 27 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
Sept. 28 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ The Union Event Center
Sept. 30 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ House of Blues
Oct. 01 – Tempe, Ariz. @ Marquee Theater
Oct. 04 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Warfield
Oct. 11 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Forum *
Oct. 13 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Aftershock **
Oct. 15 – Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theater ***
Oct. 16 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Paramount Theatre ***
*No Support
**Festival
***No Avatar, The HU supporting instead
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