Share the Welt Tour
Piere’s Night Club – Ft. Wayne, IN
12/17/2011
The first time I saw Five Finger Death Punch, they were on one of the side stages at Korn’s Family Values Tour in 2007. They had just come out with their debut album, called The Way of the Fist, and it was a solid album, albeit a bit unpolished. I remember that festival vividly (for other reasons…Invitro anyone?), and 5FDP’s show was extremely unpolished and fell onto a mediocre crowd. I did watch that show, and remember liking it, but even in my inexperience at that time, it was evident that this band was just starting out. While the show wasn’t great, it seemed as if they had a solid nucleus and just needed time to evolve.
Fast forward 4 years. Five Finger Death Punch has released American Capitalist, which sold 100,000 copies in the first week (and gets excellent reviews from nearly everyone, including The Music Pill family). They have an enormous fan base, and an almost cult following by members of the United States Military. When our paths crossed, they were in the second to last city of their first major headlining tour, in which they have long time powerhouse band All that Remains as their opening act, and have sold out all but three shows. I think it’s fair to say that Five Finger Death Punch is all grown up. Because I’ve been a part of that transformation from the beginning, catching a show on their first major headlining tour was important to me. Five Finger Death Punch – lets do this.
The Venue
Piere’s in Ft. Wayne, Indiana is a pretty cool place, with a great bar set-up, a free shuttle to hotels nearby, and stage that’s viewable from three sides (as opposed to just the front). Even though locals call this place “Dirty P’s”, we’ve seen shows there before and the crowds have been pretty cool. Piere’s is built around one central room that has the stage for the main shows, and has four bars attached it to it that get popular after the shows are over.
However, for this show, it was simply too small of a venue. Not only did the bands have to take out a bunch of their cool stage elements, they generally seemed cramped the entire show. In addition, the audience was so packed that it was nearly impossible to get to the bathroom or the bar, and there was nowhere to stand to rest for a few minutes. I’m all about shows at small venues, but Piere’s needs to lower their capacity, and 5FDP’s management needs to think bigger when planning shows.
The Show
I was really really impressed with Five Finger Death Punch at this show. If nothing else, I was astounded by how far they have come in the last 4 years. Their show was extremely cohesive and they sounded really tight. They came flying out of the gate with their new single Under and Over it, and then played one of their oldest songs (Salvation) and then the title track off of their new album, American Capitalist. I thought this was a great way to start the show, and one of the things I immediately noticed was that the song Salvation sounded MUCH better than it does on their first album, giving further evidence that they have really grown as a band.
Three songs into this show and I was already commenting to myself that this was one of the rougher crowds that I had seen in a while. HUGE mosh pit, extremely active and vocal crowd, and just a lot of people in a tight space that were jacked about this show. Maybe it was that I had been standing in the back for a few months because of my foot, but this was one of those “I’m so glad I’m 6’7” moments for me, because it was just really intense.
The cool thing about it was that the band did an incredible job of matching that intensity and emotion of the crowd stride for stride. 5FDP plays a very in-your-face, no bullshit kind of music. It’s heavy, and thick, and un-waivering, the epitome of the center of the metal genre. Some bands take a break somewhere in the middle of their show; they play a slow song and give you a chance to relax and breathe. Not this show. Everytime 5FDP finished a brutal song like The Way of the Fist, there was another No One Gets Left Behind to follow it up. In fact, when they started playing Far From Home, which is more ballad-like in construction, I got excited about a potential rest, but they even layered that song with a killer solo by Golden God Guitarist Zoltan Bathory that got the crowd screaming and moving. At the end of that song, without even taking a breath, Ivan said “Alright bitches, why don’t you help me pick this up a little bit.” I barely had time to think to myself “Pick it up? Are you serious?” before the intro to Bulletproof left me fighting to stay upright again.
Speaking of Ivan, throughout the show, he really put on a clinic. Not only did he sound really really good, but he is just awesome at stage presence. I often state that the one glaring weakness for 5FDP is that their cliche, “look how hard I am” lyrics get old, but my irritation melts away when Ivan is singing on stage. The words are still there, but they are so believeable because of the emotion and physicality that he brings to his “character.” In fact, often times, phrases that annoy me on the album actually energized me at the show.
(A good example of this is the the song Burn it Down, in which they talk about how “you don’t know shit” and that they’d rather die than “conform to your system”. Lyrics like these get a little old after three albums, however, during the show, I remember losing my mind during “Think you’re a martyr / Not Hard to See / You want to rule the f****** world / You gotta get through me.” I felt like I could, in fact, philosophically llamo burn that place down).
Over all, this show was just really excellent. It was very much a no frills concert. No giant LED screens of flying dragons on fire or helicopters shooting missiles at the audience, etc. Just five guys bringing really high energy music in a dynamic way and being able to sustain that high-energy atmosphere, all while sounding great along the way. They closed the show with what I would argue is their best work – the song The Bleeding off of their first album, which has slower pace to it but builds to create an edge-of-your-seat type experience that capped off an incredible night of music.
A few notes before I wrap this one up:
- This band’s name is awesome. I mean, Five Finger Death Punch? Also, Zoltan is about the coolest name I’ve ever heard. I’ll have to work that name into the list when my wife and I have kids.
- Dear 5FDP: For the love of everything metal, PLEASE stop decking yourselves out in clothes that say your own band’s name when you perform. Seriously. It’s against the code. I mean, do you see me wearing a polo with “The Music Pill” on the left breast to work? No. (Holy Shiskuit, what a great idea. I should definitely make shirts. Who out there want’s a Music Pill t-shirt? HA!) That’s beside the point. Don’t wear shirts with your band’s name on them, you’re too popular for that.
- All that Remains opened for 5FDP, and WOW were they good. Continuing with their theme, this is the best I’ve ever seen them play. Just really, really solid. I think Phil’s voice is getting better and better. Thoughts?
- Also really enjoyed Hatebreed’s set. I don’t know that much about them except for a couple songs, but they really sounded good. You could tell they have been around for a loooong time. Very seasoned show.
That’s all for now. I ended this show exhausted, tired, sore, sweaty, and at a borderline dangerous level of dehydration. My ears were ringing, my legs were shaking, my shirt was torn, and I had no idea where any of my friends were. What a great night of music. 🙂
Cheers!!
“Did you hear the one about me trying to die? / Fist in the air and a finger to the sky. / Do I care if you hate me? Do you want to know the truth? / C’est la vie…audios…good riddance….F*** YOU!!!”
