As is par for my course, I decided the morning of the 20th to see if there were any decent seats available for the Five Finger Death Punch show, two and a half hours away in Syracuse. After a quick search via Ticketmaster and Seat Geek, I secured a reasonably priced ticket for the Pit. In my experience, a mere $200ish is fairly reasonable regarding ticket prices and the pit. So as two o’clock rolled around and with the ticket in hand, I grabbed the appropriate snacks, earplugs, and drinks, and off I went.
I arrived at St. Joseph‘s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview around 5:30 pm. The venue was right next to the Syracuse Fairgrounds, home of the New York State Fair.
I had seen the Foo Fighters (photos) here for the first time (and maybe the last) a little over a year earlier.
I must say I was ill-informed, my cursory research had indicated that Brantley Gilbert was opening. It wasn’t until I made my way to the pit and saw the slew of Megadeth shirts and memorabilia that I realized this wasn’t the case. Certainly a pleasant surprise. I had seen Megadeth numerous times before but as a headliner never as an opener. Bonus!
The first act that came out was firefromthegods, I had never heard of them which is common on an early show. Being a music fan (and cheap) I still went down to the stage, you know, to get my money’s worth. They played a short set that really didn’t inspire the crowd too much. Up next which was another surprise for the evening was The Hu.
The Hu
The band calls their style of music “hunnu rock”, hu inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Mongol/Turkic empire, known as Hünnü in Mongolia. Some of the band’s lyrics include old Mongolian war cries and poetry. (Wikipedia)
The Hu is a Mongolian folk metal band that I had only heard one song on Spotify, Wolf Totem, that has a unique sound so I was definitely looking forward to seeing a full set.
They didn’t disappoint. I can only describe their sound as mesmerizing.
Its a combo of chant rock with a deep style of throat singing. gutteral singing
Morin khuur, tumur hhuur, tsuur, Tovshuur
The Hu is a Mongolian folk metal band that I had only heard one song on Spotify, Wolf Totem, that has a unique sound so I was definitely looking forward to seeing a full set.
They didn’t disappoint. I can only describe their sound as mesmerizing.
Its a combo of chant rock with a deep style of throat singing. gutteral singing
Morin khuur, tumur hhuur, tsuur, Tovshuur
The band calls their style of music “hunnu rock”, hu inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Mongol/Turkic empire, known as Hünnü in Mongolia. Some of the band’s lyrics include old Mongolian war cries and poetry.
Megadeth
had plenty of time before Five Finger Death Punch came on stage but was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were three opening acts, one I had never heard of which was a Mongolian folk metal band whom I’d heard one song from and had a unique sound, and MEGADETH! Given that this was a day of decision to drive out two and a half hours to Syracuse to see FFDP this was a great musical bonus. I’m old enough to have seen Megadeth as the headliner more than a few times so again, a bonus!
so I decided to walk around for a bit and explore the grounds. There were vendors selling all sorts of food and drink items as well as t-shirts and other merchandise before I headed over to the main stage.
Five Finger Death Punch
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About the Venue
The St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview is an all-new state-of-the-art facility that comfortably “seats” 17,500 avid music lovers. It is located along the shore of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, NY. The venue hosts a variety of concerts from rock to jazz to country music.
