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FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, VOLBEAT, HELLYEAH & NOTHING MORE Live In Youngstown, OH With Photos! By Geoff Ketler, Cleveland Contributor Sunday, October 12, 2014 @ 8:44 AM
It was a typical, cool, rainy, October day in Youngstown, OH; but things were heating up inside of the Covelli Centre. The compact arena, which usually brings to town the likes of Disney on Ice, Monster Trucks, or various pop stars, played host to one of the largest metal tours of this fall. I was made aware well in advance that this show was completely sold out and floor tickets were fetching $300-400 on the secondary market. It was evident that the Covelli Centre saw this as an opportunity for a giant money grab. As we pulled into the packed parking lot I saw a sign that read; “Parking - $20”. Twenty freakin’ dollars! The last time I was here I am pretty sure it was more around the $5-7 range. They could have at least bought me a drink first, right? Anyway, I cooled my jets, geared up and headed towards will call.
Inside it was complete pandemonium. The Covelli Centre seemed to be ill-prepared and understaffed for the onslaught of veracious metal-heads that had descended upon it. There was even a discrepancy with my information at the media check-in. Evidently my name was spelled wrong by the tour manager, but I was able to sway the marketing director into giving me the benefit of the doubt and quickly I headed towards the photo pit because NOTHING MORE had already taken the stage.
Hailing from San Antonio, NOTHING MORE performed with the intensity and energy as if they were the headlining act. They say that everything is bigger in Texas and the same could be said about their lengthy bass/percussion solo. Bassist Daniel Oliver placed his bass into this large, rotating, device that cradled it at an angle and the solo began. He was eventually joined by his bandmates and it almost became the bass player’s equivalent of a drum circle. The group had a very progressive and heavy feel to them. Vocalist Jonny Hawkins got the crowd involved with their final song of their short set, “Salem (Burn the Witch)”. The set was highlighted by the single “This Is the Time”, off of their latest, self-titled, release.
“Hallelujah Goat”
“Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood”
“Sad Man’s Tongue”
“Heaven nor Hell/A Warrior’s Call”
“16 Dollars”
“Lola Montez”
“Dead but Rising”
“I Only Want to Be With You”
“Doc Holliday”
“The Mirror and the Ripper”
“The Hangman’s Body Count”
“Fallen”
“Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza”
“Still Counting”
Ivan worked the crowd all night long. He told the story about the dog tag that he wears every night while he performs. He was approached by someone during a VIP meet and greet who asked him to keep the dog tag. It had belonged to his best friend who died defending our country. The man told Ivan that his friend would have wanted him to have it. It was difficult for Ivan to get the words out, but when he finally did, he dedicated "Bad Company" to the men and women of the armed forces. The crowd chanted "U-S-A" over and over again. It was quite a moving experience.
The kid-friendly theme continued on as Ivan spent time picking out children and tossing them shirts. He also explained to us that the band had a huge pyro package for this tour, but the venue would not allow them to use it. I felt as though the production was top notch, but the addition of pyro would have been incredible. I realize that this tour was in support of their latest release, The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Volumes 1&2, but I would have liked to hear more material off of American Capitalist. At the very least, I felt like there was one too many ballads, because the set started to drag a little in the middle. All of that aside, the group was tight, energetic, and they looked fresh. The only hiccup of the night was during the first song of the set. I was in the photo pit and Ivan, while gesturing to the crowd, dropped his mic off of the stage and into the photo pit. He pointed at it and missed a few lines of the song before another photographer grabbed it and handed it back to him. Other than that it was a long night of great music performed by great musicians.
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Although I was unable to make it because of my photography duties, HELLYEAH was doing a meet and greet in the hall outisde of the arena right after the VOLBEAT set. I was a little bummed about missing it, but nonetheless FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH took the stage with "Under And Over It" off of American Capitalist. Drummer Jeremy Spencer was wearing an outfit with a skeleton on it, complete with his face painted up like a skull. Vocalist Ivan Moody took center stage in his trademark over-sized shorts and high socks. He was flanked on either side by guitarists Jason Hook and Zoltan Bathory. The band was rounded out by bassist Chris Kael and all of his bearded glory. Ivan wielded a baseball bat with the word "FUCK" written on it and pointed it at the crowd as he belted out the lyrics. I have heard stories about the band having "off" nights once in a while. Thankfully, this was not one of them.
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