On November 26th of last year, I decided to cruise down to the Mohegan Sun Convention Center (in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania) to witness the blistering “Share The Welt Tour”. With a heavy-hitting lineup that included Rains, Hatebreed, All That Remains…& last, but defiantly not least, Five Finger Death Punch – we were all expecting to get more body pounding than an Ultimate Fighting Challenge!
This show marks my third time seeing FFDP. The first time was in 2009, headlining the second stage on the “Family Values Tour”. The second was mainstage for the 2010 “Mayhem Tour”. Now…headlining the 2011 “Share The Welt Tour”. After this show, I would have to say FFDP are going to be around for quite awhile. The band seems to pull their inspiration from the classic metal forefathers, such as Judas Priest or Iron Maiden – who strive to give their fans a memorable concert experience.
The stage portrays the concept of the band’s latest album “American Capitalist” with digital screens flashing corporate emblems, while the amps are enclosed by Ford truck nose-clips embellishing the logo. As the band takes the stage to a roar, lead singer Ivan Moody & the boys ripped through tracks covering each of their three well-received albums – setting the pace right from the opener “Under & Over It”. They gave ample set time to 2007’s “The Way of the Fist”…busting out “Salvation”, “White Knuckle”, & many more tasty morsels. The best way to describe this show is “controlled chaos”. The band, decidedly in their element, feeds off the raw energy & uses it to adrenalize their presence. I guess you could say the band gets out what they put into it…delivering unparalleled showmanship time & time again.
Guitarists, Jason Hook & Zoltan Bathory, tantalized the fans with vicious licks from Pantera, Deep Purple, & Ozzy Osbourne…before strumming the familiar chords to “Bad Company” – the band’s 2009 cover of the original Bad Company tune, to which the crowd sang every word. New bassist Chris Kael seemed to mesh well, & has great stage personae, as if he’s been there all along. Then there is the elusive Jeremy Spencer…with incredible timing that powers the FFDP machine. The reason I say “elusive” is due to the massive drum kit he uses. Photos of him are a bit of a challenge from the pit.
Song after song, you could see the connection between the band & audience grow. After an intense 90 minutes, the sonic-hitters called it a night with “The Bleeding” from their first album (The Way of the Fist). As the crowd sang along word-for-word at the top of their lungs, by far I would have to say that this was Five Finger Death Punch’s BEST performance yet. One that was a “TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT” of epic metal proportions!
Jason Kotas – December, 2011
