Co headliners Five Finger Death Punch and Breaking Benjamin along with supporting acts Nothing More and Bad Wolves performed at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto this week. It was a night that metalheads gathered to let out some steam and get their headbanging on. Yes me included!
I sadly didn’t make it on time for Bad Wolves, missing call time by meer minutes. Toronto traffic is hard to judge at the best of times and this time it won the time battle.
Jonny Hawkins from Nothing More performs at the Budweiser Stage
Prepping to shoot Nothing More we were told that we would get to photograph their entire set, although it was only 4 songs. (1 more than the standard 3 songs). That was a miscommunication because in the end we did photograph their entire set, consisting of 10 songs. I personally hadn’t heard of them before but WOW did they ever blow me away. Not only with their music but also the amazingly energetic stage presence and out of this world stage props. (I will get back to that part in a bit).
The best I can describe this act is metal with a heavy drum core presence. Being a drummer myself I really dug the vibe that was happening. Frontman Jonny Hawkins started the set on a makeshift steampunk inspired percussion area that was at stage right, bashing the skins like nobodies business. It peaked my audio sensories from the get go.
Midway through their performance they slowed things down to feature their song “Just Say When”. Hawkins laughed and said they just wanted the metal heads to feel uncomfortable since it was a ballad.
We were told that something exciting was gonna happen during the last song but had no idea what it was. Here I was at stage left focusing on the guitarist Mark Vollelunga when out of the corner of my eye I see something way up in the air at stage right. Yup, that make shift steam punk drum kit had transformed into this elevated metal mass (which I later heard was lovingly referred to as “The Scorpion”.) There was Jonny riding that thing, thrashing all around, pulling these levers that would create a pitched theremin sound.
Ivan Moody, Five Finger Death Punch singer, gives his all and opens up about life experiences.
A huge curtain lined the front of the stage waiting to drop after the Barney song “I Love You” played. I thought that was a hilarious touch. Although it kind of put something into perspective for me regarding frontman Ivan Moody. Even though they are a metal act, with the typical tattoos and aggressive looks, I couldn’t help but feel that he was a big softy. He explained that he suffered a lot of self induced hardships in his life and especially within the last two years. He admitted to being thankful for his newly achieved sobriety (6 months that night) and thanked his fans for their support and for keeping him alive. Moody did a poll within the audience as to who was in recovery and a select few raised their hands. He celebrated their achievements and awarded 1 guy which was 6 months clean a baseball bat that had Five Finger Death Punch written on the side.
Backtracking to the softy part, Ivan asked how many kids where in the audience. He chose about 10 kids to join him on stage to help sing the song “Something to Remember”. He explained that he gets asked frequently why he does that and he said as a kid being pulled up on stage by Pantera would have been a memory never forgotten and he wanted to give that to those kids.
The lighting and pyro made for an interesting visual presentation. Especially with the song “Burn MF”, the pyro lined the back of the stage sending waves of heat through the back of the venue.
The hometown hero, guitarist Jason Hook, was introduced by Ivan and the crowd went wild. There was much love was felt for him.
It seems like every big band plays a cover song and they were no exception. Their choice that night was The Offsprings song “Gone Away”, which is a personal favorite of the band. They also did “Bad Company” (From Bad Company). For a complete list of the set list that need click HERE.
After their set was done they stood on stage tossing pics and drum sticks for the length of the entire song “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals. I thought that was a nice gesture on their part. I felt like the guys in the band were really down to earth, not the typical rock star attitude. It’s really impressed me.
Five Finger Death Punch put on a fantastic set, tight musically and their stage presence was entertaining and fun. Sure THEY didn’t have “The Scorpion”, however they did have a huge skull head in the background with lasers coming out of it’s eyes and flames that would put any bonfire to shame!
Ben Burnley, Frontman for Breaking Benjamin riles up the crowd in Toronto.
Last act of the night was Breaking Benjamin. Co headlining this tour, they rotate with Five Finger Death Punch each night for closing slot. For this particular night it was Breaking Benjamin’s turn.
This was the second time In two years that I saw them perform. Their lighting was quite a bit less spectacular then the set before them. Dimly lit throughout the night with zero spot lights or front lighting what so ever. As I was watching from my seat I thought that’s a shame, you can barely see them. As part of the entire concert experience, yes you want a kick ass sound but you also want to visualize the band you are hearing. This wasn’t the case. Putting that aside, I thought they put on a great performance. Oddly enough my favorite part of the evening was a cover medley they did, featuring Metallica, Pantera, Nirvana and Tool, with the songs “Imperial March” / “Schism” / “Smells like Teen Spirit” / “Walk” / “Sad But True”. The crowd ate it up and sang the tunes along with Ben Burnley, raising the sound decibels at the Budweiser Stage. Other songs performed were “Angels Fall”, “Breath”, “Failure” and “Torn in Two”. Guitarists Keith Walling and Bassist Aaron Bruch took turns on vocals during the songs “Sooner or Later” and “Believe”.
Drummer Shaun Foist showed his talents, performing a drum solo that was on point.
Just like FFDP, Breaking Benjamin brought up 20 or so kids on the stage for the last song of the evening Diary of Jane. Imagine the stories they had to tell their friends the next day!
This evening events was my personal favorite of the summer concert series. If they are coming your way, don’t miss out! You will not be disappointed!
All images are ©Sue Hebert Sadzak 2018. Please do not copy or use without permission.
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- Breaking Benjamin performs in Toronto – photo Sue Hebert
