LIVE NATION PRESENTS: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
LIVE AT SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE IN MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA ON 8/23/22
Five Finger Death Punch has been touring to promote their latest album release “AfterLife” and they bring their roadshow to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Ca. The opening slots for the show are Fire from the Gods, The Hu, and thrash metal kings Megadeth.
Each of the opening acts put on an incredible performance. It’s actually difficult to consider Megadeth and opening act for any band since they own the stage every time they step on one. We are reviewing metal favorites Five Finger Death Punch in this article so let’s get to it.
5FDP has been a band that rides the line of catchy hard rock choruses, power ballads, and balls out metal. They have something for everyone. I’ve always enjoyed not only listening to this band but photographing them as well. For me it’s the best of both worlds. This would also be the first time I’m seeing the band with the new lineup change featuring Andy James on lead guitar and Charlie Engen on drums.
The stage backdrop is one huge 3D serpent that can be seen on the band’s F8 album cover. They also have dj type booths for the occasional backing vocalist to use that are set up on both sides of the drum riser. As the set continues they will change the backdrop to reflect their latest album ‘AfterLife’.
The band hit’s the stage to start off the show with “Inside Out”. Front man Ivan Moody belts out the track with his trademark raspy voice. As the band breaks into “Trouble”, you can feel the energy level is equally matched from the crowd as it is on stage. This is going to make for a fun evening
5FDP plays through some of their biggest hits like “Wash It All Away”, Jekyll and Hyde”, “Cham Pain”, “Hard To See”, and “Got Your Six” from their catalog of music. Ivan is on point and working the crowd. One of my favorite things about Ivan is that he doesn’t just sing to the audience, he actually communicates with them and watches over them. He pays attention to how the fans respond and has stopped shows when he sees someone in a brawl or in danger. His goal is to make sure everyone has a great time.
Bassist Chris Kael in working both sides of the stage and keeping the momentum going with the fans and guitarist Zoltan Bathory is keeping the rhythm tracks strong. British guitarist Andy James fits into the band flawlessly with his guitar work. Andy’s take on the early track’s solos flow as if he wrote them. We also have to cover Charlie’s drum work. Charlie is a drumming machine. He can pound with the savageness of John Bonham and keep the tight structure of the late great Buddy Rich. Just amazing!
Now back to the music. Five Finger Death Punch only played two tracks off their latest album which were “Welcome to the Circus” and “IOU”. I thought they might’ve played “AfterLife”, “Times Like These”, or even the harder “Roll Dem Bones”. I do know that that they only have so much time on stage and have to make sure to keep a balanced set list.
One of my personal favorite times is when the stage goes dark and all you see is a lit candle placed on the stage riser and put up on the side screens for all the fans to see. This is when Ivan comes out to sing acapella or with the accompaniment of James on acoustic guitar. This is when Ivan’s voice really shines. He lets his voice fill the Amphitheatre as he sings “Far From Home”, “Gone Away”, and a snippet of “A Little Bit Off”, and “Wrong Side of Heaven”.
As I’m watching the show from my seat at this point, I see one of my favorite moments. There’s a father a few rows in front of me with his maybe five year old daughter on his shoulders. She’s got her noise cancelling ear muffs on and clapping to the music over her head. Out of this large crowd, Ivan sees her, stops and points to her and waves to her. You see her wiggle like she’s dancing as she waves back. Ivan breaks into a big smile. He made a connection with a new fan that others might have just ignored.
During the show, the band continued their set playing “Bad Company”, Lift Me Up”, “Burn MF”, and “Under and Over It”. 5FDP closed out evening with “The Bleeding”.
With such great opening acts and a stellar headliner, this show checked all the boxes of what you would want from a rock concert. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and hope to see Five Finger Death Punch on the road again in the near future.