5FDP win military award and announce US shows

News
By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Band to play a string of festivals and 3 concerts with Shinedown

Five Finger Death Punch are to tour the US this spring in a run of festival dates and three co-headline shows with Shinedown.

The Las Vegas metal icons also received the Soldiers Appreciation Award from the Association Of The United States Army. The prize honours organisations and individuals who support troops.

Guitarist Zoltan Bathory says: “The Soldiers Appreciation Award is something very special. The only musician ever to receive this was Elvis Presley. Clearly what we have to say resonates with a lot of veterans and a lot of service members.

“To know that we are reaching people and touching their lives with our music is very rewarding, and to me this really is the sole purpose of being a musician – to be able to make a positive impact in somebody’s life.”

In 2010, 5FDP played shows for soldiers in Iraq, and have paid tribute to the military on albums War Is The Answer and Got Your Six.

They also started their fundraising campaign 5fdp4vets.com to support former troops.

Bathory previously told TeamRock: ”I always promote the military, because I have a serious respect for somebody who, whether they believe in the politics involved or not, is willing to give their life to save the most basic freedoms for the rest of us.”

Five Finger Death Punch US tour 2016

Apr 30: Ft. Myers Fort Rock Festival, FL
May 01: Jacksonville Welcome To Rockville, FL
May 03: Evansville Ford Center, IN (co-headliner with Shinedown)
May 04: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI (co-headliner with Shinedown)
May 06: Virginia Beach WNOR Lunatic Luau Festival, VA
May 07: Charlotte Carolina Rebellion Festival, NC
May 09: Pittsburgh Consol Energy Arena, PA (co-headliner with Shinedown)
May 20-22: Columbus Rock On The Range, OH
May 20-22: Schaghticoke Rock’N Derby, NY
May 27-29: Pryor Rocklahoma Festival, OK

Christina O'Neill

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.