The early going saw a back and forth between bands playing the first and second stage (the second stage was basically a section of the main stage blocked off for the other bands, in order to keep the music flowing early on). Much of the music early on was courtesy of the J-Rock movement, or Japanese rock. By first glance at MUCC and the Underneath, it doesn’t look like emo has reached Tokyo yet. Mostly indifference was met for MUCC (pronounced Moo-Koo) as their 30-minute set was highlighted by their struggling with the English language. Fairing a bit better with the language and the connection between fans was the Underneath. The Tokyo band was a bit of Guns 'n Roses, but given a goth twist. Their half-hour long set had some pits going and a few off-color hecklers bagging on them, but had most fans at least paying attention.

The first big moment of the show happened when English thrashers Bullet For My Valentine set the place off. Their 40-minute set started off with the title track from their new Scream, Aim, Fire album and had the mostly teenage crowd enjoying it. With lead singer Matt Tuck leaving the real wailing moments to bassist Jason Jones, Tuck has more time now to work on the live vocals instead of waiting for the next time to scream. With songs like “4 Words to Choke On” and “Waking The Demon,” Bullet has thrown their name in the hat for the biggest metal band around. And for the night at RTOC, Bullet stole the show away from their headliners.

So-Cal rockers Atreyu sounded a bit off early on in their set, with leadoff tracks “Doomsday” and “Right Side of the Bed” sounding a bit amiss. But by the time singer Alex Varkatzas and company went into a new track, “Lose It,” it seemed as if the band had got back on track. The band’s 50-minute set geared towards the material from their Lead Sails, Paper Anchor album, but hit on tracks like “The Crimson” and “Bleeding Mascara” from previous records. The new material, such as “Falling Down” sounds like Atreyu drove up to Northern California and ripped off the Papa Roach playbook. Even though the new material isn’t bad, the band is straying farther away from the intense vocals and riffs that gave the band their core of fans. But if the band sticks with more mainstream songs like the single “Becoming the Bull,” Atreyu should be just fine.

Giving the fans a 15-minute warning before their set, Avenged Sevenfold got the crowd amped up for their headlining set. A7X’s 70-minute set seemed to be the full arena experience; full with pyro, video screens and sing-a-longs. The new material seemed to get most of the early treatment, with songs like “Scream” and “Afterlife” fairing better than the semi-limp opening cut “Critical Acclaim.” The band did launch into tracks like “Bat Country” and “Unholy Confessions” later on in the set, to the fan’s delight. The guys in Avenged seemed to be enjoying the arena show the best; and their music (epic at times) was probably the best suited for the size of Cobo.

But even with Avenged finally ending up in a size of a venue that suited them best, it was Bullet For My Valentine that easily took the evening.