The King Has Welcomed Me - Avatar | Review

Avatar Country - a vast and frivolous home to the King. How does it bode to foreigners?

Avatar

With their newest album, Avatar Country, coming out in 2018, it was time to see whether their country was the right fit for metal-inclined foreigners. On the 29th September 2018, a journey was made to the O2 Academy Bristol to experience the heavily spoken about stage presence that Avatar brings to their shows. After seeing Avatar at Download Festival 2018, will they bring the same aura of performing expertise?

Encapsulating. 20 seconds into the building and Avatar has already caught the undivided attention of every visitor. In the green room, before the ‘King’s Quarters’, there’s the usual heaped merch stand that you’ll find at every show, as well as an overpriced bar - again, findable at every show, and the most interesting part of the whole room. There’s a wheel-of-fortune type game occurring in the far corner where all the prizes are the quirkiest of items; including… Avatar’s own hot sauce?

And then you enter the room where all the magic happens and the journey is complete. The foreigners have entered the King’s realm. The room, already flooded with nobles from all corners of the world (or just a lot of drunk men from Stokes Croft), is decorated to the highest standards with Avatar-embroidered hanging wall banners and more merch stands lining the walls. At the far end of the room there is a stage, ready and prepared for the King’s presence. It’s strung with all things Avatar: hammercloths, flags, banners, any regal decor you can think of - it was there. The best part, however, is how they have split the stage in two - a bottom floor and top floor. At either end of the stage there are metal stairs leading up to the top floor. In the middle of the bottom floor there’s just about enough room for a mighty drum kit, and small amounts of room at either end of both the top and bottom floor for someone to stand. The peculiar thing is the wide space in the middle of the top floor…

Very quickly into Avatar’s set, we are shown what that space is for. First, the drummer, John Alfredsson, walks and takes position, stood(?) behind his herculean set. Then, the bassist, Henrik Sandelin, and the guitarist, Tim Öhrström, took their places either side of the drummer, again standing, waiting. Our favourite frontman, Johannes Eckerström, extravagantly bounces onto the stage - taking on the persona of the Master of Ceremonies. He moves about on stage as though looking for where to stand in a very ‘Jack Sparrow’ manner. Eventually he takes his place behind an Avatar podium in the centre of the stage. The song ‘A Statue of the King’ begins, and slowly the King - the lead guitarist, Jonas Jarlsby - is unveiled on a rising throne that is lifted into the gap that was mysteriously empty only a few minutes beforehand. The Swedish band, now all together in their respective placements, look unified and as though they are ready for a formal painting.

He repeatedly goes up to his fellow band members and tries to get them to interact - like a child teasing a Queen’s Guard.

As the show continues into songs that aren’t from the new album, such as ‘Hail The Apocalypse’ and ‘Let It Burn’, everyone but Eckerström remains in their place. Jarlsby occasionally stands for a difficult guitar solo but always returns to his throne. Johannes, however, strolls around the stage as though he owns it. He repeatedly goes up to his fellow band members and tries to get them to interact - like a child teasing a Queen’s Guard. There is a real child-like wonder to Eckerström’s actions, even the way he looks around looks like he’s seeing everything for the first time. This is clear in all his performances; at Download “18 he saw himself on the big screen at the end of the stage and pointed and laughed in the middle of the set. In contrast, the King (Jarlsby) looks deep into the crowd, assessing each member, as though deciding whether they are worthy to impeach upon his kingdom. Alfredsson, Sandelin, and Öhrström look on with empty eyes, as though they are simply focused on getting their job done - performing for and protecting the King.

The audience complies consistently with the actions of the men on stage. As though responding directly to the King’s assessing eyes, the crowd erupts into mosh pits, screams, singing, and dancing. There’s not a single person in the room not enjoying themselves to their very limit. There are two areas already designated to mosh pits; one at the back left corner of the room, the other right in front of the stage. They split on their own in some clearly heavy verses of Avatar’s songs, or simply on command by Johannes. Anyone who isn’t in a mosh pit is either dancing on their own to the parts that are less headbang-y or screaming along to Eckerström’s immersive vocal performance.

As if on queue, the second to last song begins to play as the King smiles for the first time. The song is ‘The King Welcomes You To Avatar Country’. His majesty has apparently finished assessing the crowds worth and has decided they are indeed allowed to enjoy the wealth inside his kingdom. As the first “long live the king” is sung, Jarlsby stands before his new citizens. As the first “We’ll take good care of you/I bid you welcome to/Avatar Country” is sung, the King slowly bows.

To finish the evening, the final song on the setlist is ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’, beginning with a cautious sniff of his own armpit by Eckerström. Every member of the crowd bursts into screams as the song from their first modern album, Black Waltz, begins to play. It’s a brilliant end to the overwhelming night that occurred in Avatar Country on the 29th September in Bristol. Many left the building still processing what they had witnessed - a beautiful mix of theatre and concert performance.