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10/05/2009 Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, Otep (Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater)
By Eric | October 6, 2009 12:19 pm
I rolled into Syracuse around 6:30, and after finally finding a parking spot (the street parking in this neighborhood is atrocious), got in line and got into the venue about 5 ’til 7. The Westcott Theater, as the name would imply, was an old movie theater converted for music (ala Showplace). A bit cleaner than Showplace, and laid out a little better. The room sounded good too. And they had Arrogant Bastard on tap! I first headed to the Shadows Fall merch booth and said hi to lead singer Brian Fair, and also scored some free swag for knowing the secret word he posted on Twitter earlier in the day! I got a Shads shot glass, a set of picks, and two buttons. All because I’m a dork and follow bands on twitter! I grabbed a beer and hung in the back during Otep. Good thing, because they did not impress me at all. They’ve been around since 2000, and they sound like they’re stuck in the year 2000. The female lead “singer” did more of a spoken word thing, which reminded me of a second rate Poe, and the band was the same nu-metal stuff everyone sounded like around 1999-2000. Oh yeah, smash the government control machine and all that. No thanks.
Anyway, their half-hour came and went, and now it was time for Shadows Fall. There were a healthy amount of people to see Shads, and they didn’t disappoint at all. The guys started out with My Demise off of the new Retribution record, and the set was fairly heavy on the new stuff. I don’t have the order completely right, but we also got Still I Rise, Destroyer of Senses, King Of Nothing (my favorite on the new one!), Eternity Is Within, A Public Execution, and the closer was The Light That Blinds. There may have been another song or two in there that I can’t remember. Anyway, the set was great, the fans were great, Jon Donais’ solos were ripping, Jason Bittner’s drumming was spot on, and it was overall a great time.
My Demise
Milled around for a bit, killing time until Five Finger came on. The crowd went nuts, and they opened with Burn It Down. Lead singer Ivan Moody was in top form, singing/screaming everything and not missing a note. They continued on with The Way of the Fist, and then a big sing-along on Bad Company. Back to the heavy stuff with Salvation, Hard To See, and White Knuckles. They kept up the ferocious pace with Bulletproof, and had a big pit for Dying Breed. A pit that I looked at and said, “Hey, I haven’t done this in awhile, lets get in the pit.” Yeah, there’s a reason I don’t go into the pit. Because I have no mass. I ran into some 250 lb. brick shithouse and ended up on my ass. End of the pit for Eric. (People helped me up, it’s all good, a bruise or two. Minor.) Needless to say, I was a mere spectator for the rest of the set, which wasn’t much longer anyway. They closed up the main set with Never Enough and Meet The Monster, and did a one song encore with The Bleeding. The band sounded excellent, the fans were really into it, and having a sold-out show in a place with a capacity of 700 makes for an intimate crowd, if you catch my drift. My only complaint is that the set was a little short. 5FDP have two albums now, and I wish they would have leaned a little more on the new one, and just plain played longer. I was kinda hoping to hear stuff like No One Gets Left Behind, My Own Hell, War Is The Answer, etc. I also thought since it was a headliner they’d play one of the slower tunes on the new album (Crossing Over, Far From Home). It’s a minor complaint at best, the show was great and well worth the drive east.
Dying Breed
Topics: Concerts | Tags: 2009, Five Finger Death Punch, Otep, Shadows Fall, Syracuse, Westcott Theater | Comments Off on 10/05/2009 Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, Otep (Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater)
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