Five Finger Death Punch

Didn’t see them, but I’m certain the venue did them no justice.

I drove 3 hours in hopes of seeing the four bands at the Salem Civic center. The lineup was Bad Wolves, Starset, Shinedown and Five Finger Death Punch.

First, I did some research. Concert photography means a lot to me, especially to be present and capture the moments I loved the most. I scoured the Ticketmaster app I used to purchase my ticket, the Salem Civic Center website, and even reached out to their public Facebook page to verify if there were any prohibited items. I received no response and found no list of prohibited items, so I brought my camera. It’s a d5100, and while it’s on the nicer end of the consumer cameras, it is by no means considered a professional camera. It cost me less than $500, and I’ve had it for 4 years now.

Fast forward. I arrived 15 mins before doors opened, and the line wrapped around the entire facility. I waited in line for an hour plus, only to be told at the door my camera was professional because the lens detached and I had to take it back to my car. There were NO PROHIBITED ITEMS SIGNS POSTED ANYWHERE. As a result, I missed all but two of the first band’s songs. When I finally got into the venue I was disappointed, to say the least; while it was air conditioned, it was nothing more than a high school to collegiate basketball court with bleachers.

I’ve been to concerts frequently, and I have heard Starset, Shinedown, and FFDP perform live within the last year (2 weeks for the latter two). The audio I heard within the venue was awful. Bad Wolves was highly echoey for the songs I did hear; and Starset’s audio levels were not where they should have been, and made it hard for the vocalist to sustain his normal volume and pitch levels with the dual microphone system he uses. Special effects and guitar, drums and strings were fine; but for both bands I noticed the vocals were off substantially. Starset has an augmented reality feature for their concerts which I was excited to download; however, by the time my LTE finally got the app, the AR “QR” code was unavailable and the AR experience wouldn’t boot up.

To make things worse, I didn’t even have a chance to purchase merchandise for Starset (my primary reason for attending). There was no merch available for the band- and it was made obvious that Starset was an afterthought to the lineup.

I left after Starset finished their performance. I had to repeat to the security employee that I was leaving three times. Leaving, as in permanently. I then had 3 hours to reflect on my choices.

I will not be going back to the SCC.

Last summer I finally pulled my shit together and got sober from heroin. My goal? See ffdp up close and personal. Of course, Breaking Benjamin was fuckin' fabulous. I just was craving me some angry Moody :) I forked out the extra cash in hopes that I could exchange a look with the man and offer to buy him coffee, chilli or something like a good Cincinnati girl would do. Oh, but no. Fate had other plans. 4 fuckin' songs into the set I walked away from my front row spot fading in and out of consciousness from a growing excruciating pain in my side. I black out, hit the ground and I was being wheeled away by security during "Remember everything." Stupid ass kidney stones.. Ruined. From what I heard it was sex to my ear drums and the entire band can ear sex me anytime. I WILL meet ya'll someday and shake your hands and kiss your faces. You've got me through some of the darkest times in my life. I hope this story reaches one of you and puts a smile on your face and shows you that there are little small town girls like me that get a little turned on by short bald guys that scream :)
If you ever wanna come eat chilli off of me I MEAN EAT CHILLI WITH ME, Ivan.. Have your people contact my people :)
Unicornveilbysarah@gmail.com

Oh yeah, I'm THAT GIRL!
So fuckin' what?

This group sounds fantastic on their recordings but sound just as rockin in concert. Ivan Moody is Mr. Entertainer and continuously wows the crowd with his sarcasm, humor, and invitation to his fans that they are "family".
He recognizes the military and shows support. However, with the crazy and tragic fires going on, one north of Sacramento, and one south of Sacramento, he invited first responders and firefighters to the concert for free. So this metal rock band has some real class and respect.
The lights and glitter and fire, and the large skull has the total package of a kick ass metal band, and it delivers a punch, a FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH!
Ivan is great with the kids on stage, and gives them something to remember.
He sounds great, and your bonuses are Jason, Chris, and Jeremy Oh yeah....they frickin' rock! Talented! Jason and your strumming on your 12 string while he rises above the crown, and wow they all have talent. This band fits together quite well. They don't have the mightier than thou attitude, and show appreciation and love for their audience. They stuck around after the concert throwing out paraphernalia.
If you haven't seen them yet and know their music, GO SEE THEM! It is totally worth it!
Signed a true knucklehead
Rockin'

Aug-18- Xfinity Centre Mansfield MI,
Bad Wolves went on stage and it rained throughout their set... they still played a great show. Nothing compares came on after them ... they were ok, their sound needed some work.. there was too much gain during most of their songs. Breaking Benjamin then tore the place apart but for the first 3 songs you could hear the " Low volume feed back.. Rudy had to point this out ... whoever was running the sound board should have been kicked off then, the problems with sound continued until the end/ Also why was BB given more stage time than the 5FDP... If BB was headlining on this night , they should have gone on last. Five Finger Death Punch came on at 10:05... from the get go they were having issues with their ear pieces and throughout most songs you could hear the feedback. Never mind Ivan having to tell the guy operating the spotlight to get it out of his eyes. On a technical side the show sucked. Besides the fact that BB had 1 hour and 15 minutes and 5FDP only had 54 minutes on stage. Xfinity is not near a residential area, they should not be handing out $7,500 worth off fines to band for going over 1 minute... All in all i give this show a 6 out of 10 !

Out of the approximately 50 concerts I’ve been to in the past 10 years, Five Finger Death Punch is by far my favorite live show to see. I’ve seen them live around 5 times and each time they have not disappointed.
Each show is slightly different, as all the band members are extremely apt at adapting their performances to the mood of the crowd. Rather than just getting on stage and spitting out a ho-hum set list, the band really places importance on interacting with the crowd and getting them pumped up. In addition, if you’re one who likes to take your kids to shows, you’re in for a treat. At EVERY show, the lead singer, Ivan, asks all the kids in the crowd to join him on stage during the heaviest songs so that “the big kids can show them how a moshpit is done.” So, in addition to having some of the wildest moshpits of modern rock music, you get to see what the next generation of metalheads looks like in the kids.
Even if you’re a fair-weather fan, these guys will not disappoint you. Seeing them live is truly an experience, from the amazing drum solo and light performances, to the killer guitar solos, Five Finger Death Punch is truly a class act.

For a metal band, Five Finger Death Punch perform with so much energy and enthusiasm unlike the moody persona that many of their peers conduct themselves with. Frontman Ivan Moody performs the opener 'Under and Over It' with a serious bout of aggressive energy and the rest of the band rock along with him. Zoltan Bathory whipping his hair wildly you worry he will catch it whilst intensely strumming along on his guitar.

The crowd is beside itself with excitement at the sheer ferocity in which the band conducts itself. They jump and applaud manically as the band run through a selection of cult classics and singles such as 'Remember Everything'. Despite the aggressive way in which Ivan performs the music, during breaks he is humble and clearly grateful to the fans who he thanks continuously during the show.

A great level of appreciation from both sides is felt during a Five Finger Death Punch gig. As a huge mass singalong breaks out to an unexpected cover of Oasis' 'Champagne Supernova' and both performer and audience cheer wildly at its finale. An intense rendition of 'The Bleeding' winds down a fantastically high energy gig.

All the bands were spot on put on excellent shows with awesome energy. They did everything they could to make it feel like everybody was included in the show they were doing. It was awesome to see how they recognize the vets who are willing to sacrifice everything so that we can have everything. Truly the veterans are The real heroes in America today Not the made up ones you see on TV by marvel comics. Secondly and even closer to my own heart The way Ivan brought up his sobriety and shared it with everybody and then recognized everyone in the crowd that has sobriety and told everyone that we all deserve around of applause for everything we’ve gone through to get to where were at. Was truly a special moment because so many addicts and alcoholics could feel alone in a crowd room full of people even when they’re sober that the fact that they got the spotlight for even one second is something that most of us will never forget as I myself have 20 years of sobriety this is the first time a performer has put it in the spotlight rock on Ivan.

Sincerely
The shade maker friend of moose

Iv seen this band 3 times and although they play with energy they only play for about 45min to an hr as a headliner that ain't gonna cut it. Iv been to well over 100 shows and the guys that get it....get it! Slipknot I seen at Dane county Coliseum and they played for an hr and 45 min they wouldnt leave. Iron Maiden played at summer fest a couple years ago and again played for about an hr and 30 min. Slayed just played and they were on for almost 2 hrs. The list goes on and on and on. FFDP has the music and guys to play with the best of them so they need to realize when people pay 270.00 for a ticket 45 min sets are a slap in the face. I hope that this time will be different I hope they learned a thing or 2 from rob zombie and hell yeah that when you play you give them a show all or nothing. We pay big money take off of work burning vacation days book hotels and travel 4 and a half hrs to them or more. Make it worth our while. Great band one of my favorites listen to them almost every day just want to see more but then again would more even be enough....

Five Finger Death Punch was the most energetic show I have ever seen. They were appreciative of their fans, always thanking the fans and feeding off of the crowds energy, constantly becoming more energetic. At one point they brought a young boy and his grandmother up on stage. It was a birthday gift for the the young boy, on his birthday, and the grandmother was a cancer survivor. They went out of their way to honor these fans, and sing happy birthday to the boy and to several others in the crowd. They then went on to honor the military and veterans and to dedicate several songs to the military. Five Finger Death Punch is in my opinion the most honorable and respectable band out there today. While keeping true metal alive, they also make a point to show how they appreciate their fans and make an extremely fun show. I can't wait until they return to my area so I can see them again.

The show was phenomenal! This was the first concert for my children and now they are addicted. Ivan went above and beyond expectations. We were fortunate to meet him before the show, Ivan is truly the sweetest man, he really amazed me. My children will never forget the love he gave, the wonderful surprise he provided for them. Once he hit the stage the magic really played. Zoltan was perfect, Jason and Chris were great, Jeremy was awesome and Ivan was fantastic. The FFDP show was cut early but they chose to give the fans what they paid for. I will be forever grateful for Ivan spending the extra time with my family, Jason,Jeremy,Zoltan and Chris were very nice and friendly. They rocked and I didn't want the show to end. Will definitely be going again!! My children can't wait to see them again and neither can I.