Avenged Sevenfold play live debuts, deep cuts and one long-lost classic at first 2024 concert

M Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold onstage in 2023
(Image credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

Avenged Sevenfold started their 2024 Life Is But A Dream… tour in Buffalo, New York’s Keybank Center on Wednesday (March 6) and played a setlist featuring rarities and live debuts.

Along with five songs from new album Life Is But A Dream…, the California arena-metal quintet performed Roman Sky, a cut from 2016’s The Stage that had never been played in public before.

Cosmic, from Life Is But A Dream…, also received its live debut at the concert. It joined four other, previously played songs from the album on the setlist: Game Over, Mattel, Nobody and We Love You.

Blinded In Chains, a deep cut from City Of Evil (2005), was performed for the first time since 2006, while Save Me, from Nightmare (2010), got its first airing in 13 years.

One of the band’s biggest singles also got unearthed. Hail To The King song Shepherd Of Fire was busted out for the first time since 2018.

Footage from the concert has been embedded below, along with the full setlist.

Avenged Sevenfold are still touring North America, continuing with a concert at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, tomorrow (March 9). The band will conclude their trek of the continent on March 31.

Following a show in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 25, Avenged Sevenfold will then tour Europe, playing festivals and arenas. The stops include a headline performance at Download festival, alongside fellow headliners Fall Out Boy and Queens Of The Stone Age.

Life Is But A Dream… was released last year and received critical acclaim. Metal Hammer journalist Dave Everley gave the record a glowing four-and-a-half-star review.

“Yes, Life Is But A Dream… is indulgent. Of course it is,” Everley wrote. “A lot of people won’t want to come along for the ride, and how this stuff is going to fit alongside their older material live is anyone’s guess.

“But Avenged Sevenfold have scaled the mountain and looked out over all that surrounds them, then plunged headfirst into the void, not knowing where, when or even if they’ll land. What kind of madness is this? The very best kind.”

The full list of Avenged Sevenfold’s confirmed 2024 tour dates is below. Tickets are available on the band’s website. 

Avenged Sevenfold setlist – Keybank Center, Buffalo, NY, March 6

Game Over
Mattel
Afterlife
Hail To The King
We Love You
Shepherd Of Fire
(first performance since 2018)
The Stage
Roman Sky
(live debut)
Blinded In Chains
(first performance since 2006)
Bat Country
Nobody
Nightmare
Unholy Confessions
Save Me
(first performance since 2011)
Cosmic
(live debut)

Avenged Sevenfold 2024 tour dates:

Mar 9: Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, OH
Mar 11: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI
Mar 13: Cincinnati Heritage Bank Center, OH
Mar 15: Des Moines Wells Fargo Arena, IA
Mar 16: Lincoln Pinnacle Bank Arena, NE
Mar 18: Moline Vibrant Arena At The Mark, IL
Mar 19: Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse, IN
Mar 21: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Mar 23: Manchester SNHU Arena, NH
Mar 25: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Mar 26: Columbus Nationwide Arena, OH
Mar 28: Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena, TN
Mar 29: Raleigh PNC Arena, NC
Mar 31: Newark Prudential Center, NJ

May 25: Jakarta Jota Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia

Jun 5: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Jun 7: Nürburg Rock Am Ring, Germany
Jun 9: Nürnberg Rock Im Park, Germany
Jun 11: Basel St Jakobshalle, Switzerland
Jun 13: Firenze Rocks, Italy
Jun 14: Nickelsdorf Nova Rock, Austria
Jun 16: Donington Download festival, UK
Jun 19: Copenhagen Copenhell, Denmark
Jun 21: Dortmund Wastfalenhallen, Germany
Jun 22: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 24: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Jun 26–29: Viveiro Resurrection Fest, Spain
Jun 27: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 30: Lisboa Evil Live festival, Portugal

Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.