Tattoo you

Selling out is not what a band wants to be remembered for.

But the members of Huntington Beach’s Avenged Sevenfold aren’t complaining about their Cities of Evil tour selling out nearly all of its dates before the band even hit the road.

According to guitarist Synyster Gates, who incidentally has the least goofy stage name in the band, Avenged Sevenfold’s current cross-country jaunt is much different from tours past.

“We do well but never this well,” Gates said of the crowds.

The show at The Senator Theatre sold out weeks ahead of time, and the only stop in California with tickets left for presale is in San Luis Obispo. One of the reasons for the tour’s success might have something to do with the fact that Avenged Sevenfold opted to play towns instead of larger cities with huge auditoriums.

“It’s a smaller market than we usually play so we get the kids that can’t get to a major city to catch us,” Gates said.

The move to pander to the smaller town market as well as the rock star circuit is a shrewd one. Recent years witnessed a groundswell in metalcore-ish screamo bands like Avenged Sevenfold. Now, as the trend recedes, the bands that stick around will likely be the ones that keep fans from moving on to the next fad. And Avenged Sevenfold, having released its EP Warmness of the Soul in 2001, surely wants to display holding-power after its fans graduate high school and stop spending all their time on MySpace.

Gates said his band is different from the other groups out there and is tired of being compared to the ocean of other musicians wearing girl pants and makeup who scream about heartbreak and spookiness.

“I think that was a problem of yesteryear and we’ve thankfully left that behind us,” Gates said. “Now we’re lumped in with Madonna and Britney Spears because we’re on TRL.”

The band’s current release City of Evil has sold half-a-million copies and publicity from MTV’s Total Request Live and other parts of the hype machine have catapulted Avenged Sevenfold into certified rock stardom. Some even go so far to say the band has become the Guns N’ Roses of the modern day—and maybe it’s true judging by Gates’ projection for the rest of his afternoon after this interview: “Smoke some pot, do a line of blow, do a sound check.”

The band’s fame gets Gates stopped on the street by fans who recognize him, an occurrence that still has a bit of novelty for him.

“It’s totally different … weird, different and weird … weird and different … ,” Gates said, trailing off.

There seemed to be something more going on in his head, maybe a good story about being famous, but he won’t elaborate. Or maybe it’s the blow.

Like every other band ever interviewed, Avenged Sevenfold’s ultimate goal is world domination, which isn’t beyond the realm of possibility given its rabid fan base and the generous backing from Warner Brothers. Gates said the band is just going to keep churning out new material and continue touring.

“We’re going to write the best music that anyone’s ever heard and we’re going to play the best shows that anyone’s ever been to.”

And although they are not planning on writing the same record over and over again, Gates said Avenged Sevenfold likely won’t stray far from its winning formula.

“There’ll be more of the same,” Gates said. “We’ll throw together a bunch of riffs and see what our producer can do.”