Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth & Bad Wolves at Wembley Arena 31.02.2020

I was psyched to get tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch for the first time, a band I’d been a fan of for ages, but hadn’t yet had a chance to see live. They were the main attraction, of course, but it was generally an incredible lineup with Bad Wolves and metal veterans Megadeth in attendance, and I’d never seen either of them either!

I took my mum with me because she’s a big Bad Wolves fan, and we go to a lot of gigs together. Not having heard a lot of their material, the five piece super band native to Los Angeles really impressed me, I was surprised at how heavy their music was, and their Cranberries cover of Zombie was fantastic! Their singer made a reference to dealing with anxiety and depression, as well as expressing the pain of having lost loved ones beyond the veil.

Megadeth were up next, and their synchronised guitar strumming captivated the audience expertly. Dave Mustaine, who I was excited to see in the flesh, announced that he was now totally cancer-free, to loud cheers.

Finally, it was time for Five Finger Death Punch! It was hard to imagine how the Las Vegas metallers could possibly live up to start like that, but there was no need to worry! Ivan was dramatically silhouetted behind the enormous curtain shrouding the entire stage to the theme from Vikings. Then the curtain dropped and chaos ensued, and they kicked off energetically to Lift Me Up. You could almost see the adrenaline pumping, and it was a pace that wouldn’t let up for the next hour.

The audience went berserk for Wash It All Away, before the anthemic Jekyll & Hyde kicked in. The night got heavier as the band went on to play Burn MF. “Let’s try something new”, said Ivan, “Make a circle pit with your cell phones” and every person present swished their phones in the air as the arena twinkled like a thousand fireflies.

Ivan’s onstage presence was confident and endearingly cocky, and when he announced that we were going to have some fun that night, every fibre of my being believed him. He talked about his battle with alcoholism, and his two year’s of sobriety is clearly a source of strength for many on that same journey. They threw in an acoustic rendition of Wrong Side of Heaven, as well as a couple of super cover songs, Bad Company and Blue on Black. I was happiest when they played Got Your Six, my absolute favourite track of theirs!

Their catchy rock ‘n’ roll anthems were often accompanied by flames and explosive pops. It was exciting and breathtaking and I really didn’t want it to end! At one point, guitarist Jason Hook stood on a little platform that was lifted 20 feet into the air for everyone to see as he dramatically performed a face melting guitar solo. Ivan mentioned that the next time Five Finger Death Punch comes to the UK they would to be headlining Download Festival. You’d better believe it!

It was an epic concert I won’t forget, and to top off a perfect night, I nabbed a T-shirt before we left! Horns up!

Setlist :