But I digress. We saw four bands tonight, in about five hours. We had great seats, just off to the side of the stage. From Ashes To New started the show and really got the crowd started. I had only heard one of their songs before, so I was pleasantly surprised that they could really rock. The highlight of the set was when the guitarist dove into the crowd and played the guitar as he crowd surfed through the fans. For those of you who don't know, crowd surfing is when a person is held up above the crowd and passed along hand to hand above the crowd. I thought it took a lot of guts for him to do that, and it really got the crowd going. They played for about 35 minutes and did a good job. Next, In This Moment came out to do their set. Although I knew a number of the songs the band played (they are one of Maddie's favorite bands), I didn't like their performance as much as the other bands'. After every song, the lead singer would stop to change costumes and the two minute lull between songs really took momentum away from the show. In fact, by the time the band was done with their forty-five minute set, the crowd seemed flat, and less excited than after the first band. I was a little disappointed given the momentum the first band had built going into their set and given that the group generally has hard-edged music that should resonate with the crowd. The band left with a whimper and it was time to wait for Papa Roach. Papa Roach came out next and floored the crowd! These guys really know how to rock and in my opinion, they put on the best set of the night. Twice the band came out into the crowd. At one point, the lead singer was only five rows away from us, and we were in the mezzanine! (I thought being in a mosh pit wouldn't be a great introduction to rock concerts for Maddie). All of the fans were on their feet for the whole set for Papa Roach compared to the more relaxed atmosphere for the first two bands. A mosh pit opened up in the middle of the floor and security was kept busy as scores of fans crowd surfed to the stage. Papa Roach played for about an hour and a half and did two encores, including the song "Scars" which the singer and the lead guitarists did while off the stage out on the floor near the edge of the mosh pit. My favorite songs were "Last Resort" and "Scars". I have to say that Papa Roach was definitely the highlight of the entire show for me and I would definitely recommend going to see them live if you like their music. They have a great stage presence! The final band of the night was Five Finger Death Punch. These guys came out and rocked hard, but did not beat Papa Roach for the sheer intensity or entertainment value of their set. Maddie felt that their drummer was the best one of the night, although I thought that the drummer for From Ashes To New beat him out. The mosh pit from Papa Roach continued during the Death Punch set, as did the crowd surfing. The band played a number of songs that we knew since both Maddie and I like heavy metal. My favorites were "Wrong Side Of Heaven" and "Remember Everything", while Maddie liked "Jekyll And Hyde" and "Remember Everything". One of the highlights of the show for Maddie was when the lead guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch pointed at her (he is the second guitarist back in this picture). At the time he was up on the little stage where the other guitarist is in this picture. We were close enough to the stage so he could see her and he did seem to have a habit of pointing at girls in the crowd. Anyway, it made her smile and amused me too. In the end, Five Finger Death Punch did a great job, but it just didn't match the performance put on by Papa Roach. With that said, Maddie and I had a great time. And I'd have to call that one of my better birthday presents in quite a while!
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