REPORT/IZVJEŠĆE: Supreme A/V experience by the 5FDP in Budapest/Vrhunski A/V doživljaj 5FDP u Budimpešti
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Supreme audio-visual experience by the Five Finger Death Punch in Budapest
Another visit to the László Papp Sports Arena in Budapest! This time the American metal band Five Finger Death Punch honored their fans with great sound, superb visual effects, confetti and candy!
The tour is accompanied by two other great bands from LA: Megadeth and Bad Wolves. Bad Wolves performed first, a band known for their cover of The Cranberries “Zombie” and for having Tommy Vext instead of Ivan Moody (5FDP vocals) for a while in the phase of going into alcohol withdrawal. Interesting thing is that they consist of musicians from popular metal bands such as Divine Heresy, Snot and Westfield Massacre (Tommy Vext, vocal), DevilDriver (John Boecklin, drummer), God Forbid (Doc Coyle, lead guitar), Bury Your Dead and For The Fallen Dream (Chris Cain, rhythm guitar), and In This Moment, Scar the Martyr and Vimic (Kyle Konkiel, bass guitar), while the band’s manager is Zoltan Bathory, rhythm guitarist and songwriter at Five Finger Death Punch.
Tommy, although he sang ill on this tour, showed excellent vocal abilities. The band played 7 songs among which were their most popular ones such as “No Messiah”, “Remember When” and “Killing Me Slowly”, and eventually they played “Zombie”. Although the audience was quite static and did not respond to Tommy’s calls to the wall of death, everyone eventually turned on the lights of their cellphones in a darkened hall, waving to them in rhythm and singing “in your head, in your head – zombie, zombie, zombie.” . The band did a superb job and once the audience accepts their sound and songs they could go a long way.
The experienced heavy metal band Megadeth followed and showed that, regardless of age, they still perform superbly. The concert (especially the guitars) was clean and accurate. The audience enjoyed the quick solos of vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustain, who also had one emotional moment in which he admitted to the audience that he was 100% cured of throat cancer. His diagnosis did not stop him from still struggling and staying on the music scene, especially as a top guitar player. He also said that it was the audience who motivated him not to give up from music.
Megadeth played a good 11 songs, opened the concert with the “Hangar 18”, and finished with “Holy Wars … The Punishment Due.” The stage featured numerous Marshall amps as well as screenings of political content on canvases between the amps and the drummer’s platform. The band also played popular songs such as “Symphony of Destruction,” “Sweating Bullets” and “Trust,” to which the audience most responded. The drummer also had his solo pieces that he did correct and in accordance with the fast rhythms.
The Five Finger Death Punch really showed how dusty it was. With the best sound and the best visual effects and scenes, they have shown that they deserve their place in the alternative scene. A projection of a boxer with the 5FDP mark spinning in a circle appeared as an intro on the curtain. After the curtain went down, the riff of the song “Lift Me Up” began, as the sound of firecrackers marked the beginning of the show. The stage also featured a huge skull that had two baseball bats crossed. Light alternated through songs and the stage (and skull) took on different colors. Also, some projections took place on the opposite side of the stage as the skull glowed from his eyes. On the second song, “Trouble,” the skull flared, on “Jekyll and Hyde” Ivan had a hat and a stick as a metal variant of Charlie Chaplin, and the hat naturally flew to the audience who fought for it while the cannons fired golden confetti on “Sham Pain”, and fell heavily upon the audience. We couldn’t help but notice in the front lines of the audience that there was a little girl with giggles and maybe 10 years old, who completely enjoyed herself on her parents back. Also, there were children, young ones, bikers, soldiers and an older ones in the stands, so this band has no age limit. Since this is a band that supports soldiers, sings about grave war consequences for the individuals and his families, they are certainly pleased to see a large and diverse audience at their concerts.
5FDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory is a Hungarian, so Ivan Moody told the audience that this is Zoltan’s first visit to his native country after 25 years. Zoltan addressed the audience in the Hungarian language, which made everyone enthusiastically react, and even many who came from other countries. Ivan and Zoltan shouted “ria-ria Hungaria” which the audience gladly accepted and gave back. They wore Hungarian jerseys that were thrown at one point in the audience, and this time, as is the case with tradition, one of the lucky ones in the audience received a baseball bat. But for the first time in the band history, Ivan gave this honor to Zoltan because of his homeland. Zoltan decided to donate the baton to a big 5FDP fan in the first row.
The concert also had an acoustic moment at a living room with a lamp and a couch set on stage, with Ivan and Zoltan performing “The Tragic Truth” and “Wrong Side of Heaven” in acoustic variant and “Battle Born” in semi-acoustic version. John relaxed on the couch, romantically resting his head on Zoltan and lying down singing what was really demanding, but he did everything perfectly. He turned out to be a real showman, throwing candy to audience and he joked about being really candy, and he intended it for the kids who came to the concert. At the same time, he told an anecdote that he doesn’t like his mom calls him Ivan (e-one), because his name is Ivan (i-one). Changing the Punisher T-shirt indicated that he was still a rebellious boy, but his attitude on the stage and his emotion with hugs and kisses to the boys playing with him shows that Ivan is actually very emotional and honest.
The band played covers of “Bad Company” and “Blue on Black” that capture their sound so much like those songs has always been in their possession. There was also room for a drum solo that was done very well by a new drummer Charlie Engen who showed that he deserved a place in this group. The backing vocals were superbly done by bassist Chris Kael who also (as Ivan put it) likes to “yell” at the audience. In fact, he did not yell, but urged the audience to splurge and sing. It was also interesting to look at his chin that is actually in dreadlocks and which can spin at the same speed as Zoltan’s dreadlocks on his head. There is one more thing that matters on this tour. Namely, the band continued their tour without guitarist Jason Hook due to health issues, but he’s replaced by Andy James at the rest of the concerts on tour, which we must say that he’s a worthy replacement and performed the guitar parts flawlessly. John showed fantastic vocal skills and accuracy in his singing that could be heared in acoustic songs as well as in songs with a large vocal range of tones such as in “Coming Down”. His roaring, counting and raping was also extremely good so we can definitely say that he’s one of the top alternative vocals.
5FDP played their hits, mixed some fast-paced songs with the slow one, so we had the opportunity to hear fast-paced “Wash It All Away”, “Burn It Down”, “Burn MF”, “Got Your Six”, “Never Enough” and “Under And Over It”, but the grand finale also included a new song, “Inside Out,” which the audience slowly but surely began to embrace. Near the end, the song “Far From Home” was sung almost a capella with the audience, followed by the megahit “The Bleeding”. Once again, golden confetti began to burst into the audience, fire spread from the skull, and the audience began to sing the refrain of a song that was simply touching. As the outro of this great concert, another cover was released, “House of The Rising Sun” by The Animas, which was played while a handful of picks, sticks, remaining props and setlists were thrown into the audience.
It was one of those concerts that stays in the memory because of the whole package that fans received and deserved, because this is how a quality concert is done.
Photo: Nikola Knežević’s private album
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Vrhunski audio-vizualni doživljaj Five Finger Death Puncha u Budimpešti
Još jedan posjet sportskoj areni László Papp u Budimpešti! Ovoga puta američki metalci Five Finger Death Punch počastili su svoje fanove odličnim zvukom, vrhunskim vizualnim efektima, konfetima i bombonima!
Na turneji ih prate još dva odlična benda iz LA-a: Megadeth i Bad Wolves. Prvi su nastupali Bad Wolves, bend koji je poznat po svojoj obradi pjesme “Zombie” The Cranberriesa i po tome što je vokal Tommy Vext mijenjao neko vrijeme Ivana Moodya (vokal 5FDP) u fazi odlaska na odvikavanje od alkohola. Zanimljivo je i to što su sastavljeni od glazbenika popularnih metal bendova kao što su Divine Heresy, Snot i Westfield Massacre (Tommy Vext, vokal), DevilDriver (John Boecklin, bubnjar), God Forbid (Doc Coyle, lead gitara), Bury Your Dead i For The Fallen Dream (Chris Cain, ritam gitara), te In This Moment, Scar the Martyr i Vimic (Kyle Konkiel, bas gitara), dok je menadžer benda upravo Zoltan Bathory, ritam gitarist i tekstopisac Five Finger Death Puncha.
Tommy, iako je na ovoj turneji pjevao bolestan, pokazao je odlične vokalne mogućnosti. Bend je odsvirao 7 pjesama među kojima su se našle njihove najpopularnije kao što su „No Messiah“, „Remember When“ i „Killing Me Slowly“ te su za kraj odsvirali „Zombie“. Iako je publika bila dosta statična i nije reagirala na Tommyjeve pozive na wall of death, svi su na kraju upalili svijetla svojih mobitela u zamračenoj dvorani, njima mahali u ritmu i pjevali „in your head, in your head – zombie, zombie, zombie”. Bend je vrhunski odradio posao i jednom kad publika prihvati njihov zvuk i pjesme mogao bi dogurati daleko.
Uslijedili su iskusni heavy metalci Megadeth i pokazali da bez obzira na godine i dalje vrhunski odrađuju koncerte. Svirački (pogotovo gitaristički) bilo je čisto i točno. Publika je uživala u brzim solažama vokala i gitarista Davea Mustaina, koji je također imao i jedan emotivan trenutak u kojem je priznao publici da je 100% izliječen od raka grla. Njegova dijagnoza nije ga spriječila da se i dalje bori i ostane na glazbenoj sceni, ako ništa kao vrhunski gitarist. Također je rekao da ga upravo publika motivirala da ne odustane od glazbe.
Megadeth je odsvirao dobrih 11 pjesama, otvorio je koncert s pjesmom „Hangar 18“, a završio s „Holy Wars…The Punishment Due“. Na pozornici su se isticala mnogobrojna Marshall pojačala kao i projekcije političkog sadržaja na platnima između pojačala i na bubnjarskom podestu. Bend je odsvirao i popularne pjesme kao što su „Symphony of Destruction“ , „Sweating Bullets“ i „Trust“ na koje je publika najviše reagirala. Bubnjar je imao i svoje solo dionice koje je odradio točno i u skladu s brzim ritmovima.
Five Finger Death Punch je stvarno pokazao kako se praši. S najboljim zvukom i najboljim vizualnim efektima i scenom, pokazali su da zaslužuju svoje mjesto na alternativnoj sceni. Kao intro na zastoru se pojavila projekcija boksera s oznakom 5FDP koji se vrtio u krug. Nakon što se zastor spustio počeli su riffovi pjesme „Lift Me Up“ dok je zvuk petarde označio početak showa. Na pozornici se istaknula i ogromna lubanja koja je iza sebe imala ukrštene dvije bejzbolske palice. Light se izmjenjivao kroz pjesme te je pozornica (i lubanja) poprimala razne boje. Također, neke su se projekcije odvijale na suprotnu stranu pozornice dok je lubanji svijetlilo iz očiju. Na drugoj pjesmi „Trouble“ počele su prštati vatre iz lubanje, na „Jekyll and Hyde“ Ivan je imao šešir i štap kao neka metal varijanta Charlieja Chaplina, a šešir je naravno letio u publiku koja se borila za njega dok su na „Sham Pain“ iz topova sa strane pucale zlatne konfete i gusto padale po publici. Nismo mogli ne primijetiti da je u prvim redovima publike bila jedna curica s kikicama i od svojih možda 10 godina, a koja se na leđima roditelja potpuno uživjela. Također, na tribina je bilo djece, mlade publike, bikera, vojnika i starije publike tako da ovaj bend nema dobnu granicu koja ga voli slušati. Kako se radi i o bendu koji podržava vojnike, pjeva o teškim ratnim posljedicama za pojedinca i njegovu obitelj, sigurno im je drago vidjeti mnogobrojnu i raznoliku publiku na svojim koncertima.
Kako je gitarist 5FDP Zoltan Bathory Mađar po genima, Ivan Moody je dao do znanja publici da je ovo Zoltanov prvi povratak u rodnu državu nakon 25 godina. Zoltan se obratio publici na mađarskom jeziku zbog čega su svi oduševljeno reagirali, pa čak i brojni oni koji su potegnuli iz drugih država. Ivan i Zoltan su uzvikivali „ria-ria Hungaria“ što je publika sa zadovoljstvom prihvatila i vratila. Nosili su mađarske dresove koje su u jednom trenutku bacili u publiku, a ovoga puta, kako to priliči tradiciji, jedan sretnih u publici dobio je i baseball palicu. Samo to po prvi put otkada bend postoji nije učinio Ivan, nego je tu čast dao Zoltanu zbog same činjenice kako se nalazi u svojoj domovini. Zoltan je odlučio palicu pokloniti velikom 5FDP obožavatelju u prvom redu.
Koncert je imao i akustični trenutak gdje se na pozornicu postavio dnevni boravak s lampom i kaučem na kojem su Ivan i Zoltan kao gitaristička pratnja izveli “The Tragic Truth” i “Wrong Side of Heaven” u akustičnoj varijanti te “Battle Born” u poluakustičnoj verziji. Ivan se opustio na kauču, romantično naslonio glavu na Zoltana i ležeći pjevao što je zapravo jako zahtjevno, ali je sve odradio savršeno. Pokazao se kao pravi showman, dijelio je bombone publici za koje se našalio da su stvarno bomboni i to za djecu koja su došla na koncert. Ujedno je ispričao anegdotu kako njegova mama ne voli da ga se zove Ivan, jer se njegovo ime čita Ajven. S izmjenom „Punisher“ majica ukazao je na to da je on i dalje buntovan dečko, ali po njegovom odnosu na pozornici i iskazivanju emocija zagrljajima i poljupcima prema dečkima koji s njim sviraju, vidi se da je Ivan zapravo jako emotivan i iskren.
Bend je odsvirao obrade pjesama „Bad Company“ i „Blue on Black“ koje toliko poprimaju njihov zvuk da jednostavno postoji osjećaj kao da su oduvijek njihove. Bilo je mjesta i za bubnjarski solo koji je kvalitetno odradio novi bubnjar Charlie Engen i tako pokazao da zaslužuje mjesto u ovoj družini. Back vokale je izvrsno odrađivao basist Chris Kael koji se također (kako je rekao Ivan) voli „derati“ na publiku. Zapravo se i nije derao već je pozivao publiku da se raspleše i raspjeva. Zanimljivo je bilo također gledati njegovu bradu koja je zapravo u dredovima i koji se mogu okretati istom brzinu kao i Zoltanovi dredovi na glavi. Na ovoj turneji bitna je još jedna stvar. Naime, bend je nastavio turneju bez gitarista Jasona Hooka zbog zdravstvenih poteškoća, ali ga na preostalim koncertima mijenja Andy James za kojeg moramo reći da je dostojna zamjena i da je gitarističke dionice odradio besprijekorno. Ivan je pokazao fantastične vokalne sposobnosti i točnost u svojem pjevanju koja se mogla vidjeti kod akustičnih pjesama kao i kod pjesama gdje postoji veliki vokalni raspon tonova kao npr. u „Coming Down“. Njegovo hrapavo deranje, nabrajanje i repanje također je bilo iznimno dobro tako da definitivno možemo reći kako spada u vrh alternativnih vokala.
5FDP svirao je hitove, izmjenjivao je brze pjesme i laganice, pa smo od brzih imali prilike čuti „Wash It All Away“, „Burn It Down“, „Burn MF“, „Got Your Six“, „Never Enough“ i „Under And Over It“, ali grand finale je uključilo i novu pjesmu „Inside Out“ koju je publika polako, ali sigurno počela prihvaćati. Pred sam kraj pjesma „Far From Home“ otpjevana je gotovo a capella s publikom i nakon toga je uslijedio megahit „The Bleeding“. Zlatne konfete su još jednom počele prštati po publici, vatra se širila iz lubanje, a publika u sav glas počela pjevati refren pjesme koja jednostavno dira. Kao outro ovog sjajnog koncerta puštena je još jedna obrada, „House of The Rising Sun“ The Animalsa, koja je svirala dok se u publiku bacala šaka trzalica, palica, preostalih rekvizita te setlista.
Bio je to jedan od onih koncerata koji ostaje u pamćenju zbog cijelog paketa koji su obožavatelji dobili i zaslužili jer se upravo ovako odrađuje kvalitetan koncert.
Foto: Privatni album Nikole Kneževića
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