Nobody was left behind.
It was the moment that I had been waiting for. The stage was set, the hour was nearly upon us, the air rippled with anticipation... and then it happened. Five Finger Death Punch exploded onto Hammerfest's main stage sending the crowd into a frenzy. ‘Burn it Down’, followed by 'Salvation', a clear crowd favourite. Front man Ivan Moody let the crowd sing most of the chorus whilst bassist Matt Snell provided back-up vocals, laying down an intense rhythm that sent the crowd wild.
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‘Way of the Fist’ and ‘Hard to See’ continued the blend of old and new songs and with Ivan telling the crowd “when we jump you jump!”, energy levels reached an unbelievable new high.
A brief respite was followed by the highly emotive political ballad ‘No-one Gets Left Behind’. The band put all of their passion for metal and hatred for the current political regimes into this song, the result being the crowd reacting with a monstrous mosh pit.
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‘Bad Company’ (a cover from the band Bad Company), ‘ Never Enough’ and ‘Dying Breed’ kept the adrenaline pumping through the crowd. Ivan Moody read the situation perfectly and called for more security. What did he have planned, you may be asking yourself...
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“I need all the security down here… it's not my fault you mother fuckers had to work tonight!”
Once satisfied that there was a sufficient presence, he then called for the crowd to surf forward and shake his hand, while lead guitarist Zoltan Bathory played a jaw droppingly amazing riff. The extra security had their hands full as the crowd battled to shake the hand of Ivan.
‘Meet the Monster’ was the last scheduled song of the set and nobody could disagree that Five Finger Death Punch had been thoroughly entertaining.
But there was more to come…
With energy levels at an all-time high, Ivan instructed the crowd to separate into two groups and to stand on opposite sides of the arena, likening it to the parting of the Red Sea in the bible. As the intensity of the music increased so he screamed for the crowd to come together and come together they did! Nobody held back, nobody was left behind... absolutely incredible!
Finally, the adoring crowd was given a choice of songs for the encore, almost unanimously plumbing for ‘The Bleeding’, the power ballad from their first album "The Way Of The Fist".
The crowd erupted one last time as Zoltan brought the thunder and showed off his impressive guitar skills. This guy will easily one day be considered a great and he was definitely on top form at Hammerfest.
Absolutely mind blowing, the best live performance I've witnessed to date. Five Finger Death Punch was in a completely different league to every other band at Hammerfest II.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 5 available.