Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Hellyeah, Nothing More
Tuesday, September 23rd 2014
War Memorial at Oncenter, Syracuse, NY
Our score: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The haloed halls of the Syracuse War Memorial were rocked by the sonic landscape of not one but 4 great music acts. Headliners Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat along with special guests Hellyeah and Nothing More made a stop in the home of the Orangemen as part of their fall arena tour which runs through October. Those in attendance were treated to a spectacular night of music as each band gave the crowd everything they had and more.
Starting off the night was up and coming progressive/rock band Nothing More. Though the 4 piece group hailing from San Antonio, TX set was brief the band used their time wisely delivering the best they had to offer to the fans who were still filing through the arena doors. The Chad Gray fronted Hellyeah would blast on to the stage next bathed in bombastic thunder thanks to the drumming styles of Mr. Vinnie Paul. The band has gone through a lineup change since the last time I saw adding bassist Kyle Sanders and guitarist Christian Brady but the two meshed well with the other members resulting in a quality set.
Danish import Volbeat would follow hitting the stage accompanied by a sea praise to which they returned the thanks will a 14 song set that mixed newer songs such as “Doc Holliday” and “The Hangman’s Body Count” with fan favorites like “Hallelujah Goat”, “The Garden’s Tale” and the Dusty Springfield penned “I Only Wanna Be With You” before closing out the set with the always rousing “Still Counting”. The band took time to thank and recognize the crowd several times throughout the night and at one point even welcomed several children to the stage to dance and sing among the members. As the house light went out prior to Fiver Finger Death Punch taking the stage the crowd erupted one more only this time they were even louder as the excitement in the Oncenter was reaching critical mass.
As the band made their way on to the stage several flashes of light went off and it was on. For the next 80 minutes everyone in attendance belonged to the 5 members of Five Finger Death Punch. Singer Ivan Moody captivated the crowd with his lyrics and stage presence while the dual guitar attack of Jason Hook and Zoltan Bathory chugged their way through songs such as “Burn It Down”, “Lift Me Up” and “Bad Company”. During the song “Burn MF” Ivan and company abruptly stopped mid song to address an issue with several bouncers attempting to control a nearby circle pit. Moody assured the staff and concert goers that everyone would take care of one another and then instructed the bouncers to leave the floor area. After a minute or two of hesitation the floor cleared and the band kicked back in without missing a beat. This would be the only incident of the night as everyone held true to their word as the ripped through several more numbers including a two song encore.
Sometimes I get a little nervous when two headliners join forces for package like this. A lot of times what happens is one or both acts cut elements out of their set which great impacts the overall experience sometimes it’s a stage effect or in a lot of cases its material. This packaged proved to be the exception as all the bands on the bill pulled out every available the stops to ensure those who came out this night got their money’s worth. The tour package runs through the end of October so if you haven’t got your tickets for one of the remaining shows I really don’t know what you are waiting for.
Hellyeah Set List:
1.) Hellyeah!
2.) Sangre por Sangre (Blood for Blood)
3.) Demons in the Dirt
4.) War in Me
5.) Moth
6.) Cross to Bier (Cradle of Bones)
7.) You Wouldn’t Know
Volbeat Set List:
1.) Doc Holliday
2.) Hallelujah Goat
3.) Sad Man’s Tongue
4.) Heaven nor Hell/Warrior’s Call
5.) 16 Dollars
6.) Lola Montez
7.) Dead But Rising
8.) I Only Want to Be With You
9.) The Mirror and the Ripper
10.) The Hangman’s Body Count
11.) The Garden’s Tale
12.) Fallen
13.) Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza
14.) Still Counting
Five Finger Death Punch Set List:
1.) Under and Over It
2.) Burn It Down
3.) Hard to See
4.) Lift Me Up
5.) Bad Company
6.) Burn MF
7.) Drum Solo
8.) Remember Everything
9.) Battle Born
10.) Coming Down
11.) Never Enough
12.) Here to Die
Encore:
13.) The Way of the Fist
14.) The Bleeding