Tag: five finger death punch

Phil Finger Death Punch, a Possible Glimpse Into The Future

All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte has come up from the “Righteous Side Of Hell,” to help save the boys in Five Finger Death Punch from being on the “Wrong Side Of Heaven,” due to the band’s erratic troubled frontman Ivan Moody, to save the rest of the band’s co-headlining tour with Shinedown, a tour that also features Sixx: A.M., and As Lions.

Labonte, who is good friends with Moody, stepped up and filled in on Dec. 1 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA, doing a tremendous job in the process. Joining Labonte in helping save the tour for FFDP and their fans were Sixx: A.M. frontman James Michael and As Lions singer Austin Dickinson (son of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), lending their vocals during FFDP’s set. Phil will continue the vocal duties for Five Finger Death Punch for the remainder of the tour. There has been speculation that this could be an audition for Labonte to replace Moody for an extended period of time or even permanently.

Moody stated on Nov. 29 to Syracuse, NY fans inside the Oncenter, that they would see the real Ivan Moody tonight. He went on and said that with all the social media outlets out there, that his life is exposed, and can’t seem to get away from people fabricating stories about him.

One of those “fabricated” stories came days earlier in Worcester, MA, when Moody stated to the crowd that his mother was passing away as he was onstage, and cut the concert short. Bassist Chris Kael was left with the mop up duties, apologizing to the crowd for the early departure. In an odd twist, Moody’s sister stated that their mother was not ailing nor anyone else in their family, for that matter. This prompted Moody’s statement at the band’s Newark, NJ show that the mother he was referring to was his “House Mother” from rehab.

During the same show, Moody, who has revealed his thoughts about Kanye West in the past, compared himself to the hip hop star, stating that he now “Get’s it” when it comes to the “mental breakdown” that West is has currently been hospitalized for, after West went on various verbal tirades during his live shows and cutting concerts short. Two days later, Ivan Moody is on the shelf due to illness and off the rest of the tour.

Moody had his famous Memphis meltdown back in May of 2015, where he apparently angered drummer Jeremy Spencer with a comment he made over the mic about Spencer’s book, prompting Spencer and the rest of the band to leave Moody by himself on stage. Days later, the band stated that there was nothing wrong with Moody, or the band, and blamed poor sound equipment as the reason why they had cut their set short.

It has been no secret, as reported previously by NYS Music, that the band is being sued by their record label, Prospect Park. Some of the reasons stated in the lawsuit include that the band doesn’t care for Moody’s well-being and that they are trying to cash in before Moody has a complete meltdown, or even worse, dies. With his past and recent actions, Prospect Park could be onto something when it comes to Moody’s well-being.

Fans, music insiders and music executives believe that, without Moody, there is no FFDP, and with all his recent seemingly “I’m untouchable” behavior over the past couple of years, Moody must feel the same. Moody’s recent behaviors suggest a desperate need for an extended break from touring, the music industry, and the limelight.

Eventually, the band will have to draw the line with Moody’s recent actions and do what’s best for FFDP moving forward. Whether they move on with Labonte or someone else, or force Moody to take a break.

With all that being said, Labonte has the goods to deliver the songs in FFDP fashion on stage, but does he has the raw charismatic edgy appeal that Moody possess, and that fans crave and love about Moody?

When it come’s to what’s next in the Ivan Moody/FFDP saga”All That Remains” is, wait and see.

https://youtu.be/OdOqi03fbds

Remaining Five Finger Death Punch/Shinedown Tour Dates:

12-08 – Amway Arena – Orlando, FL
12-09 – Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL
12-10 – Infinite Energy Center – Duluth, GA

December 8, 2016
Five Finger Death Punch and Shinedown Rock Blue Cross Arena

Nothing goes better with the holidays than a kick-ass rock show. Just days before families gathered to have Thanksgiving dinner, rock fans in Rochester, had the opportunity to go see one of the best concerts Blue Cross Arena has had in quite some time. On Tuesday, Nov. 22nd, Rochester welcomed Five Finger Death Punch and Shinedown alongside support acts Sixx:A.M., and As Lions. The entire night consisted of great music alongside magnificent production.

The night started early just after 6 PM with opening band As Lions. While the area was still filling in, As Lions had the task of getting this crowd ready for a long night of headbanging. The audience may have not been familiar with the band, but that’s probably due to the fact that the group just came together in 2015. As Lions is lead by vocalist Austin Dickinson. If the last name rings a bell, it’s because you’re thinking of Dickinson’s father Bruce, lead singer of Iron Maiden. The rest of the band is made up of members of Dickinson’s past metalcore group, Rise to Remain, which disbanded with the creation of As Lions.

The 5-piece band played like they were playing in front of a sold out arena. The band has that radio-rock sound that could be found scanning the car radio. The band looked very comfortable on stage which isn’t common for an opening band. Their confidence should help carry them forward and land them tour gigs for many years to come. For anyone looking for a fresh new band, check out As Lions. Their debut album drops on January 20.

The next band of the evening was Sixx:A.M., which features Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe. Joining Sixx in Sixx:A.M. is vocalist James Michael, guitarist DJ Ashba and drummer Dustin Steinke. Sixx’s band has been around since 2007, with the release of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, but has always saw the back burner due to Sixx’s commitment with Crüe and Ashba’s work with Guns N’ Roses. Now that everyone is completely focused on Sixx:A.M. the band has their foot pressed against the gas pedal. Just this year, the band has released a double album which features Prayers for the Damned, Vol. 1 and Prayers for the Blessed, Vol. 2. The second of the two albums was released just days before Rochester’s show at Blue Cross Arena.

Now with five albums of material, the band has plenty to pick from for a setlist. The set opened with “This Is Gonna Hurt,” which was the title track of their second album. The second song they played was “Rise,” which has been all over the radio since its single release. The rest of the set consisted of songs mainly from Prayers for the Damned, Vol. 1. It’s remarkable to see how much fun this band has on stage. The joy and happiness radiates from the band into the audience unlike any other band. Fans sing along with every song and have smiles on their faces from ear to ear.

The set ended with “Life Is Beautiful,” which was off of the debut album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack. Everyone in the audience surely knew this song and loved it. Sixx:A.M. surely had no troubles opening for Five Finger Death Punch. The heavy metal fans of Rochester welcomed Sixx and his band with open arms. The only thing that could have made the show better would have been a longer setlist. Hopefully once this tour wraps up, fans will have the chance to see a headlining tour around the country.

Next up for the evening was hard-rock veterans, Shinedown. Opening for Five Finger Death Punch, it was a mystery to see how they would do with the crowd. Questions were answered with the opening track of “Adrenaline.” Coming out strong with one of their heaviest songs from their album Amaryllis, Shinedown was prepared to blow the roof off of the arena. The statement was solidified with the next two songs, “Fly From the Inside” and “Diamond Eyes.” The crowd was going nuts and the band was loving it.

Singer, Brent Smith, had Blue Cross Arena at his fingertips and could get the crowd to do anything. On top of that, the production that Shinedown had with them was ridiculous. The last few tours Shinedown has brought out the pyro, but nothing like this tour. Comparing Shinedown’s stage show to the legendary KISS, who just played at Blue Cross Arena just a few months ago, it was night and day. Shinedown did not leave anything at home this tour. The band did slow things down a bit with songs like “How Did You Love” and “State of My Head,” which are off of the bands latest album Threat to Survival.

The crowd got to be up close and personal with singer Smith while he went out into the crowd to sing from the back of the floor. That wasn’t the only time Brent went out there. During their last song, “Sound of Madness,” Smith ended up at the soundboard platform, surrounded by fireworks. As the song ended, Smith ran back to the stage to say thank you and goodnight to the crowd in Rochester. This was certainly a performance that won’t be forgotten by anyone that was there.

Things cooled down after Shinedown left the stage and got the crowd ready for the night’s headliner, Five Finger Death Punch. The band came out with their popular opening track, “Lift Me Up.” This is another band that has a ton of material now to make a setlist from, so it’s always exciting to see what the band will do each tour. The night was pretty balanced with tracks from American Capitalist, Got Your Six, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Vol. 1+2 and The Way of the Fist. The crowd interaction with Ivan Moody is always fantastic. At the beginning of the show, Moody was inviting fans to watch on stage, signing autographs and waving hello to whoever he could. While Moody was saying hello through his microphone, bassist Chris Kael and guitarists Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook were throwing guitar picks at whoever they could.

Five Finger Death Punch is by far one of the most fan friendly bands out there. Halfway through their show, a fan was spotted with a sign that asked about playing guitar with them on stage for the song “Under and Over It.” Even though it wasn’t the song they were about to play, Moody invited the kid on stage. Hook gave the fan his guitar and Moody told him to play the intro to the song. The fan, Bathory and drummer Jeremy Spencer did a quick instrumental jam of the song and the kid nailed it. He was walking around stage like an absolute boss and got an arena full of cheers.

The band also slowed things down like Shinedown, with a few acoustic songs like “Wrong Side of Heaven” and “Remember Everything.” The night ended with “Under and Over It” and the encore anthem “The Bleeding.” This was once again another stellar show from Five Finger Death Punch, who seem to never take a break from the road and recording. Speaking of recording, at the show, Moody announced to the crowd that their new album was completed. Not to be confused with last year’s Got Your Six, Five Finger Death Punch is ready to drop another album. For fans, this means to be on the lookout for new singles, an album release date and more tour dates!

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November 28, 2016
Heavy Montréal Stands Strong With 30,000+ Metalheads

Once again, Montréal brought in thousands upon thousands of the world’s biggest heavy metal fans last weekend. The event known now as Heavy Montréal, was held on August 6 and 7 at the Plaine des Jeux at Parc Jean-Drapeau. The weekend was host to more than 37 bands that played across 3 different stages. Out of the 30,000+ fans that attended, approximately 23 countries were represented. Those countries include fans from, the United States, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and more.

For those who attended the festival last year, there were two main differences. Those differences were the festival was dropped down to only Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The other difference being in the actual festival grounds. This year, the festival moved to the smaller side of the island known as the Plaine des Jeux. Over the same weekend, metal fans may have run across many hipsters wearing their colorful tank tops and board shorts while taking the metro to Heavy Montréal. The reason for the mix of music scenes was because right next door at the old Heavy Montréal festival grounds was the ÎLESONIQ festival which was headlined by artists such as Zedd and Skrillex.

Anyways, back to the metal. Saturday was a busy day for everyone it seemed. Only the most loyal fans to the headlining bands camped along the rail all day to catch that one band they came for. Pop Evil was one of the bands who started off the weekend and they seemed to love Montréal and the crowd loved them. The band opened up with the crunching riff of “Deal With The Devil”. Festival sets are never long, so everyone has to bring their ‘A’ game. The crowd support and reaction at just 1:30 in the afternoon was incredible.

In the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, it seemed to go back and forth from one great artist to the next. Bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Skeletonwitch, Fear Factory and Kataklysm were only some of the options early in the day. Each of those bands all seemed to draw respective crowds which was surprising when some of the sets overlapped. Somehow it seemed like no matter who was playing next, each stage was packed.

Saturdays biggest surprise was Escape The Fate. Playing on the Blabbermouth.net stage, these guys absolutely stole the show. Skeptical on how the crowd would react at a festival dominated by “heavier” bands, Escape The Fate provided that breath of fresh air in the afternoon. The band’s setlist consisted of mainly songs off of their last 2 studio albums, which were both solid from start to finish.

Other bands that played Saturday that put on unforgettable performances were Sabaton, Sebastian Bach and Black Label Society. Sabaton had the best stage set of the entire weekend hands down. The Swedish power metal guys in Sabaton brought both pyro to their stage set and a tank. Yes, you read that correctly, a tank. To go along with the awesome stage show, Sabaton ripped through a 10 song set list that consisted of songs like “Ghost Division,” “To Hell and Back” and “Night Witches.”

Sebastian Bach, who everyone knows as the voice of Skid Row, seemed to surprise the audience with a high energy impressive set. Sebastian came on stage to “Slave to the Grind” and was headbanging while swinging his microphone around him. Sebastian connected with the Montréal crowd by speaking lots of French to them, which brought roars from the packed audience. Fans of the TV show “Trailer Park Boys” were present in the crowd, which is a show Sebastian is commonly featured on. Fans brought in a sign for Sebastian, which he took, not to rip up and throw away like Axl Rose would have done, but instead Sebastian held it up high with laughs and propped it up on stage. It could easily be seen that Sebastian was in high spirits and truly loved performing at Heavy Montréal.

Black Label Society was one band that not a single person in Montréal should have missed. Friday night the band played a headline show in the city and on Saturday once again at Heavy Montréal. Watching Zakk Wylde shred on the guitar is mind-blowing. The man can virtually play anything with his eyes closed. The band was tight and ripped through a quick 8 song setlist, highlighted by “Funeral Bell,” “Bleed for Me,” “Godspeed Hell Bound” and “Stillborn.” The end of the set wasn’t the end of Zakk for the weekend. Everyone knew that Zakk and his band would be back on Sunday for more, but not to perform as Black Label Society, but under Zakk’s name instead for a softer set.

The end of the day 1 for Heavy Montréal was capped off by Mastodon, Nightwish, and last but not least Five Finger Death Punch. Mastodon, who was scheduled to play last year’s Heavy Montréal but was forced to cancel, came back this year and gave fans what they’ve been waiting for. The group from Atlanta, Georgia mixed with tremendous talent all around has been on the round behind their 2014 release of Once More ‘Round the Sun. As many fans hoped, Mastodon focused on that album playing track from it such as “The Motherload” and personal favorite “High Road.” Other fan favorites from the set included “Oblivion”, “Divinations” and “Blood and Thunder.”

Nightwish made its only stop in North America of 2016 at Heavy Montréal. For being a symphonic metal band from Finland, the crowd support for Nightwish was unbelievable. The band opened with “Shudder Before the Beautiful” which was off their 2015 release Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Their latest album seemed to be the focus of the night with 5 songs played off it in total. The band brought in an impressive pyro display wish some fans certainly didn’t expect. Between the frequent pyro blasts right in front of singer Floor Jansen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, the C02 cannons going off gave Nightwish the complete production package.

Night 1 of Heavy Montréal was closed out by one of the most bad-ass bands of today, Five Finger Death Punch. These guys have been non-stop with a vicious cycle of releasing albums and touring without taking a break. Work has already begun for their next album after just recently putting out Got Your Six. The road warriors opened their set with “Lift Me Up” which was off Volume 1 of The Wrong Side of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell. With a short set and so many tracks to choose from, it’s hard for the band to really dig into their catalog. The guys seemed to try and keep everything balanced by playing at least 1 song off of 6 different albums. The night ended strong with “Got Your Six,” “Under and Over It” and “The Bleeding.” Five Finger Death Punch gave the crowd everything they had and the crowd showed no signs of letting up. Fans at Heavy Montréal were ready for day 2 before they even left the island.

Sunday started off with bands I Prevail and We Came As Romans. Both drew in the younger crowds early in the afternoon. I Prevail played their hit cover song “Blank Space” which was made famous by Taylor Swift. Surprisingly, this rendition was awesome and I Prevail really made it their own.

Guitar genius Tosin Abasi was on site Sunday with his band Animals as Leaders. This instrumental djent band drew in all the guitar nerds in the crowd over to the Scène HEAVY stage to get a glimpse at Tosin doing his thing. Animals as Leaders was definitely one of the standouts of the weekend for their uniqueness.

One of the summer’s biggest metal tours made their stop in Montréal on Sunday. The tour features Saint Asonia, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed. Saint Asonia was the creation of Adam Gontier, formally of Three Days Grace and Mike Mushok of Staind. Joining them in Saint Asonia are Corey Lowery on bass and Rich Beddoe on drums. Basically a “supergroup” these guys have been going strong after their formation in 2014 and touring behind their 2015 self-titled release.

Hatebreed also played on Sunday. Many fans may have missed the fact that Hatebreed was at Heavy Montréal because they were a very late addition for Trivium who had to cancel last minute. For a last minute add-on, Hatebreed came to destroy Parc Jean-Drapeau. Ironically, the band opened up with “Destroy Everything” and then immediately went into “Looking Down The Barrel of Today.” The band a total of 4 songs off of The Concrete Confessional which was a heavy hitting album Hatebreed released last May.

Both Blind Guardian and Zakk Wylde drew big crowds on day 2 of Heavy Montréal. Blind Guardian who just played Wacken Open Air in Germany 2 days before coming to Montréal, had the best sound of the weekend. The German power metal band played a 8 song set that featured tracks from 6 different albums. The most popular album of the setlist for Blind Guardian was Nightfall in Middle-Earth. The tracks featured on that album that were played during the set were “Into the Storm,” “Mirror Mirror,” and “Time Stands Still(At The Iron Hill).”

Zakk Wylde was playing for his 3rd time in 3 days. This time just under the name Zakk Wylde, but still with his BLS bandmates on stage with him. The set started out with “Sold My Soul,” which seemed like a 20 minute guitar solo that features Zakk going nuts by playing behind his head and with his teeth. The band played “In This River” which is a Black Label Society song, but this version definitely had a different spin to it. Watching the band transform and play something completely different than the day before was very cool. There probably aren’t many bands out there that can do what Zakk and his Black Label crew could.

Sometime during the late afternoon the rain finally came down. While it started out as a light shower and then stopped, things changed shortly after with a downpour. The rain didn’t last long but from what fans were saying, it was the first time it had ever rained at Heavy Montréal.

As stated earlier, Alter Bridge was in Montréal and ready to show the city what they’re made of. Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti together make one of the best guitar combos in rock. Together, with the rest of Alter Bridge, the band puts on an incredible live performance. Myles is one of the best vocalist there are today and the band creates some heavy hitting riffs that are hard to get out of your head once you hear them. Songs like “Come To Life,” “Ties That Bind,” “Isolation” and “Addicted to Pain” are just some of what Alter Bridge played during their short set. The only thing that can be said is that Alter Bridge needs to do a headlining tour and come back to Montréal very soon. With a new album The Last Hero due out on October 7, Alter Bridge fans may very well get that headlining tour they’ve been wanting.

One of the best bands of the day if not the best overall was the mighty Killswitch Engage. The guys in Killswitch Engage squeezed in 11 songs into their short set time and showed every other band over the weekend how it’s done. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz lead the charge and opened up the set with “My Curse.” Between songs Dutkiewicz made sure the crowd did not calm down. This was definitely the set to see at Heavy Montréal. The crowd was a constant circle pit with crowd surfers and topless chicks. To sum it all up, the word would be chaos. Vocalist Jesse Leach was quite impressive in his ability to not only cover his original songs, but also some of the songs Howard Jones originally sang on. Songs like “Rose of Sharyn,” “The End of Heartache,” and “Holy Diver” sounded incredible with Jesse back in the band. On top of that, their newest material from Incarnate and Disarm the Descent was absolutely killer live. The mix of fast brutal riffs and energy Killswitch Engage brings to the table makes them a hard act to top for the rest of Heavy Montréal.

The 8th Heavy Montréal was closed out with Breaking Benjamin, Volbeat and Disturbed. Breaking Benjamin has been on the road ever since their release of Dark Before Dawn in 2015. With Benjamin Burnley is the only original member left in the band and he’s done a spectacular job filling the spaces next to him on stage. The reformed Breaking Benjamin sounds awesome together, especially Ben. It’s a pleasure to be able to see Ben back out on the road playing songs such as “So Cold,” “Breath,” “I Will Not Bow” and last but not least “The Diary of Jane.” To add to that, the new material off of Dark Before Dawn is also great live and the crowd in Montréal certainly helped Ben out by singing basically every word alongside with him.

Volbeat, who just released Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie came out with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown.” The highlight of their set was performing “Evelyn” with the Barney from Napalm Death. Volbeat who now features a new bass player, Kaspar Boye Larsen and Rob Caggiano on guitar, still puts on a great live show, but the energy on stage was missing that came from their former bass player Anders, who left the band last year. The band was sure to play hits like “Sad Man’s Tongue,” which was introduced with a little “Ring of Fire” intro by Johnny Cash. The crowd was definitely familiar with Volbeat and their love and respect for Johnny Cash. The night for Volbeat ended with “Still Counting” and just about everyone at the festival could be heard singing, “Counting all the assholes in the room,” even the people waiting across the way waiting for Disturbed.

Back from their hiatus and hitting the road after releasing Immortalized, Disturbed has been destroying every arena, amphitheater and festival it can play at. Heavy Montréal was no exception to that statement. Bringing an onslaught of pyro, just like Nightwish did the evening before, David Draiman and the rest of Disturbed were there to show Montréal they were back and meant business. The set opened with “Ten Thousand Fists,” “The Game” and “The Vengeful One.” For a band that took a long break, one would expect them to be rusty and still not be in the swing of things. Not Disturbed, this band is a well oiled machine that shows no signs of slowing down. The biggest surprise was hearing the band play “Land of Confusion,” a song that hasn’t been featured in their setlist often on tour. The band obviously played it’s insanely popular cover of Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” Just about every cell phone and lighter was in the air for this song and it was a powerful performance to say the least. The night was full of other hits like “Stupify,” “Inside the Fire,” “Stricken,” “Indestructible” and “Voices.” The night and entire weekend came to a close with the song that just about everyone in the world could have predicted, “Down With the Sickness.” This was the perfect ending for a perfect weekend of metal music at Heavy Montréal.

If anyone has thought about going to Montréal for this festival, it’s highly recommended. The city is beautiful, the people are friendly and getting to and from the festival is easy. On top of that, Heavy Montréal is one of the most organized and put together festivals in North America. Look for a lineup announcement coming to NYS Music for Heavy Montréal 2017 early next year.

August 16, 2016
Heavy Montreal a Close Fix for Capital Region Fans Suffering Festival Withdrawal

Capital region metal heads, are you looking for a music festival shot in the arm after the experience of this year’s Rock ‘N Derby event in the Albany area? Make the short drive across the border for Heavy Montreal in August.

Heavy Montreal‘s eighth annual festival has returned to it’s 2-day format, and will once again take place at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, on the island of Ile Ste-Helene on Aug. 6-7. Like in previous years, horn raisers will see another jam-packed mega lineup that’s sure to satisfy a variety of fans with many different styles of rock scheduled during the event.

Heavy Montreal’s huge lineup of performers will grace five different stages throughout the venue. Metal heads will see some of today’s best in the genre. Saturday’s lineup includes Five Finger Death Punch as the headliner along with Nightwish, Mastodon, Black Label Society, Sebastian Bach and Trivium. Sunday’s lineup is headlined by Disturbed, with a supporting cast of Volbeat, Breaking Benjamin, Killswitch Engage, Alter Bridge and many more. Over 30 bands in all will perform throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, Ghost will not make the festival as originally planned due to scheduling conflicts.

Doors open each day at 11:30am, with performances starting at 12:30 p.m. and ending at 11:00 p.m.

Two bands on the bill, Disturbed and Mastodon, both took part in the inaugural Heavy Montreal in 2008. If you want to get technical, Adam Gontier was also a part of the first ever festival when he fronted Three Days Grace. He returns this year with his new band, the supergroup Saint Asonia.

Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch have headlined, or are in line to headline almost every rock music festival in 2016. Five Finger Death Punch recently headlined a festival in New York, the first ever Rock ‘N Derby, in Schaghticoke, on May 20.

This year marks Disturbed’s third time playing the festival and Five Finger Death Punch’s first time. Disturbed front man David Draiman, has also appeared at the festival in 2013 with his side project Device.

Albany area fans who want to make the trip can head up I-87N, and about three and half to four hours later, you’re there. Fans can also take I-89N, but add about another hour and over 20 miles.

June 9, 2016
Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, Clutch and Pop Evil Kick Off Inaugural Night at Rock ‘N Derby

Last weekend, upstate New York hosted the first-ever Rock ‘N Derby, which kicked off May 20 at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds. The Capital Region has been buzzing for months with anticipation for the Rock on the Range style three-day festival. Along with thousands of local diehard rock enthusiasts, fans from across the northeast and Canada made the hike on a beautiful early spring evening.

Day one of the inaugural affair saw the likes of Lamb of God, Clutch, Parkway Drive, Wolfmother, Pop Evil, Scott Stapp, Corrosion of Conformity, Red Sun Rising, Wild Throne and the first band to ever headline a Rock ‘N Derby festival, Fiver Finger Death Punch. Friday night also saw Tool cover band Schism play on the Upstate Concert Hall Arena Stage, during the after party for fans who wanted to rock on into the late night hours.

From Grand Rapids, MI, Pop Evil, had the honor to be the first group to not only play the Derby main stage, but the first band ever to perform at Rock ‘N Derby period. To everyone’s amazement, Pop Evil is now sporting a blond female drummer behind the kit. It’s been news that current drummer, Josh “ChaChi” Marunde, was departing the band for new opportunities that would keep him closer to home. At show time, no one was sure who she was, or if she will end up being a permanent replacement for Marunde, all I can say is that the girl is a total badass behind the kit. However, it has now been reported that the band has welcomed Hayley Cramer as their new drummer.

Pop Evil came out and set the mood for the day. Fans went wild once the band started the first song in the set “Deal With The Devil.” Before playing the band’s current single “Take It All,” frontman Leigh Kakaty shouted out to local rock radio station Q103 for playing the new single. Kakaty went on to say to the crowd, “For everybody who just wanted a little, but now you want the whole damn thing. This song is called ‘Take It All’.”

Kakaty then picked up a guitar and asked if there was any old-school Pop Evil fans out there tonight. After cheers from the crowd, Kakaty said, “Well here’s one off our first record for you guys then.” He started off the song “100 in a 55.” After completing the first verse, Kakaty asked the crowd, “If you still believe in rock-and-roll bands, make some noise,” which made the crowd roar with cheers.

Kakaty gave a small heartfelt speech before moving into the next song, “Trenches.” He said, “I just wanna say, what an honor it is to be amongst real people who come to rock shows early. All these little kids I see, I wanna thank you parents for not raising them on any of that Justin Bieber bullshit. I didn’t know it was so fucking complicated. We are a rock band, we play rock music for brothers and sisters like you.” He went on to say that the band is currently on tour with two of the greatest icons, Rob Zombie and Disturbed. He then relayed a message on behalf of them, telling fans Zombie and Disturbed said to “fucking rock and roll tonight.” Kakaty’s speech went on to thank another band who was playing that night: ” There is one more band on this bill that I have to give a special shout out to, cause back in the day, they were one of the first bands to take a chance on us. You guys know them as Ivan and Zoltan and everybody at Five Finger Death Punch.”

Fans sang along with the frontman during the last song in the set, “Footsteps.” Kakaty was so impressed it prompted him to sincerely say to the crowd, “Are you fucking kidding me? Wow, there’s no greater feeling on this planet than when your fans, excuse me, your friends, sing your songs back to you, God bless you. God bless you, New York, we love you.” Pop Evil showed a lot of fire and Kakaty was pretty good on vocals. Set Time 5:50–6:30 p.m.

Neil, Jean-Paul, Dan and Tim, better known as Clutch also rocked the Derby Main Stage. Going into this show, I knew about the band, but never really followed them until recently. I was really impressed by how good this band performed. These guys are talented live musicians that anybody could go and see and enjoy themselves.

Early in their set, singer Neil Fallon lightly slipped walking onstage. This made Fallon say, “I will tell you right now, at some point in the next 45 minutes, I will fall on my ass on this stage. It’s gonna be legendary. Did you spray this thing with WD-40 before we got up here? Set Time 6:50–7:45 p.m.

Red Sun Rising performed over on the Rock ‘N Stage. Before the band played “My Muse,” frontman Mike Protich, who was not sure how to pronounce Schaghticoke, asked the crowd, “So what should I call you cause I can’t pronounce the city I’m in right now….. Albany?” (This became an eventual theme for all of the bands on the bill throughout the weekend.) As Protich looked to the crowd for answers he said, “I love all these New Yorkers. People here just shouting shit. We’re red Sun Rising from Akron, Ohio. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today.” Set Time 6:55–7:35 p.m.

Lamb of God performed while the sun went down on the Derby Stage, and brought fans into the night. Frontman Randy Blythe was super pumped up during Lamb of God’s set, as he was constantly jumping around and moving. I swear, Monster Energy drink has to run through his veins.

Blythe was next in line to ask the crowd how to pronounce the village Schaghticoke. Blythe said, “What the fuck is up upstate New York? Look at all you motherfuckers out there. Let me get a big Ric Flair Wooooooo.” The crowd “wooooooooed” back at Blythe, which made him say, “Fuck Yeah. Holy Shit. For those of you who do not know, and for those of you who drank too fucking much before you got here and don’t know where the fuck you are….We are Lamb of God. We come from Richmond motherfucking Virginia. I know we are in upstate New York, but I’m not going to attempt to pronounce the name of this fucking town. I fucked it up like 50 times.” Blythe then went on and tried to say the name of the town, even calling it Shaggy 2 Dope ( from Insane Clown Posse), which made the crowd laugh. He then asked the audience to pronounce the name the town on the count of three. The crowd shouted “Schaghticoke” in unison.

About midway through the band’s set, Blythe acknowledged what would become another theme over the weekend. There was a five-year-old girl celebrating her birthday during the three-day festival down in the front row. After asking the crowd if they were having a good time, Blythe said to the crowd, “Somebody down there has a fifth birthday.” He pointed at the girl and said, “Don’t get squished sweetheart.”

The frontman then turned his attention to the next song in the set list. He dedicated the next song to the little girl in the crowd and all the armed forces in the United States. He stated, “This song goes out to some people who don’t get the recognition I feel they deserve most of the time. These people do a hard, fucked-up job. They do it from a long ways from home. Most of the time they don’t even get a fucking thank you for this. I speak of the men and women in the United States armed services. This next song is for them.” The band then played “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For.” The crowd was insane for Lamb of God. Set Time 8:15–9:15 p.m.

Parkway Drive was one of, if not the best, performers of the night. Parkway Drive headlined the Rock ‘N Stage Friday. Singer Winston McCall was going so insane onstage, I thought he was going to give himself a heart attack. He was jumping, bouncing and waving his arms so much, it was like he was teaching an aerobics class, while putting on a kick-ass rock show.

Winston asked fans if they picked up the band’s new album, Ire. He then told the crowd that they are going to play a song off that album. Winston then said to the crowd, “You guys are doing great. One thing, one thing only. Just keep that vibe up here [raises hand above head]. Don’t let that energy drop. Keep it coming, keep it coming. If you haven’t crowd surfed yet today, you’re obliged to on the rest of this set. This one’s called ‘Vice Grip;’ step it up another notch.”

Before the next song in the set, Winston screamed to the crowd, “That’s it. Keep it up here [motioning his hand above his head], keep your energy up here. Bring it in, sing with me. This one’s called ‘Idols and Anchors.’”

Impressed with the fans’ reactions toward the band, Winston had to ask the crowd something before he continued: “Has anyone seen us before?” After minimal cheers, he replied, “A couple. Hi again.” He then asked for the first-timers to many cheers. Winston then welcomed everyone and said that he was just checking out the stats of the crowd, then thanked everyone for their time. Winston said, time is a precious thing, and that he appreciated fans spending some of it on them tonight.

The frontman asked the crowd if they still had enough energy left in them, because he knows they must be fucked after Lamb of God’s set. He then asked if they had a little bit of energy left, because they were going to play another heavy track. Winston then said, “If you can hear my voice, get your hands up. Here’s the deal. If you have the energy to get your hand in the air, when this one drops, I need to see you get your feet up as well. That includes you guys in the stands.” The band then played “Bottom Feeder.” Parkway Drive will head back to the their native country of Australia for a tour after their RotR performance on Saturday. Set Time 9–9:45 p.m.

Five Finger Death Punch was ready to close out the inaugural first night on the Derby Stage. FFDP got fans pumped with the first song in the setlist, “Lift Me Up.” After the second song in the set, “Hard to See,” Ivan Moody said, “Holy shit,” and called the crowd “motherfucking crazy.” Moody then asked the crowd to do him an honest favor and protect all the kids that were there enjoying the show. On that note, Moody then said to the crowd, “Front to back, side to side. When I jump up, you jump up. Now you know what to do.” FFDP then played “Burn it Down.”

After bassist Chris Kael took over the vocal duties for the song “Got Your Six,” next on the setlist was the band’s cover of “Bad Company.” Moody asked the crowd, how many men and women have served, or are still serving for the United States military, and asked them to put their hands up. He then said to the fans with their hands down, “You guys see those fucking hands… you shake them, you thank them and you buy them a beer for our fucking freedoms. Thank you so much.” This of course prompted a big U.S.A chant from fans. Moody then brought the song in by saying, “I don’t know if you guys heard, but there were a couple of, um, I’ll call them corporations, that were talking shit about us online. What they didn’t understand is that we’ve got Bad Company [points to the crowd].”

FFDP did their usual routine and brought up various kids onstage to join them for the song “Burn MF.” Moody pointed to the kids and told the crowd to make some noise for the next generation of heavy metal. Moody went on to say, “You guys wanna show them how the big kids do this? Then give me the biggest circle you’ve got right now. If you don’t wanna get hurt, now is the perfect time to get the fuck out of the way.”

Guitarist Jason Hook and Moody did an acoustic medley of “Wrong Side of Heaven” and “Battle Born.” Moody then stated to the crowd that there are strict curfew rules here and that the band could only play one more song. Five Finger Death Punch then closed out the night with “The Bleeding.”

I felt a small letdown here, and expected way more from these guys. If this was your first time ever seeing the band, you may have a slightly different opinion of the band’s set. It seemed the boys were a little off the mark onstage, and frontman Moody sang out of key and didn’t have his usual intensity. The thing that was most noticeable was the band’s set list. Fan-favorite track “Burn it Down” seems to always b one the band’s setlists, but it was missing along with the two current singles off their current studio album. Overall, everything seemed repetitive and overly rehearsed. Set Time 9:45–11 p.m.

May 27, 2016
Five Finger Death Punch Being Sued By Record Label

According to a recent report by Blabbermouth, metal rockers Five Finger Death Punch are being sued by their record label Prospect Park for breach of contract. Prospect Park claims that the band is trying to cash in before their bandmate, frontman Ivan Moody, does something stupid or even dies. Moody is accused of being addicted to alcohol, and some worry that if things end in a train wreck, Five Finger Death Punch’s music catalog would end up worthless.

Five Finger Death Punch signed a four-album contract with Prospect Park in December 2012. The contract states that the band could not record any new material earlier than nine months after its latest release, unless the label agrees to it in writing. The band’s third studio album under contract, Got Your Six, was released Sept. 4, 2015. That means the band can’t start “any portion” of the new album in the agreement until June 4, 2016.

Also under the agreement, the band is under contract to release two masters for a greatest hits album. The band refused to deliver the masters out of concern from Moody, and members plan on recording the greatest hits album on a new record label. Part of Prospect Park’s lawsuit states:

Regrettably, with the encouragement and assistance of their entertainment lawyer and business manager, the members of FFDP have unequivocally repudiated their contractual obligations to permit Prospect Park to determine the recording elements of a new record and a greatest hits record. In doing so, the members of FFDP are shamelessly attempting to cash in before the anticipated downfall of their addicted bandmate.

Prospect Park blames the band for rushing to record the fourth album that they are contracted to, disregarding the health and safety of Moody and ultimately destroying the band in the process. The record label says that the band has reached out numerous times with concern about Moody’s addiction getting out of control and fear he may not be there to fulfill his obligations to the band and the contract, thus seeking to capitalize as soon as possible at the expense of Moody’s health.

Prospect Park also stated in the lawsuit, “Based on FFDP’s own assessment, Moody is unable to perform at the level required under Section 3.01 of the Recording Agreement for delivery of the Fourth Album’s master recordings or Greatest Hits Masters.”

The lawsuit lists numerous text messages and emails from FFDP band members and represenatives. A message on Nov. 15, 2015 reads, “The writing is on the wall, and that, it’s a matter of time before Ivan hits the wall — and once he does — it will be too late to sell.” In an email received on Dec 3, 2015, band members wrote, “if Ivan does something stupid — dies…., goes away to jail — then the catalog is a bust — then we won’t be able to sell and we’ll be trying to salvage what we can — IF we can … so to me it’s imperative to make a move and sell.” One message even says that Moody is getting in the way of an eight-digit payday.

The label states in the lawsuit some of the reasons why they want control over the recording elements. Some of those reasons include a precipitous decline in sales, the fact that radio has told the label that the band’s sound is getting “stale” and the disappointment that the band has failed to reach Platinum or Multi-Platinum level.

During a show in Memphis in May 2015, Moody was accused of having an onstage meltdown, and some fans even thought the band split up as the rest of the band left Moody on the stage by himself after he made a remark about drummer Jeremy Spencer’s book. Spencer left the stage first and the rest of the band slowly followed. Moody soon after that released a statement blaming technical difficulties, and saying the band was in good standing with each other.

At the end of March 2016, Moody was hospitalized, forcing the band to cancel their Australian tour, and a gig as a supporting act for Black Sabbath’s final run. Moody was admitted to the ER in his hometown of Denver and was said to make a full recovery. The band has recently notified Prospect Park that Moody is in an in-patient rehabilitation facility for an unknown duration of time.

Five Finger Death Punch is slated to play many of the major rock festivals this May including headlining the opening night at the first-ever Rock’N Derby in Schaghticoke on May 20. The band days ago confirmed a fall tour with Shinedown and Sixx: A.M., and a coast-to-coast tour of Canada with Papa Roach and Sixx: A.M.

May 1, 2016