Today is the first day of the Uproar Festival.  The members of Avenged Sevenfold expect the Uproar Festival tour to be a special experience.  The band is hitting the road behind their latest release, "Nightmare," which is the group's first album following the death of drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan last December.  Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows notes the other acts on the trek are sympathetic to their situation.  Shadows adds that his band mates aren't the only ones on this tour who are in mourning.  Stone Sour's Corey Taylor and Jim Root are also in Slipknot, and they lost their bassist Paul Gray back in May.  In addition, Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul is marking the sixth anniversary of the death of his brother, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was shot and killed while performing with their band Damageplan back in December 2004.

The Uproar Festival, featuring headliners Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold, begins in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday.  Other performers include Stone Sour, Halestorm, Hellyeah, Airbourne, Hail The Villain, New Medicine and a Jagermeister Battle Of The Bands winner in each city.

The Uproar Festival Tour Dates

August 17 - Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the Target Center

August 18 - Kansas City, Kansas, at the Sandstone/Capitol Federal Park

August 20 - Omaha, Nebraska, at the WestFair Amphitheater

August 21 - Chicago, Illinois, at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater

August 22 - Buffalo, New York, at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

August 24 - Columbus, Ohio, at the LC Outdoor Amphitheater

August 25 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

August 27 - Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the Toyota Pavilion

August 28 - Saratoga Springs, New York, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center

August 29 - Holmdel, New Jersey, at the PNC Bank Arts Center

August 31 - Washington, DC, at Jiffy Lube Live

September 1 - Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

September 3 - Birmingham, Alabama, at the Verizon Wireless Music Center

September 4 - Atlanta, Georgia, at the Aarons Amphitheater at Lakewood

September 5 - Tampa, Florida, at the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater

September 8 - Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the BOK Center

September 10 - Dallas, Texas, at the Superpages.com Center

September 11 - Corpus Christi, Texas, at the Concrete Street Amphitheater

September 12 - Houston, Texas, at the C.W. Mitchell Pavilion

September 14 - Denver, Colorado, at the Comfort Dental Amphitheater

September 15 - Salt Lake City, Utah, at the USANA Amphitheater

September 17 - Irvine, California, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

September 18 - San Diego, California, at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater

September 19 - Tempe, Arizona, at the Tempe Beach Park Amphitheater

September 21 - Bakersfield, California, at the Rabobank Arena

September 22 - Sacramento, California, at the Sleep Train Amphitheater

September 24 - Spokane, Washington, at Greyhound Park

September 25 - Seattle, Washington, at the White River Amphitheater

September 26 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the Pacific Coliseum

September 28 - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Rexall Place

September 29 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the Saddledome

September 30 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, at the Credit Union Centre

October 2 - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, at the MTS Centre

October 3 - Fargo, North Dakota, at the Fargodome

October 4 - Madison, Wisconsin, at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum