One of the most extraordinary things about the music scene is you get to experience a lot of new bands you may never have heard of before as openers. I remember so many from the past that have become huge successes. The opener, The Funeral Portrait, will be one of those. They have a distinct loud rock/emo sound that rushes through you like a cold winter breeze that you feel to your core. Their ability to fully take control of the stage in the first note and get the crowd going was incredible. High energy and entertaining stage antics keep you entertained and wondering what will happen next. While on tour with 5FDP, they will also do a few things independently, finishing the tour off at Louder Than Life (September 28), followed by Aftershock Festival (October 12).
On August 2, The Funeral Portrait released their newest track, “Blood Mother,” in which lead vocalist Lee Jennings comments, “This southern-fried riff machine brings a low, pulsing energy to the record. It harks on modern medication and the fear of risking losing your personality and sense of self once prescribed.” That’s just one music release news for them. On September 13, which just so happens to be Friday the 13th, The Funeral Portrait will be releasing their second full-length album, “Greetings From Suffocate City from Better Noise Music, with 14 tracks. “This album is a statement,” says vocalist LEE JENNINGS. “Its title reflects our conviction, respect, and most importantly, DEVOTION to its message. This record talks of love and loss. The people we love, the passions we dedicate ourselves to, the culture we are surrounded by, and the society we partake in will all inevitably hurt us. Yet through the pain and struggle of it all,” he adds, “we still choose to love, unabashedly, even when it kills us. It is a warning of life’s challenges and a universal truth that suffering is inherent in all joy.”
If you are in the Worchester, MA area on (Sept) Friday the 13th, you have to check out the R.I.P. party hosted by legendary Jose “Metal Ambassador” Mangin, where The Funeral Portrait will be doing meet and greets, signings
and an acoustic performance. I hope you have your tickets ready!!
The “Blood Mother” music video can be seen below…
Pre-orders for GREETINGS FROM SUFFOCATE CITY are available via digital download, CD, and vinyl HERE.
Members:
LEE JENNINGS– vocals
CODY WEISSINGER– guitar
CALEB FREIHAUT- guitar/auxiliary
ROBERT WESTON– bass
HOMER UMBANHOWER– drums
Setlist:
Blood Mother
Dark Thoughts
Voodoo Doll
Suffocate City
Holy Water
THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT
Wasting no time in the night was the Russian band Slaughter to Prevail. This is one of those bands that always entertain—rushing onto the stage with their masks and ripping the air apart with deep-hitting, authentic metal deathcore sounds. Slaughter to Prevail quickly got the masses going as the moshpit went nuts; crowd surfers were going like a wave, and then the wall of death erupted. Drinks went flying as the 2 sides rushed into each other. I could only wish to be in that pit to have some fun. All I could do from the stage/photo pit area was watch and enjoy.
Upon entering the stage, Slaughter To Prevail wore silver metallic masks with the same fiendish horns and empty sockets and kept them on the entire set except for the lead vocalist Alex Terrible. They call his mask “kid of Darkness”. It is a bone-looking face-covering with fiendish horns, empty eye sockets, and monstrous chompers that look like they just ripped something bloody to shreds. He removed him after the second song. About his mask, Alex says, “The mask he wears isn’t just for looks. It’s a functional shield that separates my two selves, and I feel more vulnerable when I remove it”.
I say Russian band because Slaughter To Prevail was formed in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2014, and most of the members are Russian. However, they moved to middle Flordia, where they could only wish they were back in the forest and away from all the hassle of typical daily life in the metropolitan area.
Alex Terrible’s signature growls in, unlike anything that someone can recreate. Maybe it’s from his time wrestling with the bears that he learned it. He proved it when he dropped the mic and let out this unearthly low and loud growl that could be heard throughout the entire venue. Alex also took a moment of silence with just music for the ones we have lost to addiction, which is a very close and personal matter for him. One of the things he said was, “Keep your heart clean because you never know when you’re going to die.”
Slaught to Prevail puts everything they have into their music. They write all their music to everything that is out there. Including their latest single, “Kid of Darkness,” released in May, and “Conflict,” which was released in February of 2024.
Members:
• Aleksandr Shikolai “Alex Terrible” — lead vocals
• Mikhail “Mike” Petrov — bass guitar
• Evgeny Novikov — drums
• Jack Simmons — lead guitar
• Dmitry “Dima” Mamedov — rhythm guitar
Setlist:
Bonebreaker
Bratva
Viking
Kid of Darkness
Baba Yaga
SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL
It was finally time for one of my most anticipated moments of the show. It was time for Marylin Manson. Manson was my first introduction to the rock scene way back in 1996. I know a long time ago. Lol. Being able to cover them was one of those things on my bucket list. Marylin Manson has gone through many changes with the band and what happens on stage over the years. If you have ever been to a past show, you know exactly what I am talking about. I have been front row and center so many times that I lost count. But this show was unlike anything I had ever seen with Manson. It was one of the best shows I have witnessed Manson perform. Marylin Manson has been clean and sober for about 3.5 years now, and you can tell the difference with his vocals, which sound amazing and look like the best he ever has. His energy on stage was all over the place, interacting with other band members and the audience and even being nice to us photographers. I could not have asked for a better show than how he performed here in Nashville. If you want to see some of the stuff from the past, I think you are out of luck. However, you will enjoy his new show even more because now you can enjoy every part and sit back and enjoy everything going on. Still moshpits and crowd surfing; nothing is getting thrown around dodging things you must avoid.
Did you ever wonder how Marlin Manson came up with the name for the band in 1989? If you combine the first name of a female sex symbol and the last name of a male serial killer, you come up with how every member until 1996 got their name. It is the good and evil, and the existence of both in every whole.
Over the years, Marilyn Manson has created many different forms of artistic creations, including music videos and paintings, as well as collaborations with artists, producers, and authors—dozens of albums, singles, movies, T.V. appearances, and video games. Manson has also won many top awards, such as the Icon Award, Hard Rock Clip of the Year, Best Hard Rock/Metal Video, Best Cinematography, International Record of the Year, Best Metal Act, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Kerrang! Icon. This was only a small fraction of their awards, and I don’t dare to list all of the nominations.
Recently, on August 2, 2024, Manson released a new single, “As Sick as the Secrets Within,” along with a music video for it. Next, on August 16, 2024, a follow-up single, “Rais the Red Flag,” was also released, working with their new label Nuclear Blast
• Marilyn Manson – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, drums, percussion, tambourine, saxophone, pan flute
• Gil Sharone – drums
• Tyler Bates – guitars, bass, keyboards, backing vocals
• Piggy D. – bass, backing vocals
• Reba Meyers – guitars, backing vocals
Setlist
We Know Where You Fucking Live
Disposable Teens
Angel With the Scabbed Wings
This Is the New Shit
Say10
Deep Six
Tourniquet
mOBSCENE
The Dope Show
As Sick as the Secrets Within
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) @Cover[b4d32cff-f19e-455f-86c4-f347d824ca61]
The Love Song
The Beautiful People
MARILYN MANSON
“Welcome to the Circus” as Five Finger Death Punch opens the show with this appropriately named track. You never have a clue what will happen at a 5FDP show, and that’s one of the greatest things about it. I love attending shows where you can tell the band is enjoying what they are doing and are having a blast on stage. Shooting this show was different because usually photographers are allowed to shoot the first three songs, but this time, it was songs 4-6. We needed to figure out why. So we waited anxiously to see, and the show started, and so many lights were going off with strobes, lasers, and L.E.D. lights that it was covering every empty spot on the stage and crowd. Seeing it from a distance was so cool to get the full effect.
The guys in 5FDP love to interact with the crowd and photographers. Lead Vocalist Ivan Moody literally gives everything away, including the shirt off his back a few times. I counted 1 jacket, 3 shirts, 2 hats, 4 canes, and numerous little items. Bassist Chris Kael offers his
stage-played bass guitars up for sale and delivers them to you by hand after the show. Also, he loves to scope out his Kael Army and throws what he can your way. A signed American flag was one of the coolestitems that 5FDP gave away. Ivan acknowledged all the military and took a moment to sing the national anthem. He said he always wanted to do that, and it was a great rendition filled with passion and support.
Ivan Moody made a significant statement I wish was true today. He asked, “When did things change from Innocent to proven guilty? “I will not elaborate on why this was said because that doesn’t matter for this article, but I agree with Ivan.
I never knew what was meant by the name Five Finger Death Punch, but according to founding member Zoltan, he derived the band’s name from classic martial arts cinema. Finally makes sense. It can easily be said that Five Finger Death Punch is one of the most successful heavy metal bands of the decade. With their accolades such as Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Live Band, and the list goes on. 5FDP has released nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one extended play (E.P.), and 33 singles.
5FDP is a huge supporter of the U.S. Military and the First Responders. The song “Wrong Side of Heaven,” which was released in 2014, is about homeless veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and depression after serving in the military, and not receiving the help they need for their illnesses. Check out the video here.
5FDP also worked on a new version of the song “Blue on Black” with Brantley Gilbert, Brian May, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. All of the proceeds from the recording support The Gary Sinise Foundation. Check out that video below…
Members:
• Zoltan Bathory – rhythm guitar (2005–present); lead guitar, bass (2005)[1][144]
• Ivan Moody – lead vocals, keyboards (2006–present)[1][144]
• Chris Kael – bass, backing vocals (2011–present)[1][144]
• Charlie Engen – drums (2018–present)[113]
• Andy James – lead guitar (2020–present)[128][168]
Setlist;
Welcome to the Circus
Lift Me Up
Trouble
Wash It All Away
Jekyll and Hyde
Sham Pain
The House of the Rising Sun @Cover[9be7f096-97ec-4615-8957-8d40b5dcbc41]
No One Gets Left Behind
Burn MF @Info[with drum solo]
The Star-Spangled Banner @Cover[6aebec4f-db27-4280-805b-5dd81d5c63cb]
Wrong Side of Heaven
Salvation
YOU
Under and Over It
Never Enough
The Bleeding
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
TOUR DATES
August 25, 2024 Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium
August 27, 2024 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
August 29, 2024, Airway Heights, WA BECU Live Outdoor Venue
Aug. 31, 2024 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
September 1, 2024, Seattle, WA Lumen Field Event Center
September 3, 2024, Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
September 4, 2024, Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
September 6, 2024, Anaheim, CA Honda Center
Sep. 8, 2024, Las Vegas, NV M.G.M. Grand Garden Arena
September 10, 2024, Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
September 11, 2024, Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
September 13, 2024, Durant, OK Choctaw Grand Theater
September 15, 2024 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre
September 16, 2024, Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum
September 18, 2024, Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater
September 19, 2024, The Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sep. 22, 2024 Mexico, Mexico Foro Sol
September 26, 2024, Louisville, KY Louder Than Life 2024
Sep. 29, 2024 Mexico, Mexico Foro Sol
October 11, 2024 Sacramento, CA Aftershock 2024
