Welcoming in fall is usually done by sitting back with a cup of tea or coffee and watching the leaves fall, but the metal community isn’t usual, we like to make the leaves fall with heavy double kick drums and mind shattering guitar riffs. Well, that is exactly what the boys of Five Finger Death Punch did at the Cascades Amphitheater on the night of September 12th!
Joining Five Finger Death Punch on their 20th anniversary tour was Eva Under Fire! This female lead metal band out of Detroit has made some amazing strides since their founding in 2015. Lead singer Amanda Lyberg has a raw and guttural growl that she follows up with a beautiful voice that commands the stage. Their hit single “Blow”, featuring Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills, hit billboards top 20 rock songs in 2022 and there’s good reason. The riffs are solid and the energy brings the stage to life. During the gig, Amanda had asked Washington if anyone had seen them before and most of the crowd had cheered expressing their love for this group! Right before their final song of the set, the group thanked Five finger Death Punch for having them on this tour and can not wait to see what the future has in store, promising to come back to Washington every time they can.
Five Finger Death Punch chose the perfect opening song to start their hour and a half set choosing “Welcome to the Circus”, giving everyone a warning as to what the night had in store for them. After a few mind melting minutes Ivan Moody had the crowd look around and shake each other’s hands or give a hug to the person next to them because “you and everyone around you is why we do this and you will all carry on our legacy” starting into their title track for the band’s brand new album Legacy. Around the middle of the set the show took an unexpected turn of events, as Ivan introduced the amazing men that share the stage with him every night, he paused at bassist Chris Kael and welcomed him to the mic.Chris, never one to shy away from the limelight hammed it up for the crowd and demonstrated his vocal chops by starting to sing “Living on a Prayer”, “Last Resort”, closing wit a full version of Linkin Park’s “Burn it Down” while Ivan took a short break offstage Chris had taken on the role of singer and bassist to deliver an astonishing performance! Afterwards Ivan took the stage again and wanted to acknowledge the men and women that make the show possible, he had the crowd give a round of applause for the crew manning the sound and stage setup, all while poking fun at long time guitar technician Roy by having the crowd yell “Fuck You Roy”. Ending the night in the FFDP way by playing “The Bleeding” off the first album and giving a final bow to the crowd. Although there was a lack of fire through the night, the boys of Five Finger Death Punch made sure they made everyone in the crowd’s ears burn and yearn for more!
