10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Live Bands Of 2017

Easily the biggest name on this list popularity-wise, the Californian hard rockers Avenged Sevenfold are the perfect injection of adrenaline for the midpoint for this list.

In January, the quintet’s tour in support of their lauded seventh album The Stage (2016) became one of the most high-profile rock treks of the entire year, sweeping through the UK and Europe before heading onto the US to support the titans Metallica on their ‘WorldWired’ run.

2017 saw Avenged Sevenfold bring out new effects, new songs and – because of their recent, more eclectic direction – new fans, peaking with their decision to have a ridiculously massive, inflatable astronaut emerge from their backdrop à la Iron Maiden’s Eddie.

The sheer spectacle alone made Avenged Sevenfold’s arena shows this year must-attend events. But when a band can live up to that hype with a set packed full of unhindered anthems and a charisma that few modern bands can match, therein lies the recipe for pure, live brilliance.

And if you’re a Brit that somehow missed Avenged Sevenfold’s recent shows, worry not, because they’re only headlining the main stage of freakin’ Download Festival in 2018, thus appearing on the same level as Ozzy Osbourne and a reunited Guns n’ Roses as a result.