On Tuesday October 15th The Wrong Side Of Heaven Tour made a stop at the Ritz Theater in Raliegh, NC. A packed theater of metal fans gathered early to see the stellar lineup consisting of Gemini Syndrome, Miss May I, Escape the Fate, and Five Finger Death Punch. Cryptic Rock unfortunately missed the Los Angeles based hard rock band Gemini Syndrome, but judging by the buzz going around the theater the guys appeared to have left a good impression on fans. There were more than a handful of fans going to the merchandise booth to pick up the band’s killer debut album Lux. With Gemini Syndrome setting the table, the remaining bands were ready to erupt.
Miss May I put on one heck of a performance in Raleigh, NC with an energized crowd ready for a great show, their cheers were amplifying the venue that could be heard from the outside. Miss May I was the second band to go on and they certainly did not disappoint. They performed some of their great hits such as “Hey Mister”, “Relentless Chaos”, and “Day By Day”. The crowd loved every moment of their performance, and the band was more than happy to perform for them. Miss May I was soaking up every bit of energy from the crowd to deliver a performance as if it was their last show. Levi Benton was very appreciative of the energized crowd that night and could not express his appreciation for them enough with his big smile and never quit attitude that night. This was truly a great performance by Miss May I.
Escape the Fate were the 2nd to the last band to go on before the final band that night and just like the band before them they were eager and energetic to play in front of such a massive crowd. One of the biggest hits that the band performed that night were their songs “Situations”, “You’re Insane”, as well as “The War Is Ours”. The crowd was overjoyed and happy to hear these songs performed, as this is when the constant “crowd surfing” and “mosh Pits” ensued. The entire band was very crowd oriented and friendly with them, especially Craig Mabbitt. Throughout the entire performance, he had one of the biggest smiles on his faces and performed his heart out that night. With such energy, it was another wonderful performance tonight from the band known as Escape The Fate.
Despite the heat in the venue with the previous performances, the crowd was more than ready for the main event band to perform known as Five Finger Death Punch. One side of the venue you heard “FIVE FINGER” then on the other half you heard “DEATH PUNCH”. It was as if watching an army in action. The fans were the soldiers and Ivan and company were the generals. The band opened up performing their hit song “Under and Over It”. Ivan was very crowd oriented as he urged them to sing along with the songs performed that night and wanted them to stand up and have fun because it was a rock show. The band performed some of their new songs that night from their latest album release such as “Burn MF” and “Lift Me Up”. Ivan got greatly emotional that night when he could not express his thanks and gratitude to his legions of fans that have stuck by his and the bands side for years. He had also expressed his deepest thanks and gratitude towards our Armed Forces, telling the story of the reason why he wears his dog tags around his neck, saying they were from a fallen solider and that he wears them with pride and dignity. The band performed two back-to-back acoustic songs that had almost everyone, including Ivan himself, in tears with the songs “Remember Everything”, and “Battle Born”. Truly a phenomenal show by Five Finger Death Punch with amazing crowd interaction, crowd chants, participation, and many mosh pits and crowd surfing.
Written by Lee Letarte Jr
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