Papa Roach - Academy 2 - 01/10/06 by
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During the mid nineties, rock music took a change in direction. Up until that point, it was Grunge that was predominantly featured in rock clubs/magazines etc. Then, in 1994, Korn released their debut album, and Nu-Metal was brought to the masses. Fusing hard, heavy metal guitars and drums, with hip-hop style beats and vocals, Nu-Metal, took over. Papa Roach, were very much part of the Nu-Metal movement, but whereas many of their peers have fallen by the wayside, they have come through the apparent demise of Nu-Metal, and continued to produce some excellent material.
This show was a testament to how relevant Papa Roach are in today’s rock scene, and the sold-out crowd would certainly agree to that. The support act for this tour was supposed to be Wicked Wisdom, but due to unforeseen circumstances, they had to pull out. Their replacement was The Bangkok Five. The L.A. five-piece put on an energetic rock n’ roll show, reminiscent of Motley Crew. Their thirty minute set was a blur of indie/punk, which warmed the crowd up nicely for the main act. The Bangkok Five are definitely stars in the making.
Despite the quality of the opening act, thoughts of them were soon forgotten, as the lights went down and Papa Roach emerged under a blanket of darkness. Guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Tobin Esperance and drummer Dave Buckner all took the stage first, to a huge cheer from the crowd. Then, bursting on to the stage came front man Jacoby Shaddix, and the band went straight into new single “To Be Loved”. Papa Roach sounded absolutely enormous in the relatively small setting of The Academy 2 and the sound reverberated around the venue, touching every single person there.
Shaddix is a fantastic front man, and he spent the majority of the gig stood on a platform at the front of the stage, elevating him above his band mates and allowing the entire crowd to see him perform. And perform he did! He was an engaging sight, as he jumped, spun and strutted around like the rock star that he is. Papa Roach’s sound has matured a lot over the 6 years since debut album “Infest” was released – gone are the rapping vocals and in there place is singing from a front man, who has a superb voice. Songs such as “Getting Away With Murder” and “Reckless” sounded absolutely amazing, with Shaddix (and the rest of the band) putting in 110% from start to finish.
The majority of the set was made up of songs from latest album “The Paramour Sessions”, but the quality of Papa Roach’s back catalogue, meant that this could have easily been a greatest hits show. The new tracks were received extremely well by the crowd, but it was older material that got the biggest reaction – none more so than “Blood Brothers”, which saw the Academy turn into a sea of jumping bodies, and an enormous mosh pit – of which Shaddix incited! There was not one song that sounded bad – “Scars” resulted in a massive sing along, with the crowd taking over on vocal duties, “The World Around You”, was a lesson in good rock song writing and “Crash” simply sounded awesome! Finishing the set with crowd favourite “Last Resort”, Papa Roach threw absolutely everything into their performance.
As they left the stage, the crowd chanted ‘we want more’ and they were rewarded with the customary encore. Shaddix re-took the stage for an almost a cappella version of the haunting “Roses On My Grave. Buckner, Horton and Esperance joined their band mate for the final part of the song which Shaddix dedicated to the memory of Howard Roatch, his step-grandfather (the real ‘Papa Roach’) and inspiration for the band’s name, who recently died. Finishing the encore with another crowd favourite “Between Angels And Insects”, the band left the stage to rapturous applause and cheering, leaving nobody in doubt that they had just witnessed an amazing live performance.
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