Five Finger Death Punch brought pure aggression and anniversary energy to Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights on Friday night.
The Vegas metal powerhouse stopped in the St. Louis area as part of their 20th Anniversary World Tour, supporting their new album Legacy (released digitally in late July). Openers Eva Under Fire and Cody Jinks set the stage for a night that mixed groove-metal intensity with a few unexpected stylistic shifts.
Eva Under Fire kicked things off with sharp, high-energy hard rock that got the early crowd moving. Cody Jinks followed with his outlaw country sound — a clear contrast to the headliners, but the Texas artist’s set (including tracks like “Hippies and Cowboys” and “Must Be the Whiskey”) connected with the amphitheater crowd and earned solid applause. The pairing felt deliberate: two different flavors of American working-class music sharing a bill.
By the time Five Finger Death Punch hit the stage, the venue was locked in. They opened with the chaotic punch of “Welcome to the Circus,” immediately followed by new material from Legacy — “Eye of the Storm” and the title track “Legacy.” Ivan Moody’s voice cut through the mix with its usual mix of bark and melody, while the dual-guitar attack of Zoltan Bathory and Andy James stayed tight and heavy.
The setlist balanced career-spanning hits with fresh material. “Lift Me Up,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” and “Wash It All Away” kept the energy high. Their cover of Bad Company’s “Bad Company” landed as a crowd favorite, and “De Oppresso Liber” (another new track) fit right into the heavier stretch of the night. A drum solo led into the chaotic “Burn MF,” and the more reflective moments — “Remember Everything” and “Wrong Side of Heaven” — gave the audience a chance to catch their breath before the intensity ramped back up.
The production matched the band’s reputation: big lights, solid pyro, and a stage presence that never felt static. Moody worked the crowd hard, and the rest of the band looked locked in for a tour that has already been running for over a month. The medley section (with bassist Chris Kael taking vocals on a stretch that touched Metallica, Papa Roach, and Bon Jovi) was a fun detour before they closed the main set and returned for an encore that included “Under and Over It,” “Sham Pain,” and the expected closer “The Bleeding.”
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre remains a solid outdoor venue for this kind of show. The sound was strong for an amphitheater date, and the crowd — a solid mix of longtime knuckleheads and newer fans — stayed engaged from openers through the final notes.
Five Finger Death Punch didn’t reinvent anything on this stop. They simply delivered exactly what their audience came for: loud, physical, anthem-driven metal with enough new material to keep the 20th-anniversary run feeling current. For a Friday night in the St. Louis suburbs, it hit the mark.
