WILKES-BARRE, PA REVIEW, “A7X PROVED WHY IT’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN HEAVY METAL..”

Just moments into Friday’s show at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Avenged Sevenfold proved why it is one of the biggest names in heavy metal and hard rock music at the moment.

With a scorching version of “Nightmare,” the band from Huntington Beach, Calif. took over the stage and ushered in its “Welcome to the Family” tour, complete with a man hanging from the rafters in a noose and enough flames to light up the darkened arena.

Granted, you wouldn’t exactly expect subtlety from a bunch of guys with names like Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance, but if anyone doubted the band’s power before Friday, all shadows of that doubt were gone by the second song.

The band showed its versatility a few songs later with a touching version of “So Far Away,” written about the group’s original drummer, James “The Rev” Sullivan, who died in December 2009. The “Nightmare” album, which was just in its beginning stages at the time of Sullivan’s death, became the band’s biggest release to date, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

Not taking the stage until around 9:40 p.m., Avenged Sevenfold was still going strong as this report went to press.

The official attendance figure for Friday night’s show was not available at press time, but it was a very large, very loud crowd.