Last week, Avenged Sevenfold surprise dropped their experimental new EP – STATICA – ahead of their 2026 North American co-headlining tour with Good Charlotte. Welp, it turns out that they had more surprises in store for concertgoers last night, as they kicked off the tour by debuting the entire EP – as Statica – from backstage (among other things)!
Avenged Sevenfold Play STATICA as Statica From Backstage
Prior to last night’s show at Thunder Ridge Nature’s Arena in Ridgedale, Mo., Avenged Sevenfold released an image that provided times for all the sets. As you can see below, the graphic featured a mysterious band called Statica between opener Jayden Hammer and Good Charlotte. Naturally, news of the STATICA EP – plus the fact that people couldn’t find information about an established band with that name – led fans to rightly speculate that Statica are actually Avenged Sevenfold.
Rather than appear on stage as Statica (in disguise), however, Avenged Sevenfold debuted the whole EP from backstage. Per The PRP, “the group’s performance took place backstage and was broadcast to those in attendance via accompanying screens as part of the stage production.”
You can see Statica’s entire setlist (as well as fan-shot clips of their performance) below:
Avenged Sevenfold (as Statica) Setlist – July 25, 2026 (Ridgedale, Mo.)
1. “Lights”
2. “Statica”
3. “Rejoice”
4. “Ashes”
[via setlist.fm]
Avenged Sevenfold (as Statica), “Rejoice”
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What Else Did Avenged Sevenfold Play?
Following Good Charlotte’s set, Avenged Sevenfold closed the night as themselves and with an awesome set that included a few more surprises.
Primarily, and per setlist.fm, they played their latest single – “Magic” (originally released as a tie-in to 2025 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 7) – for the first time ever! Plus, they opened with the title track to 2010’s Nightmare for the first time since 2016, and they played “Seize the Day” (from 2005’s City of Evil) for the first time in the U.S. since 2015.
Beyond that, they represented Nightmare and City of Evil a second time with “Buried Alive” and “Bat Country,” respectively. Elsewhere, their last album – 2023’s Life Is But a Dream… – was shown love via “Cosmic” and “Nobody.” Avenged Sevenfold also pulled out “Hail to the King” and “Shepherd of Fire” from 2013’s Hail to the King alongside “The Stage,” “Unholy Confessions” and “Afterlife” from other collections.
In fact, the only LP they didn’t represent is their 2001 introduction, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet.
You can see Avenged Sevenfold’s entire closing setlist – and fan-captured videos of various tunes – below:
Avenged Sevenfold Setlist – July 25, 2026 (Ridgedale, Mo.)
1. “Nightmare” (First time as opener since 2016)
2. “Magic” (Live debut)
3. “Afterlife”
4. “Shepherd of Fire”
5. “Buried Alive”
6. “Seize the Day” (First time in the US since 2015)
7. “Hail to the King”
8. “Nobody”
9. “The Stage”
10. “Bat Country”
11. “Unholy Confessions” (with drum solo outro)
12. “Cosmic”
[via setlist.fm]
Avenged Sevenfold, “Hail to the King”
Avenged Sevenfold, “Seize the Day”
Avenged Sevenfold, “Bat Country” + “Unholy Confessions”
Avenged Sevenfold, “Afterlife”
Avenged Sevenfold, “Buried Alive”
More Avenged Sevenfold News
Avenged Sevenfold put out their atypically and audaciously electronic STATICA EP on July 23. It’s their first collection since Life Is But a Dream…, and as Loudwire reported the next day, “Avenged didn’t tease the EP online at all” prior to release.”
We also described it as follows:
We thought ‘Life Is But a Dream…’ was tough to describe when it came out, but ‘STATICA’ is a whole other level of weirdness and experimentation. Opener “LIGHTS” sounds like a journey through a futuristic haunted mansion with robotic vampires, the vocals across the three other tracks are reminiscent of early 2000s hip-hop songs and the music overall has a bit of a frenetic feel to it.
Unsurprisingly, fan reactions to the EP have been mixed.
For instance, one person on Reddit called it “horrible and embarrassing” while lamenting that Avenged Sevenfold are “a completely different band now.” In contrast, someone else on the platform defended it as “really good music” that includes “super varied and creative” production (from the group and legendary engineer Joe Barresi). Said Redditor added: “[The] vocal melodies are very catchy and it feels like there is so much depth to it. So happy they are comfortable releasing music like this.”
You can read a fuller defense of the EP here, too.
Interestingly, the official Avenged Sevenfold webstore lists a vinyl STATICA LP that concludes with two more (unreleased) tracks: “Arcade” and “Intervention.”
Of course, Avenged Sevenfold’s 2026 North American tour will be going until the end of August, with future stops in both the U.S. and Canada. (You can see the full list of upcoming dates – and grab tickets – here.) From there, and through the end of October, they’ll be going international by playing places in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and elsewhere.
So, what do you think of Avenged Sevenfold’s Statica EP? Let us know!
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Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli