Gig Review

Five Finger Death Punch
Upon A Burning Body, Pop Evil
Birmingham, Academy
28th March 2014


five Finger Death Punch      Upon A Burning Body           Pop Evil
                                

Photo Of Pop Evil © Copyright Robert LawrencePop Evil shocked me; genuinely. I wasn’t expecting such a wonderful thing to come out of a band with such a name. They oozed confidence, their bouncy mixture of heavy and softer material to keep up some variation throughout. It only being their first ever UK tour you’d expect to see – even if ever so slight – a nervous disposition to be a part of the atmosphere but instead what was up on that stage was a group of headstrong confident guys taking charge of a room and absolutely killing it. I mean sure they weren’t as heavy as the other 2 billed acts but they slid onto the bottom of this show Photo Of Upon A Burning Body © Copyright Robert Lawrencepretty well in my opinion, quality is quality regardless of the following acts. Kudos lads, come back soon, please.

Upon a Burning Body hit the stage like a freight train, with an explosive crowd reaction to match it. They just got up there, got the formalities quickly out of the way before shifting the dynamic into a more aggressive nature. These guys knew what they wanted, when they wanted it and exactly just how to get it. There was copious amounts of singing, moshing (with a tremendous degree of force involved), bouncing, clapping, the full works. The song that really polished the set off was “Texas Blood Money” as the sheer volume people were screaming those Photo Of Fiver Finger Death Punch © Copyright Robert Lawrencelyrics far surpassed the volume even the band could get out of their equipment. First time I’ve seen these guys, the suits they wore for me just showed a real class, born showmen these guys.

Five Finger Death Punch absolutely blew the fucking lid off the place, honestly it was a surreal atmosphere as bodies, limbs and clothing items fly around the room. These guys are definitely ones for theatrics, especially vocalist Ivan Moody with his speech before he went off “They have a strict curfew here, they charge like a thousand dollars for every minute over we are, so I’ve told our manager to get the cheque Photo Of Five Finger Death Punch © Copyright Robert Lawrencebook out because I’m not getting off this fucking stage yet” and now a) we don’t use dollars in this country and b) it’s still 5 minutes to curfew at this point, but I absolutely loved the passion in it and it shows how much effort goes into giving people an experience worthy of the ticket price. The setlist was varied considering they now have 5 albums worth of material to select from, must say was a little disappointed when Rob Halford didn’t join them for “Lift Me Up” this time but I suppose the guy does have a life. Chucking in “Bad Company”, “Mama Said Knock You Out” and a short sing a long of “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis was a very nice touch; “Battle Born”, acoustic version of “Remember Everything”, “Under and Over it”, First verse of “Far From Home” finishing off the night with “The Bleeding” were also fantastic choices, a few songs missing I would love to have seen but you can’t have it all can you? On the whole a fantastic show demonstrating why my love for this band will never die.

Pop Evil 4/5
Upon a Burning Body 4.5/5
Five Finger Death Punch 4.5/5

Review By James Webb
Photos By Robert Lawrence

 Five Finger Death Punch


Zoltan Bathory
Jeremy Spencer
Ivan Moody
Jason Hook
Chris Kael

 Upon A Burning Body


Danny Leal
Ruben Alvarez
Sal Dominquez
Tito Felix
Rey Martinez

 Pop Evil


Leigh Kakaty
Davey Grahs
Nick Fuelling
Chachi Riot
Matt DiRito

 Band Related Links
Five Finger Death Punch Facebook
Upon A Burning Body Facebook
Pop Evil Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?