Noblesville Indiana was rocked on Friday night with an insane lineup and incredible performances by four different bands. As fans gathered impatiently on the lawn and all the way down to the pit, the energy throughout the show stayed consistent and was unmatched to any other show I’ve covered thus far.
Opening the show was a band from Atlanta, Georgia; The Funeral Portrait. The band fuses genres such as punk, emo, and hard rock together to create their own unique sound unlike any other band emerging recently in the scene.
Lead by front man Lee Jennings, the band has accumulated an over 130,000 following on TikTok alone, marketing their shows and songs to a vast variety of audiences. Because of their blend of genres and sounds, no matter what type of music you like, The Funeral Portrait may have your next favorite song waiting for you. One of the crowd favorites was a song titled ‘Suffocate City’ featuring Spencer Charnas from the metalcore band Ice Nine Kills.
With guitarist’s Caleb Freihaut and Cody Weissinger’s fast, entertaining solos, combined with drummer Homer Umb and bassist Robert Weston, the entire band creates an incredible atmosphere that carries throughout the crowd all throughout the night. Their new album ‘Suffocate City’ releases on September 13.
After a quick stage set change, Slaughter To Prevail changes the energy from the punk/emo sounds into something much more hardcore. Alex Terrible parts the crowd into circle pits and a wall of death that leaves the audience craving more and more of the adrenaline resulting from the harsh, bear-like vocals flowing through the speakers.
With songs such as ‘Viking,’ ‘Baba Yaga,’ and ‘Bratva,’ Slaughter To Prevail’s incredible guitar riffs and energy from Jack Simmons is what I feel really ties in the music with the fans. Audience members of all ages were moshing, head-banging, and crowd surfing to the Russian band’s catchy melodies and jaw dropping vocals.
When engaging and interacting with the crowd, Alex Terrible is excellent at making every single person in the venue feel special. His scary vocals are quite a contrast to the positive and motivational speaker he really is. During the set, Alex makes a comment to the audience regarding social media and using it for positivity, encouraging the listeners who want to change the world to "first look in the mirror" at who they are as a person. Even if you are not a fan of the 'deathcore' genre, I feel that Alex's positive outlook on life and the messages he puts out are enough to at least appreciate their values as a band.
My personal highlight of the night was seeing Marilyn Manson perform. I had the opportunity to meet with him at a show prior, and was stoked to tell him I was covering his set. I feel that having met and conversed with him about our shared history of music journalism was very motivating to me in the creation of this specific editorial.
Before Manson had even hit the stage, his new song ‘Raise The Red Flag’ played over the loudspeakers to the awaiting audience. Despite having only been released for not even 24 hours at that point, fans erupted in excitement with singing every word, showing their support for the new music and the meaning behind it. Manson opened his set with the aggressive and powerful song ‘We Know Where You Fucking Live,’ which the crowd went ballistic for. His vocals and stage presence were regarded by some fans as “the best he’s ever been,” comparing his likeness now to him in the early 2000s.
The crowd went wild for hits such as ‘mOBSCENE’ and ‘The Beautiful People.’ The energy and support brought by his fans was phenomenal and heartwarming to see and hear through the waves of applause and cheers. Manson was accompanied by Tyler Bates and Reba Myers on guitar, Gil Sharone on drums, and Piggy D on bass. The band's performance was engaging and entertaining, and certainly not a set you want to miss.
When Five Finger Death Punch came on, you could easily tell and hear the dedication of their fan base in supporting their live shows. Starting off the set strong with ‘Welcome To The Circus,’ I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd more enthusiastic to show gratitude to their favorite band. Their stage presence was incredible, with lead singer Ivan Moody making sure to cover every single inch of the stage. The whole band was very interactive with the audience, throwing out guitar pics, hats, fake money, you name it. Something that struck me as different but interesting was the fact that the lead singer would take phones offered from fans and video while on stage. He did this twice during the time it took to shoot their set alone.
The catchy hard rock songs echoed through the amphitheater. I still noticed how incredibly loud it sounded even with ear protection on. Though I think my favorite part of their stage performance was their usage of lighting and lasers. Not only did it help engage the audience, it provided an amazing photography experience. These shots of Five Finger Death Punch have been some of my favorites to edit, and I hope you all love them as much as I do.
Overall, as someone who has went from seeing the show from a fans perspective, to seeing the show from a coverage standpoint, this line up of artists create an amazing tour that you do not want to miss. Not only are we seeing seeing the incredible stage performances and vocals from Five Finger Death Punch and the uprising of The Funeral Portrait, we are also seeing fans coming together to mosh to Slaughter To Prevail, and watching Marilyn Manson’s comeback to stage in real time. This leg of the North American Tour continues until September, and you can check out the tour dates and tickets on Ticketmaster.com.
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