On Friday, August 16th, I saw the Las Vegas rock band Five Finger Death Punch at Ruoff Music Center. I sat in row eight, which was four rows away from the pit, giving me a great view of the stage. This was my favorite concert I went to this concert season, and arguably the best concert I have ever been to.
The concert opened with the emo band The Funeral Portrait. I had never heard of them before, but they put on a fun show and had a good sound. The band did some cool dancing and kicks. There was a part where guitar player Cody Wessinger held his guitar in his mouth which seemed really uncomfortable, and slightly unhygienic, but cool. The lead singer Lee Jennings also hung out around the side of the stage to get pictures and photos with fans.
The next band was Slaughter to Prevail. They are a deathcore band from Yekaterinburg, Russia who debuted in 2015. Despite being a newer band, they had a very loyal fan base at the concert. Many people were wearing similar masks to the ones the band wore. They are very heavy metal and very screamo which is not my personal favorite. That being said, I still rocked out to them and had a great time during their set. Many of their songs use a mix of Russian and English, but with the screaming, it was hard to tell which was which.
After their set, there were crew members who threw guitar picks out into the crowd for fans to have. I personally did not get one, but it was a super cool opportunity for fans.
My favorite set was Marilyn Manson’s. He had an absolutely fabulous setlist playing my favorite song, “This is the New S***,” fourth. He also had a talented and entertaining band accompanying him on stage. Drummer Gil Sharone and guitarist Tyler Bates returned as a part of his band. The gorgeous Reba Meyers was new to the tour, playing guitar, as well as Piggy D, a former Rob Zombie band member, on bass. They were all incredibly entertaining and did a fabulous job interacting with the audience to put on a fabulous show. Manson even reached into the pit and multiple concertgoers had the luxury of getting to high five Manson.
Finally, it was time for Five Finger Death Punch, abbreviated by many as FFDP, to come out. They kicked off their set with “Welcome to the Circus.” All the band members had a cool entrance that was a great start for an energetic song. I was excited to hear them playing my two favorite songs, “ Wash It All Away,” and “Jekyll and Hyde” fourth and fifth respectively.
They had very fun interactions with the crowd including lead singer Ivan Moody taking audience members’ phones to video from the stage and throwing multiple shirts and props into the crowd. Moody got the audience excited and involved before playing “Burn MF.” During this song, he had different sections of the audience chant at different times. It killed my voice, but it was so much fun.
I think it was super cool how truthful Moody was with the audience. He discussed his sobriety and brought his son on stage to commemorate his reconnection to him after escaping his addiction. He also celebrated all veterans in the audience by having them all raise their hands and picking one of them to be given a signed American flag from the band.
Before the last song of the night, Moody called a little girl up on stage to give her his iconic bat from the show and allowed her to stand at the back of the stage to watch the closing number.
Though it killed my voice and I left with my ears ringing, I had a fabulous time watching all the bands and recommend anyone with the chance to see any, if not all, of the bands there. I love concerts and this was my favorite concert of the season.
