FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, BRANTLEY GILBERT & CORY MARKS Bring The Party To MINNESOTA [Review & Photo Gallery]

One of the odder tour packages hit the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week. Metal veterans Five Finger Death headlined the bill that also featured two country acts, Brantley Gilbert and Cory Marks. I was interested to see how this would play out and how the fans would react to each act. I honestly had never heard of the two country acts and couldn’t name a song they would play but the performances of all three were memorable and made for a great evening.

Cory Marks would be tasked to open the show and get people going. From the opening song, and after consulting setlist.fm, that song was “Devil’s Grin,” it was clear that this was not your average country artist. Despite the southern drawl to his voice and some country trappings in the music, he had a harder edge laced within his songs that really played well to the crowd. The band he has assembled around him were fantastic and the energy Marks summoned up as he worked the crowd won fans over during his short set. One song that really stood out to me was the third song in the set called “In Me I Trust” which comes off his latest release ‘I rise.’ The riff in that song is just dirty in the verses and instantly grabbed my attention. He also did a fun cover of Steve Miller’s “Jet Airliner.” 

Clearly, I was in the minority by not having any idea who or what Brantley Gilbert was. Fans went nuts as the lights dropped as he and his band took to the stage. He kicked into a song called “Kick it in the Sticks” and from that moment on he held the Target Center captive through his entire set. Although I could definitely hear the country elements, I had expected to be present, like Cory Marks, there was harder element to his music and the vibe that came off that stage played very well to fans that may have been there for just the headliner. The stage along with constant fire pyro sucked even the purest metalheads into the show and won even the cynics like myself over. Even Gilbert himself said he was confused on how he ended up supporting Five Finger Death Punch but he took advantage of every minute of it as he played to his fans and people hearing him for the first time. I nice touch came when they played a piece of an Eagles song and then pieces of Pantera. It showed the wide variety of musical influences he comes from and all those elements are found within his catalog of music. I began to wonder how much of this crowd is actually here for Brantley Gilbert and if there would a mass exit after he was done. Maybe this was more a country crowd than a metal crowd but the answer quickly showed itself as nobody left and people were getting ready for a death punch. This venue was full of music fans and it was great to see different genres playing to the same crowd and having success. 

As soon as the curtain dropped and the pyro and explosion went off, I knew we had entered the metal part of the evening. “Lift Me Up” opened the set for Five Finger Death Punch and the band would flex their muscles through an onslaught of power riffs and precision shredding with a venomous vocal attack. The band has been kicking around since 2005 and even though the faces have changed over the years, the band has never lost its identity and focus of crafting metal anthems that have endeared them to the metal community. Vocalist Ivan Moody has always set the table and this show was no different. He played to the crowd and challenged them to meet his intensity and the musical force coming at them from the stage. Zoltan Bathory and Andy James carried the six-strings while Chris Kael took care of the bass. Minnesota’s own Charlie Engen handled the drums and got a lot of cheers from the crowd. The band dropped a brand-new record in 2022 called ‘Afterlife’ and hit on a couple tracks from it that included “IOU” and “Welcome to the Circus.” The highlights from the set for me were “Wash It All Way,” Sham Pain,” and “Under and Over it.” The most aggressive part of the night was brutal “Burn MF” as the energy in the crowd amped into a frenzy. I also really enjoyed Moody singing A cappella. Just him and the crowd interacting and singing together, it was as if the Target Center was shrunk into a small club at that moment and it felt more intimate. There is no question Five Finger Death Punch has built up a tremendous loyal fanbase and you could see it, feel it and hear it throughout the night. The closing number was the classic “The Bleeding” which was released back on July 10, 2007 and introduced the world to the band and more than a decade later the fans are still filling the venues and throwing down with Five Finger Death Punch

Five Finger Death Punch, Bad Wolves & More Radiate Rock In Lexington [Review & Gallery]

Five Finger Death Punch

Knuckleheads big and small, young and old converged on Rupp Arena in Lexington Kentucky for an early December night of rock and roll! For those reading this that don’t know what a “Knucklehead” is (other than what your Dad called you when you did something questionable as a child, or maybe that was just my childhood) that’s what the fan base of Five Finger Death Punch call themselves and they have shown up by the thousands to see what Lexington’s own Chris Kael and the rest of Five Finger Death Punch have in store for them. Five Finger Death Punch didn’t show up to the most holy of holy arena’s in college basketball alone, no they brought Three Days Grace, Bad Wolves and Fire From The Gods. This night was going to be LOUD! Continue reading

FROM ASHES TO NEW Vocalist Gives Thoughts On Rapping in Nu Metal “There’s Not A Long List”

 

Pennsylvania’s From Ashes To New are leading the way for the Nu Metal resurgence blending arena ready choruses with rapped/sung verses that harken back to the early genre’s hey day, with a modern take on the sound. The band has taken the rock world by storm over their 6 year career with 2016 release, ‘Day One’, that netted the band spots opening for Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach and others. Lineup changes ushered in new singer, Danny Case, and 2018’s ‘The Future’ was released shortly after. Continue reading

BREAKING BENJAMIN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH (And More) Rock West Virginia [Review & Photo Gallery]

Breaking Benjamin

What happens on a cold December night in Huntington, WV, when Breaking Benjamin, Five Finger Death Punch, In Flames, and From Ashes to New stop by the Big Sandy Superstore Arena? A scorching night of music with some of hottest bands on the planet! Add a sold out crowd of metalheads and you’ve got the makings of an incredible show! Once inside, this throng of people couldn’t care less about the cold outside – only the heat that was coming from the stage! Continue reading

Celebrate The Life Of Legendary Drummer VINNIE PAUL At Louder Than Life Festival

Vinnie Paul – Hell Yeah

Saturday September 29th during the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY celebrate Vinnie Paul’s life with a stacked list of musicians and fans. The Vinnie Paul All Star Tribute will feature performances from members of Five Finger Death Punch, Godsmack, Hellyeah, Sevendust, GWAR, Bullet For My Valentine, Body Count, Kyng, Cane Hill. They will be performing songs from Pantera and Damageplan, celebrating the late drummer of those legendary bands. Continue reading

Rock Allegiance 2018 Spotlight: FROM ASHES TO NEW

Nu-metal is undoubtedly swinging back into the forefront and From Ashes To New is breathing new life into the 20+ year old musical subgenre. Elements of rap introduced with catchy radio friendly vocals and melodies make for an extremely palatable lead-in to rock and heavier music. Continue reading

Carolina Rebellion 2018: Saturday [Review & Photo Gallery]

Toothgrinder

 

 

We have one day behind us with some amazing acts that we will remember their performances for years to come. The Saturday lineup is certainly competitive in regards to both Friday and Sunday and is full of varying genes and new and veterans acts to keep our attention for the entire day. Palaye Royale and Bad Wolves are two of the biggest up and coming bands currently in rock, especially Bad Wolves with their cover of the iconic Cranberries song “Zombie” which has become the number 1 rock song in the world. Unfortunate for us they both play at the same time. Yet another band that performed early in the day that is truly making a name for themselves is Toothgrinder; If you missed their set you truly missed an amazing experience. Then we get into the more veteran acts of the day like Asking Alexandria who have reunited with vocalist Danny Worsnop, as well as Trivium the band that was labeled as “the band that would save metal” when they formed. Then we get the nostalgic performance by The Used, led by eccentric front man Bert McCracken. As the day comes to a close we are left with the headliners Five Finger Death Punch, and the fierce and fiery performance by Godsmack to end our Saturday evening. The dream would be to not miss a single band, but with interviews and overlaps we weren’t able to see every band, but the ones we were able to see impressed us and left some big shoes to fill on Sunday.  Continue reading

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Calls Out Blabbermouth In New Song “Sham Pain” [Song Stream]

Today, Thursday, April 19, the multi-platinum, hard rock band Five Finger Death Punch have unveiled the new song “Sham Pain,” off their long-awaited seventh studio album ‘And Justice For None’, due out May 18.  The new song marks the second of three brand new pre-order tracks and follows last week’s release “Fake” (out 4/6) which generated just under 1 million streams in the U.S. during its first week and made the viral chart on Spotify in multiple countries. Fans can expect one more additional song to be revealed on May 4. Continue reading