These Amazing Photos Are How You Can Relive Avatar in East Moline

Sometimes you go to a concert.  Sometimes you go to a show.  Sometimes you get both.  Avatar was definitely both.  A late Mother's Day Sunday night was totally worth it as everyone at The Rust Belt agreed, Avatar is awesome.

Orbit Culture

It was a bangin' way to start the night with Orbit Culture.  These guys are from Sweeden like Avatar and brought it heavy from the start.  Especially with that double-pedal drum.  Wow.

The only bummer was how dark it was.  They did not want any extra light on them at all.  Maybe they wanted to stay mysterious.  But what you couldn't see you could definitely hear and feel from them.

Veil of Maya

These guys have a lot going on in their music.  But they do a good job of blending it all together.  Out of Chicago, these guys are classified as "progressive metal" because of all that sound they are creating.  The sound, however, works.

Vocalist Lucas Magyar is both clean and unclean vocals and was hitting the notes in both categories.

The only thing missing from the songs was a hook.  Give me one part of the song that has a hook that can catch on that we, the normal nonsingers, can sing along with at the show.

Avatar

I walked into the night mildly liking Avatar.  The handful that we play on I-Rock 93.5 are cool.  Different.  A bit heavy, a bit melodic. I left the show singing their praises as a great band with an amazing live show.

From the books of KISS and Alice Cooper, it was a stage show.

It was a very cool stage setup with cool "doors" that allowed the band to sneak back between songs in order to add to the pageantry of the show.  Jonas didn't have a water bottle on stage.  He had a black gas can he drank from.

Get our free mobile app

The guitar players didn't have mics sitting in front of them the entire time.  They were on contraptions that allowed them to fall to stay out of the visuals while performing but then when they needed them, a simple pedal sprung them back up.

It was well-planned and executed from front to end.  Oh, and they also sound amazing!

Speaking of plans, yes, Jonas coming back to the sound booth to blow up a balloon animal and play the trombone was very planned.  As was me standing right next to him.  You can see those pics on our Facebook page.

They gained a lot of fans Sunday night at The Rust Belt.  When the guys from Sweeden come back to town or anywhere you can travel to, make it happen.  You won't be let down.