Phil Labonte Received ‘Nothing But Love’ From Five Finger Death Punch Fans When Filling in for Ivan Moody
In December, the Five Finger Death Punch lineup was temporarily shaken up as All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte came to the aid of the band, filling in for singer Ivan Moody, who was said to have "fallen ill" following a peculiar onstage incident and aftermath. Fans can either be receptive or hostile to a sudden change up front and Labonte has now detailed his experience and the fan reaction.
"[Around the] holidays, [I] usually kind of chill out. But right after Thanksgiving, I got a phone call, [saying], 'Hey, can you get on an airplane?' So I got the opportunity to help those guys out," Labonte began telling Revolver (via Blabbermouth). "We've known the guys in Five Finger since before they were even a band — I've known Ivan since he was in Motograter — so the fact that I could jump in and help out my friends, it was really cool. It was a lot of fun — a really good experience," the singer added.
"A little surprised" by the positive fan reaction, Labonte elaborated on his brief tenure with the band, playing eight shows in all, saying he "kind of expected some people to be, like, 'If it's not Ivan, I don't wanna hear about it,'" but the reaction wasn't like that. "It was nothing but love and [a] message of support and messages from people saying, 'Thanks' and 'Good job,' pat-on the-back stuff, which is always really, really nice to hear that you're doing a good job for your friends," he continued. "So it was a great experience."
Labonte's focus has since returned to All That Remains, who are set to drop their highly-anticipated eighth studio album, Madness, on April 28 through Razor & Tie with pre-orders available through Amazon and iTunes. Catch the band on tour starting April 29 with a full list of stops found at our 2017 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours.
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