Review and Gallery – Dan Maynard
I had heard that Avatar has a reputation for being incredible to watch and photograph. I sadly missed their previous tour here but heard nothing but amazing things from people that went so I was excited to experience Avatar properly for the first time as not only a photographer but also reviewer.
Pyrefly are tonight’s only support and boy do they fit the bill. As the intro plays over the PA, the band make their way to the stage, drummer in tow giving us a gracious jumping heel click and the rest of the band shortly afterwards, dressed in their grim attire, ready to play ball. Big, strong heavy tones stretch across the room as they kick in. It’s off to the races straight out the gate. They’re fun and animated while keeping it serious and heavy as anything all at the same time.
Vocalist KJ is a fantastic front man, interacting constantly with the crowd and the photographers, dreadlocks swinging about and jumping into the crowd to start a massive circle pit around him. It’s complete chaos throughout the set but in a great way. The set ends with KJ borrowing a blood red drenched skull out of the audience (Don’t ask, I don’t know) and using it in the most Hamletesque way possible. As I said before, they’re fun, they’re heavy, they’re great at what they do. Perfect opener for Avatar.
Well, here we are, I’m standing front centre in the photo pit awaiting my first proper induction to Avatar lore. The lights dim to darkness, a dark blue light takes over as the stage fog creeps across the stage. The band each make their way out, vocalist Johannes draped in a black robe hiding 90% of his face as he holds a brightly lit lantern to his hidden features that creep through the shadows. Soon after, the band slam into 2025’s Captain Goat, lights now all the way up and the energy is now in full swing.
So where do we stand after song one? Incredible. Aesthetically and musically, unreal. And the best is yet to come, I’m to find out. It’s not until the end of Captain Goat that Johannes reveals himself and the band kick into Let It Burn. Huge song, I’m loving this. And if I thought the energy was in full swing before, I was in for a rude shock. Synchronised windmills across the board have been initiated. Johannes screams his parts in sheer perfection throughout the windmills, never seen anything quite like it.
At this point I’m still in the photo pit. I can barely keep up. My arms are sore, my neck is whipping back and forth. I’m jumping between both cameras, tele shots, wide shots, windmills and jumps galore, guitar solos with perfect back lighting, Johannes drinking from a jerry can, the drummer fully animated, it’s too much for my brain to keep up with. I’m having an absolute fucking ball. But nonetheless, we end our first 3 songs with Johannes high in the air with big legs out jump. (Pic attached) I’m stoked. I’m pumped. Fuck. Who needs drugs when you can just photograph these guys!
It’s time for cameras to go away and time for me to go into patron mode. I’m quite literally standing here writing this as I watch because there’s too much to take in and remember. Even notes won’t help me. I don’t even know where to start. At one point near the end of a song, a roadie takes to the stage as the band completely freeze in place, the roadie rocking a black hard hat with a splash cymbal attached to the top. Drummer John Alfredsson leans overusing it as a count for the band to jump back in for the song’s outro.
The band exit the stage, and the lights completely drop to darkness as the backing track fades. Red lights now illuminate the stage as an almost siren sound blares and the crowd go crazy. Avatar reform across the front of the stage as they kick into Collosus, again….massive. Johannes has a keyboard brought front centre, as he sits and plays a beautiful short piece alone on stage before he takes a moment to speak one on one with the crowd. He expresses his love and gratitude that, as he says, “if even one of you showed up, we would be happy”. Make-up, theatrics, antics, put it all aside and he just seems like the most genuine person sitting there with his fans. “How about a song on this” and he begins to play Howling At The Waves and before you know it the whole band is back on stage together again.
I could sit here and ramble about every song they played. Every song was visually on another level and musically played to perfection. It’s a long set, the fans are getting their money’s worth, that’s for sure. They begin the final three songs with their latest single Crying Fire, followed by Freakshow and finally closing out an epic set with what is clearly their big crowd favourite Hail the Apocalypse. It’s truly something else. I’ve never heard these songs before, yet I’m standing here at the back and 100% feeling the energy and vibe and love that the fans and Avatar are exchanging. It’s really something else. I honestly didn’t realise just how large and dedicated the fanbase in Australia was until tonight and I can see why.
The first time I ever saw Kubrick’s cult horror classic The Shining was in a cinema only a few years ago when the movies reopened after COVID. I never saw it when I was younger and eventually had the chance to experience it on the big screen and instantly, I fell in love, straight to my top list of movies. Why do I tell you that? Because tonight is much the same. I held out listening to Avatar other than snippets until tonight and witnessing them for the first time in a live setting, huge sound and that undeniably insane onstage presence, they’ve instantly found their way to being one of my favourite live bands I’ve ever seen or photographed. Honestly it’s really hard to review a headline band you’ve not heard. And it was even harder just being honest enough to tell you I hadn’t listened to them. But I wanted to express what my brain was witnessing in real time. I could have bullshitted my way through this but where’s the fun in that?
Tell ya what though, next time Avatar return, I’ll be front center photographing again and watching the full set again.
– GALLERY –
