In October of 2020, Five Finger Death Punch dropped an anti-mask music video for their song “Living The Dream.” The message wasn’t received well, in part because we were at the height of the COVID pandemic (this was pre-vaxx) and the weird overtones of Red Menace propaganda felt more menacing than the communism that the video suggested was threatening America. Now, even Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody has disowned the video, saying it was all guitarist Zoltan Bathory‘s idea.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Ivan pled his case about the video:
“I showed up for two days and Zo told me to run across the grass, screaming and holding the American flag, so I was curious to see it. Then when he released it, I called him, like, ‘You implemented your own platform into Five Finger Death Punch, and now I’m gonna have to answer for it, because I’m the singer.’ And it ended up going down like a fart in church!
“There was the mask thing and the awkwardness of the whole thing. That’s what he visualized, but it’s not what I had in mind when I wrote it. For those who understood it, great. And for those who didn’t, I’m sorry, I didn’t agree with it either. I love Zoltan to death, that’s his opinion, but it won’t ever be done with my name on it again.”
Tip to all musicians: do not give any member of your band free rein to release a politically-charged video. Just do a horror movie parody or something.
Get tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch at one of their upcoming shows next month with Megadeth, The Hu, and Fire From The Gods:
Fri Aug 19 – Portland, OR – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater [tickets]
Sat Aug 20 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheater [tickets]
Tue Aug 23 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater [tickets]
Wed Aug 24 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheater [tickets]
Fri Aug 26 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion [tickets]
Sat Aug 27 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater [tickets]
Tue Aug 30 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion [tickets]
Thu Sep 1 – Del Valle, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater [tickets]
Fri Sep 2 – Houston, TX –The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman [tickets]
Tue Sep 6 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion [tickets]
Wed Sep 7 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek [tickets]
Fri Sep 9 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach [tickets]
Sat Sep 10 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live [tickets]
Mon Sep 12 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater [tickets]
Wed Sep 14 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center [tickets]
Thu Sep 15 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion [tickets]
Sat Sep 17 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater [tickets]
Sun Sep 18 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center [tickets]
Tue Sep 20 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview [tickets]
Wed Sep 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake** [tickets]
Fri Sep 23 – Scranton, PA – Pavilion at Montage Mountain [tickets]
Sat Sep 24 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium [tickets]
Tue Sep 27 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater** [tickets]
Wed Sep 28 –Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center [tickets]
Fri Sep 30 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater [tickets]
Sat Oct 1 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center [tickets]
Tue Oct 4 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center [tickets]
Wed Oct 5 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre [tickets]
Fri Oct 7 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater – Summerfest Grounds [tickets]
Sat Oct 8 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater [tickets]
Mon Oct 10 – Atlanta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre [tickets]
Wed Oct 12 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP [tickets]
Fri Oct 14 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena [tickets]
Sat Oct 15 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater [tickets]