Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Live Nation (https://www.livenation.com/
Venue: The Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ (https://www.thevanburenphx.com )
Date: Wednesday November 5th, 2025
Tonight was the opening night of the Avatar North American Tour. If tonight’s performance is just the warm up and the one to work out the bugs, then the rest of this tour will be phenomenal. They were fantastic. This was a total stage production. The show started with a totally black stage. Then on a sled, the 5 members rolled out to the front of the stage with frontman and lead singer Johannes Eckerström holding a lantern that was the only light on the stage. Once the platform reached the front of the stage, the other 4 members of the band got off and assumed their position on the stage. The entire first song, “Caption Gate” was done in the dark. This was just the start of the amazing stage production. One of the other unique stage operations was the split drumkit. Once the stage rolling platform receded to the back of the stage, they moved the 2 halves of the drumkit together.
When you think of music from Sweden, 2 major bands come to mind, Pop mega-stars ABBA and Heavy Metal giants Sabaton. But there are a lot of amazing metal bands that are coming out of Sweden these days. Avatar is definitely one of them. I first saw Avatar back in 2018 with the “Avatar Country World Tour”. They had just come out with their fantastic album, Avatar Country.
I became a huge Avatar fan during the pandemic when they did a 4-part streaming concert package. You could purchase any of the shows or the entire package of 4. I got all 4. Each show was different and about one hour long. It was like an extended YouTube video but much higher quality. A few bands did this during the pandemic to try and make up lost revenue but Avatar’s production was the best. I loved each show.
Avatar consists of Frontman and lead singer Johannes Eckerström, guitarist Tim Öhrström & Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby, bass player Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson. Avatar’s frontman, Johannes Eckerström comes out with a full-face painted jester look. He commands the stage as he struts around in his different costumes. At one point in the show, they brought out the King (Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby) on his throne at perform “Legend of the King”.
For 90 minutes, we got some of the best of Avatar. We got is an outstanding set of songs and a unique stage production. Two of my personal favorite songs, “The Eagle Has Landed” and “Smells Like a Freakshow”. Five of the songs were from their latest album just released October 31st, 2025, Don’t Go in the Forest. You really need to check out this new album. It can be streamed on all of the popular streaming services. Even better, purchase a vinyl or cd.
If you love Heavy Metal music with a mix of stage theatrics, then Avatar is must see experience. It was also nice to see some of my fellow metalheads at the show. From the reaction of the crowd, this show was magnificent. IMO, it is definitely one of the better Heavy Metal shows of the year. It was also interesting to see the number of people that had their faces painted just like Johannes. I even saw a young metalhead with face painting. These are true fans.
The evening started with the Spiritworld, an American heavy metal band that calls its music “death-western” metal. Spiritworld consists of singer Stu Folsom, lead guitarist Randy Moore, rhythm guitarist Matt Schrum, bass player Nick Brundy and drummer Preston Harper. I believe the poor lighting (Red Lighting) influenced my feelings about this group’s performance. They were good but not my personal taste. However, the crowd did seem to enjoy their performance, so I guess my opinion should be overruled. I did like the interesting outfits that they wore, they were very stylistic western outfits which conforms to their music style.
The middle band, Alien Weaponry was one that I really wanted to see. It was the first time to see them. My son, a metalhead told me I would really enjoy them. Alien Weaponry is a 3-piece band from New Zealand. The band was formed by 2 brothers, Lewis de Jong (lead vocals & guitar) and Henry de Jong (backing vocals & drums). They are joined by bass player Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds. All three members have Māori ancestry and a number of their songs are written and performed in the Māori language. My family visited New Zealand in 2012 and visited a Māori village. We got to see some of the tradition Māori dances including a Haka. So, when the Henry came out behind his drumkit and started a Haka, I was amused to see my fellow photographers and a lot of the audience not knowing what he was doing.
If you ever want to see a “Full” Haka then just watch the opening of any New Zealand’s All Blacks Rugby team matches. The team does a Haka as the opening to each game.
I was blown away by Alien Weaponry. They are extremely good. At time it was hard to understand some of their lyrics since it was in the Māori language. But overall, their performance made up for the communication issues. Metalheads are also accustomed to hearing foreign languages in songs. Hell, we love Rammstein and all of their music is in German. I can definitely recommend seeing Alien Weaponry. When they come back to the Phoenix area, I will definitely be at the show.
Again, my main complaint about most concerts and especially warm-up bands is the poor lighting. In this case a majority of the light was RED which makes it very hard to photograph. If these bands want great reviews with good photos, they really need to improve the lighting and use front white lighting or at least not RED.
Also, please help the bands out by purchasing some of their merchandise at the show. All of the sales go to help defer the costs of the tour. It is expensive to tour, e.g., bus, driver, stage crew. So, if you want to help these bands continue to tour and produce great music for us, then please help them out. Also, all true metalheads need to get a patch to sow on their vest from each band they see.
You can see if this tour is coming to a city near you by going to the Avatar website. All 3 bands are part of this tour. For more information about each band, check out their social media sites.
Avatar Social Media sites:
Website: https://avatarmetal.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avatarmetal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avatarmetal/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/AvatarMetal
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@avatarmetalofficial
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2025, All Rights Reserved
Alien Weaponry Social Media sites:
Website: https://alienweaponry.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlienWeaponry/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alienweaponry/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AlienWeaponry
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialalienweaponry
Record Label: Napalm Records
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2025, All Rights Reserved
Spiritworld Social Media sites:
Website: https://spiritworldprophet.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spiritworldprophet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritworldprophet/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@spiritworldprophet
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2025, All Rights Reserved
Avatar Setlist: (Album)
Captain Goat (Don’t Go in the Forest)
Silence in the Age of Apes (Hunter Gatherer)
The Eagle Has Landed (Feathers & Flesh)
In the Airwaves (Don’t Go in the Forest)
Bloody Angel (Hail the Apocalypse)
Death and Glitz (Don’t Go in the Forest)
Blod (Black Waltz)
Colossus (Hunter Gatherer)
Howling at the Waves (Don’t Go in the Forest)
Tower (Hail the Apocalypse)
Legend of the King (Avatar Country)
Let It Burn (Black Waltz)
The Dirt I’m Buried In (Dance Devil Dance)
Tonight We Must Be Warriors (Don’t Go in the Forest)
Encore:
Dance Devil Dance (Dance Devil Dance)
Smells Like a Freakshow (Black Waltz)
Hail the Apocalypse (Hail the Apocalypse)
Spiritworld Setlist:
Relic Of Damnation (Deathwestern)
Waiting On The Reaper (Helldorado)
Moonlit Torture (Deathwestern)
Lujuria Satanica (Deathwestern)
Comancheria (Pagan Rhythms)
Unholy Passages (Pagan Rhythms)
No Vacancy In Heaven (Helldorado)
ULCER (Deathwestern)
