Five Finger Death Punch may be one of the most despised bands in music to many rock and metal fans, but the fact is, they’re extremely popular. They routinely headline some of the biggest rock and metal festivals in the USA, and even are pretty popular internationally. Much like the Nickelback effect, a band that might not be critical darlings can indeed have a huge fanbase.
Of course, their upcoming tour that was just announced, predictably has plenty of metal fans livid. That might be an understatement if you happen to go on Twitter or social media in general, especially on Megadeth’s social media, where fans of the veteran thrash metal act are angry that Megadeth isn’t headlining (and many are mad that Megadeth would even tour with the band).
Many of these people don’t seem to understand how touring works, so we’ll break it down a little for you. Generally speaking, the biggest bands are the ones that headline the tours. It sounds simple, right? However, there are always caveats to this rule. Touring lineups (as well as festival bills) also take into consideration what the band is doing currently, as well as their overall legacies. We’ll give you a very recent example, though it should be noted that this one wasn’t an example that anyone was upset with.
Underoath recently completed a headlining tour across North America. Rightfully though, they were the most veteran act on the tour, and definitely its most collectively successful. Millions of albums sold, generally charting high on the Billboard charts, and critical acclaim all add up to something that was unsurprising. Supporting the tour were Spiritbox (who only have one album out), Bad Omens (who just released their third full-length), and Stray From The Path (who have been around since the early part of the new millennium, though they didn’t really start gaining attention until their signing to Sumerian Records a little over a decade ago).
Outside of Underoath, Stray From The Path was the most veteran band on the lineup, with Spiritbox being the newest, having only released their debut Eternal Blue last year. Bad Omens, as mentioned before, have released three previous full-lengths. So, why didn’t the tour have Stray From The Path, then Bad Omens, then Spiritbox, in that order?
This is where things get interesting. Bad Omens hadn’t released their newest album until part of the way through the tour (and remember, both Bad Omens and STFP replaced Every Time I Die last minute). Going just by Spotify monthly listeners, Bad Omens are currently clocking in the most of the three support bands at 1.2 million, but before the tour started, that wasn’t quite the case – they were below one million. Not much, mind you, as their pre-release singles were tearing up streaming services. Going only by Spotify monthly listeners, Stray From The Path are the lowest, but Spiritbox and Bad Omens were neck and beck around the time the tour was announced. Spiritbox’s numbers have now tapered off to around 630k monthly, though that’s obviously because Eternal Blue has been out since September.
The point we’re making here is that it’s not all about legacy and longevity with these tours. Much of it has to do with current and recent popularity as much as it does past success. For instance, if a band released three top 30 albums in the early part of the new millennium but their recent albums don’t chart at all anymore, they may have a mixed response if drawing new fans is more difficult. An example might well be nu-metal/alternative metal band Saliva, who have sold tons of albums, had their hit song “Your Disease” nominated for a Grammy, and had three straight albums chart at #20 or better on the Billboard 200 between 2002 and 2007. Commercially, the band’s last two albums haven’t charted at all on the Billboard 200 – but their song “They Don’t Care About Us” (from 2016) has over 35 million Spotify streams. In fact, they’re pulling in over 2.7 million monthly Spotify listeners a month, and unlike a band like Trapt, it’s not derived from one hit song (watch out, Chris Taylor Brown is going to come for us now).
Complete nonsense to the point of absurdity. FFDP doesn’t belong on the same stage as Megadeth. Half the arena will have left by the time the headliner comes out.
— \m/Jacob Carman\m/ (@BeerRgood4me) April 12, 2022
What this means in terms of the Megadeth and Five Finger Death Punch tour is this. Every one of their studio albums since 1992’s Countdown To Extinction have come in at least at #18 on the Billboard 200. In fact, 2016’s Dystopia came in at #3, and ended up critically their best-reviewed work in years. These numbers for Megadeth aren’t insignificant, as they combine both legendary status and current commercial acceptance in one breath. But that’s just it. It’s not quite on the level of FFDP’s current status, where FFDP are reeling in well over 5 million monthly Spotify listeners. Maybe the band doesn’t even want to headline their own tours all the time, especially at their age. Nobody really has mentioned that, though.
The fact is, FFDP are a VERY big name in the rock and metal world. The statistics don’t lie, either. Outside of their 2007 debut full-length, each one of their seven other full-length albums have topped out on the Billboard 200 chart at least at the #8 mark – with 3 of them coming in at a staggering #2. Considering this is a time period where rock and metal don’t tend to have as much chart success as in years past, this is a big deal. No matter how much people may despise them, the numbers tell a story.
