Five Finger Death Punch / Papa Roach @ Family Arena, St. Charles, MO

Words and pictures by Duane Clawson

So you wanted a high-energy, end of summer tour?? This bill certainly delivered. Supporting acts From Ashes to New and In This Moment delivered a one-two opening act punch but the knockouts came from Papa Roach and Five Finger Death Punch!

Always a favorite, Papa Roach had the 1st of the co-headlining spots in this twin killing. The always energetic Jacoby Shaddix seemed especially energetic on this night in Missouri. Hitting the stage with all cylinders firing, the band tore through the title track from their latest album, F.E.A.R. A slick stage production and a tight, clean sound system brought added life to the 90-minute, varied set. By the end of the third song of the night, “Getting Away With Murder”, Shaddix was sweating like he had ran a marathon. A bit of a delay, due to guitar failure before “Falling Apart”, led to an unrehearsed rap by Shaddix. And I gotta say, he wasn’t half bad! A couple of other takeaway moments from the show included an acoustic version of “Scars" from the soundboard and a duet performance of the song “Gravity” with Maria Brinks from In This Moment. Getting in their final licks, Papa Roach polished off their set with, “Last Resort" and “To Be Loved”, both songs a perfect setup for the headliner, Five Finger Death Punch.

Howard Beale’s “Mad as Hell” speech from the 1976 movie, Network, blasts through the Family Arena prefacing Five Finger Death Punch’s grand entrance. Feeding off of the energy of Papa Roach’s performance, Five Finger Deah Punch keeps it going with their opening number, “Lift Me Up”. Lead singer, Ivan Moody, let St. Charles know he was a bit sick but this certainly did not detract from his performance or tamper with his metal growl. Many of the older, Death Punch favorites were in the mix as well as some new stuff such as the Rob Zombie-styled, “Got Your Six”. The band tinkered with snippets of “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Enter Sandman”, “Crazy Train", and “Smoke on the Water” before the opening notes of the band’s powerful cover of “Bad Company”.

A few Death Punch audience members got a major thrill as they were selected to join Moody and company for some pre-Halloween candy, while remaining on stage through the next song! Moody pretty much sums up the night with the words, “If you don’t wanna get hurt, get outta the way” prior to a massive mosh pit opening up during, “Burn MF”. Taking the edge off a bit with “Wrong Side of Heaven” while smoothly sliding into “Battle Born”, gave the audience a short lived breather. “Under It, Over It” and “The Bleeding” brought the night to a close. A silent stage revealed the shrieks of cheering metal heads which in turn was met with Moody’s retort, “when I say Five Finger, you say?” of course you know the response was a deafening, “DEATH PUNCH”! Photos of the show are below:

Papa Roach