Written by Dave Clements
Several weeks ago, I decided I would go on a fishing trip to Alaska with some buddies of mine who extended an invitation to join them for a few days of wilderness fishing. Being that I have no interest in fishing I almost immediately said thanks but no thanks when I caught myself mid-sentence and shared a reluctant “yes, I’ll go, thanks for the invite”. It wasn’t that I really wanted to go fishing, it was the adventure of doing something different, being out of my comfort zone, experiencing something vastly different that my ‘normal’.
What pray tell does any of that have to do with a review of Five Finger Death Punch, you ask?
Here is the story… I was looking down the schedule of the Woodlands Pavilion and saw that FFDP was headlining along with Marilyn Manson on the bill along with two other bands of which I had no clue who they were – other than they also had DARK names: Slaughter To Prevail and The Funeral Portrait!
They really had no appeal to me at all. Then I reminded myself how much I enjoyed my Alaska fishing adventure so I decided to give THE DARK FOUR a go at the beautiful Woodlands Pavilion.
I arrived well in advance of the first act, got my credentials to photograph the show, and started looking around at the audience piling into this outdoor venue. Soon after I was escorted to the front of the stage along with the other photographers in attendance. The Funeral Portrait was moments later front and center. Surprisingly, I liked their vibe although I didn’t know one word to any of their songs. But that was okay as the audience was engaged almost immediately mainly because the entire band was so appealing to those that came early. These guys have been around for about a decade and hail from Atlanta, Georgia. And again I said to myself …okay, if the rest of the bands suck then one out of four isn’t bad!
Quickly after they left the stage Slaughter to Prevail was up and running at warp speed. Wiki has them based in Orlando, Florida which might be true yet their lead singer Alex Trouble (stage name only) hails from Russia and he is quite a sight to see. He is covered in tattoos and flaunts them the entire set with not a stich of clothing from the waste up. Frankly I don’t blame him given his impressive physique and the investment he has in his body art. (Check out the photo gallery if you have a bit of curiosity) I thought he was very entertaining and for sure he was very appreciative of the audience who was obviously feeding off his enthusiasm. He was great to photograph, a personal plus, and I would have been really impressed with him and his masked bandmates if I hadn’t read that he has been accused of promoting Nazi ideology, transphobia, and animal cruelty. Really hoping these accusations are false!
Next up was arguably the headliner for the evening, Marilyn Manson. I’ll come back and explain later in this review.
Manson has been around since 1989 and until I did a little research I didn’t realize that his stage name was the combination of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson – blending the names of two opposing American Cultural icons. Other former members with similar blended names were Zsa Zsa Speck and Olivia Newton Bundy to name two. When Manson hit the stage the sun was rapidly going down and the smoke was billowing from the stage. And if I didn’t mention it, the stage lights were being dimmed therefore very tough conditions to take good images of someone standing in the middle of all that.
Manson did one song I knew, a cover by the Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams. Actually, that was the only song I knew the entire evening but at least I knew ONE – and it was one I liked and it was a nice version. For the rest of the audience, all mainly in black tee shirts, they were extremely dialed into this guy and his music. The best I could gage by the pro-Manson audience is that they were enjoying the set in a meaningful way.
Before moving on let me share that I was blown away by the numbers of people that left the pavilion as Marilyn Manson left the stage. How would I know if it were hundreds or a thousand or more? All I can report is that I have never seen a massive exit like this one. I guess for those that paid their hard-earned money to come this night let them decide what when enough is enough. I don’t think it was at all a boycott of FFDP. I believe it was simply that Marilyn Manson was who they came to see and, satisfied, they were ready to go home. Frankly, I think that those that left should have stayed. I stayed and I am glad I did – with one foot note.
Five Finger Death Punch have been around for almost twenty years and hail from Las Vegas. I liked their lead vocalist Ivan Moody. He was absolutely a blast to photograph, he was very entertaining and I loved his outfit. Besides he did everything he could to draw his audience in and if he gave away one he gave away a hundred guitar picks. Those who had come for the actual headliner were well into these guys and seems to be enjoying ever thing that was happening on stage. On balance I thought they were pretty damn good yet had a foreign sound of which I was not familiar, but hey, so what? FFDP did what they were paid to do…entertain!
As a post script when I was reading a little about the band I stumbled across information that would suggest that Moody has had a few scraps with the law. Moody was arrested in 2014 and charged with drunkenly assaulting a female flight attendant and other domestic abuse incidents. Again, really hope these accusations were unfounded…please!
To recap: I’m glad I went and left my comfort zone. I enjoyed the photography and didn’t dislike the music. I loved the showmanship of all those that took the stage. I didn’t like the lighting of the stage even though I am not unhappy with the images I got.
If you support live music, thank you. If you don’t please consider doing so!
Until next time.
dwc