Article content

Saturday Night’s alright for fightin’ at Heavy Montréal — or at least, the fightin’ spirit. And for a redesigned festival, a different kind of headliner. On points, however, the judge calls it a draw for Five Finger Death Punch; not entirely their fault, mind, but context matters, especially in the super-subdivided world of metal.

The Day One headliner had the appropriate look, with skeleton-ghoul Jeremy Spencer on drums, Cthulhu-bearded bassist Chris Kael, dreadlocker Zoltan Bathory on rhythm and singer Ivan Moody. With his bald head, stalking stage demeanour and big-hearted macho, he’s like the Stone Cold Steve Austin of metal, with an ethic that is all friendly intimidation.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Heavy Montréal Diary: Day One Back to video

The aggressive groove metal of Lift Me Up and Hard To See lit up the new Plaine des Jeux location from the Molson Canadian stage. Then, during pit anthem Got Your Six, the bald soft-hearted meanie brought a 7-year-old girl onstage, followed by a gobsmacked 3-year-old. Beautifully done. Throw in a bit of Pantera before an appropriate cover of Bad Company, and another burly stage visitor clambered up and was warmly received.