Five Finger Death Punch release statement on Tilburg show and insist “that’s rock & roll”
Ivan Moody had 'quit' the band live on stage
Last updated 14th Jun 2017
Five Finger Death Punch have released a statement about their disastrous show Tilburg, the Netherlands last night (12th June).
Blighted with issues from the offset, Ivan Moody wasn’t on stage for the first two songs - ‘Lift Me Up’ and ‘Never Enough’ - and when he did arrive the band disappeared off stage at times and appeared to argue amongst themselves.
In frustration, guitarist Jason Hook angrily slammed his guitar down on stage during ‘Burn MF’ with a similarly irked Ivan Moody later announcing he will no longer be fronting the band, saying: “I’ll let you know ahead of time — this is my last show with Five Finger Death Punch” before making a throat-slit motion on his neck.
At the end, Moody walked off before the end of the last song, waving to the crowd, whilst the rest of the band finished the track. After looking around in some bemusement, they stayed on stage to throw picks and drumsticks to the crowd.
Hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the band as this morning their promoters announced a European tour including four December UK shows.
Hoping to allay their fans’ fears, the band have released a statement this evening vowing to continue their tour and saying there has “always been an element of danger and unpredictability” to 5FDP.
They wrote: “Those who have followed 5FDP from the beginning can tell you there has always been an element of danger and unpredictability in our music and in our shows. That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. When you do over 150 shows in a year, you will inevitably have a few derailments, but the train always keeps on moving. Last night in Tilburg was one of those instances, but as they say, you aren’t a race car driver if you don’t wreck a car or two.
“We can’t wait to put on amazing shows tomorrow night at Nova Rock all the way to our just announced winter tour all over Europe. See you all on the race track....bring a helmet....”
Guitarist Zoltan Bathory had earlier released a statement on Twitter insisting Ivan’s antics were “not a publicity” stunt.
Speaking to Kerrang! Radio’s Johnny Doom at Download Festival just this weekend, Jason and Jeremy were seemingly reticent to talk about how things were going in the band. When Johnny raised Ivan's past behaviour, Jeremy pointed out "He's known to get in trouble from time to time", with Jason jokingly adding "It keeps it interesting".
Five Finger Death Punch play the following UK shows this winter with support from Of Mice & Men:
DECEMBER 2017
Birmingham Barclaycard Arena – 17th
Glasgow SSE Hydro – 18th
Leeds Arena – 20th
London Wembley Arena – 21st
Tickets go on sale from Kerrang! Radio Tickets** **at 10am on Friday 16th June
You can watch footage of key moments at last night's gig below;