Avenge Sevenfold • Good Charlotte • Statica • Jayden Hammer • August 25, 2026 • Utah Credit Union Amphitheater
Reviewed and Photographed by Colton Kresser
It’s the beginning of 2009, and my dad got me tickets to see Avenged Sevenfold on tour with Buckcherry. It’s the second concert I had ever been to, and at the time, A7X was my all-time favorite band. I have their self-titled album on CD, and it never leaves my CD player. I listen to it on my way to the bus stop, while I’m on the bus, during lunch break at school, on the bus ride home, and then right before bed, I turn their live DVD “Live in the LBC” on my PlayStation 2 as my “white noise” I can fall asleep to.
Seeing them live at about 12 years old is still one of my best and favorite concert memories. In fact, I still have my T-shirt that my dad bought for me that night packed away in a box with other memories of mine. I haven’t seen A7X since then; however, I’ve always wanted to but never made time to do it. It’s been 17 years since that night (I can’t believe I just said that), and seeing them again took me back and filled me with so much nostalgia. Let’s get into it…
If you’ve ever attended a show at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater, you know that the venue is facing east, which means that when the show starts at 6 pm we all get to stand and get cooked by the heat until the sun sets around 8 pm or so. This was no exception. Although it didn’t break 100 degrees, it was close, and it didn’t stop solo artist Jayden Hammer.
Jayden Hammer
Taking the stage in the blistering heat, Hammer started off with the track “Living Dead Girl” which I can only assume is a reference to the Rob Zombie song of the same name. Her style reminds me of a nu-metal-influenced Nine Inch Nails. Leaning heavily into the techno aspects of NIN while having a powerful electric guitar that she played to the track and sang moody vocals in the same vein as NIN frontman Trent Reznor. She then stepped behind her turntable and moved into a remix of “Can You Feel My Heart” by Bring Me the Horizon and several other remixes – I’m assuming of her own – of “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit, “One Step Closer” by Linkin Park and “The Hand That Feeds” by NIN, while also singing along to that one.
The crowd joined in singing all these iconic songs together, more specifically when she did a remix of “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down. If you’ve ever been to a metal concert, during band changeover they have music that plays to entertain the crowd. I have yet to see a show where “Chop Suey” was not played. There’s nothing better than 20 thousand people chanting “WAKE UP! GRAB A BRUSH AND PUT A LITTLE MAKEUP!” Honestly, everyone at some point must do it.
Jayden Hammer took a moment to address that she was up there by herself, letting everyone know that she normally does have a band that plays with her, but tonight it would be different with the DJ solo set. She didn’t elaborate on why they were missing, and I don’t think anyone really seemed to mind; we all had a great time singing along to some of our favorite tracks with her.
At the very end of her set, she played an original called “Sunshine” with an intro beat and vocals that remind me of “Army of Me” by Bjork. Very industrial sounding and then moving into a riff that I’d say is something I could hear Korn writing. The two originals she played were fantastic and absolutely something I would listen to and put into my rotation, so I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to hear more of her work with the absence of her band.
Statica
Statica – or rather A7X incognito – didn’t really take the stage…they sort of stood behind the giant screens, where you could hardly see them, and played the four tracks from their latest EP release of the same name “Statica”. Full transparency. I did not like it. I tried to give it a listen when it first released, and it’s just not for me. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find an overwhelming number of people in the front row singing along to every word and really getting into it. I loved that. They had great visuals that were displayed on the screens in front of them; it was a nice, quick, and short set that people seemed to very much enjoy. There isn’t much else to say other than that, but I recommend checking out the four-song EP and deciding for yourself what you think of it!
Good Charlotte
The sun had gone down a bit, and the crowd was able to cool down before Good Charlotte took the stage and blasted everyone with a huge wall of fire to heat things back up! When I shoot these shows, I’m right there at the barricade, and let me tell you – if you didn’t know already – fire is hot. Like HOT. They opened their set with all-time classic “The Anthem”. As soon as those first 10 seconds of the song began to play, the crowd knew they were in for a good time with GC.
What is always interesting to me is that when I was growing up listening to this style of music, I always felt like I was the only one. Nobody really listened to the same music as me. But being there with 20 thousand other people and hearing all of them sing back, “I DON’T EVER WANNA BE YOUUUUUUUU! DON’T WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU!” filled me up with an overwhelming amount of joy.
Going into photographing GC, I figured I’d enjoy their set; I know a few songs, it will be fun…I quickly found myself walking up and down the barricade, banging my head and throwing my hands in the air along with the anthem. One thing I immediately noticed about Good Charlotte was their killer Front of House sound. The whole band was mixed well and sounded clean and tight. After a few songs, vocalist Joel Madden took a second to “Thank God for a beautiful night in Utah!” he continued with “Shoutout to all the fans up on the hill, we see you!” I always appreciate it when an artist takes time to let fans in the back know that they are just as much part of the show as the people in the front.
Joel then mentioned that it’s been over ten years since Good Charlotte has been back in SLC and they promise to be back more often. He reminisced on their friendship with Avenge Sevenfold lasting over 20 years, and how they are having an absolute blast on the tour. Their set continued, and man, the crowd was going absolutely nuts for GC. Wave after wave of crowdsufers making their way to the front, people singing at the top of their lungs, tons of fire from the stage, and some cool graphics being displayed on the giant screens they had behind them.
I must shamefully admit that I seriously underestimated what kind of show Good Charlotte was going to put on that night. Between songs, Joel took another moment to express to the fans that when GC was just starting out, he had “No encouragement” and that nobody back then would have ever bet on him. He continued to say that he didn’t realize until recently that a lot of the lyrics he was writing were written to himself as encouragement, to keep believing in himself and moving forward before they moved into playing “Hold On”.
As their set continued, they played the new track “Bodies” that had such a sick guitar riff that I was a big fan of. What impresses me the most about Good Charlotte is that all their new music sounds just like and is just as good as the old stuff that everyone loves. To be consistent over 30 years of being in a band is not easy; major round of applause for them. You can see that the passion is still there after all this time. With everyone’s voice gone, the sun finally set, they ended their set with one final classic to ensure that nobody would be able to speak in the morning, “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous”.
Avenge Sevenfold
The crowd erupted in cheers and chants as A7X slowly entered the stage while their intro played. Vocalist M. Shadows held the microphone out towards the crowd as 20 thousand people chanted “NIGHTMARE!” and then immediately began to topple over the barricade as they crowd surfed to the front. I was able to immediately notice that while their front of house sounded great, they kept it simple. No backing tracks, backing vocals, no effects, nothing. Just them playing their instruments. As much as I appreciate the clean and perfect sound we get with modern technology, it was really refreshing to listen to a band play with just their raw sound.
Hearing that reminded me of my younger days, seeing shows when bands had a mic right up next to their amp and cabinet, and that is where all their sound came from. When you photograph a show, you usually only get to shoot the first three songs, and that’s it. Growing up, “Afterlife” was constantly on repeat and I was thrilled to find out that it was third on their setlist. As the violins started, I was instantly transported back to my 9th-grade year in school, that CD playing in my backpack with the headphone cable trailing out of the top. Such an iconic song even 20 years later. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long.
Synyster Gates playing the INSANE solo in Afterlife completely unfazed. In fact, I don’t even think I saw him look down at his fingers during certain sections of the solo. After years and years and thousands of shows, it’s cooked into his muscle memory. To watch him shred the solo I still rip on the air guitar to up close was one of the highest pleasures of my life.
In between songs, vocalist M. Shadows took a second to say that Avenge Sevenfold has a long history with Utah and that they love it here and “We don’t say that every night, we really mean it.” He continued to say that on their day off in SLC the day prior, he seriously debated why he doesn’t move here because it’s so beautiful – he isn’t wrong – and how he loves the outdoors, fishing and hunting. Shadows then said the next song was for SLC and they plaid “Seize the Day”.
Synyster Gates played the opening lead to their next song as the crowd began to chant while pumping, theirs fists in the air “HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!” M. Shadows addressed the crowd by saying “20 thousand strong. HAIL!” I looked around and saw a sea of fists pounding towards the sky, it was truly a sight to see as the band transitioned into “Hail to the King”.
During a break between songs, M. Shadows took a moment to talk about all the brave men and women that serve in the United States military and then dedicated the song “M.I.A” to anyone that has served to protect our country and went on to explain that they had a friend who served in Iraq, and when they returned home they shared stories of their time in the war which inspired the lyrics of the song. For as long as I can remember, A7X has always made it a point to talk about their support for the troops, and they have written several songs about the men and women who serve. My personal favorite is “Gunslinger”.
Towards the end of Gunslinger, Shadows hopped off the stage to pass the microphone off to a fan in the front row to help finish off the final verse in a duo harmony. The fan mentioned how nervous he was, and Shadows did a great job instilling confidence in them to push through and sing it. And then, it was time to get rid of the pain of being a man with “Bat Country”.
The crowd – and absolutely myself included – went OFF for this one. Crowd surfing everywhere, a massive circle pit broke out on the floor to then immediately stop as the slower section kicked in. Hands waved back and forth, cell phone lights came out and then BAM back to crowd surfing and circle pits. Would you expect anything less? Shadows went on to say that if it wasn’t for Good Charlotte getting “Bat Country” played on MTV, their album City of Evil wouldn’t have been as massive a success as it is today. Hence the tour and a friendship with Good Charlotte spanning over 20 years after meeting while they both played on the Vans Warped Tour.
Capping off the night with heavy hitter and fan favorite “Unholy Confessions”. The main riff of this song was one of the first I had ever learned on guitar and is still something I play to this day as practice and warm-up. It makes me think how these songs are a part of so many people’s DNA, baked into their hearts, knowing all the lyrics – or guitar riffs in my case – and singing them without a second thought. Waking the Fallen came out in 2003, making “Unholy Confessions” about 23 years old, and Avenge Sevenfold is still finding ways to keep the song fresh by slowing the tempo down during the breakdown added more weight to the bending riff that Synyster Gates plays. What a song, what a set, and what a band that has been out here paving the way for so many fans.
Being one of the original gateway bands for young listeners like I was into metal music. Forever grateful to them, and Good Charlotte are still out here doing the damn thing. My honest and true hope is that I, along with everyone else, will be able to find something they love doing that much still after 20 years.