"Put your hands up if your fifteen years old?" asks Papa Roach front man Jacoby Shaddix midway through the bands sold out show at Norwich's UEA LCR. With numerous hands held high Shaddix then proclaims that "you weren't even born when we wrote these songs!". It's true that the Californian rockers are now amongst rocks elder statesmen but that doesn't mean that they are ready to become a nostalgia act.
Whilst many of the bands that rose to prominence in the early 2000's amid the nu-metal boom are happy to milk their back catalogue for all that it's worth, Papa Roach are one band still eager to create new music and push boundaries. This eagerness has seen the group release eight albums with the latest coming in January entitled 'F.E.A.R'.
It's in support of this most recent effort that the band announced an eight date trek around the UK, a trek that sees all but one date sold out. Clearly demand is high for a band which can draw from such a handsome back catalogue and supplement it with new music that's just as pertinent as the material they were making fifteen years ago.
As the band kicked off said tour in a rainy Norwich it was clear the faith that they put in the new songs as it was new track 'Face Everything And Rise' that opened proceedings. Soon after though the party started in earnest as Papa Roach hit the audience with the one-two punch of 'Getting Away With Murder' and 'Between Angels And Insects'.
The latter of those tracks of course is taken from the bands breakthrough album 'Infest'. Coming in the year 2000 with metal rejuvenated by a host of bands that became labelled nu-metal the album gave Papa Roach their big break but also shackled them with the nu-metal tag. Thankfully though the band have managed to outgrow the movement and create their own brand, continuously evolving with each release culminating in this year's 'F.E.A.R' fifteen years later.
Iconic front man Shaddix demonstrated throughout the night that he is still one of the most interactive and passionate front men of the nu-metal scene by joining the audience a number of times during the performance. Shaddix is joined by guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Tobin Esperance and drummer Tony Palermo and the band as a whole showed a great deal of energy and passion in their set and this was reciprocated by the crowd.
Papa Roach certainly don't lack when it comes to sing-a-long anthems as they proved by playing the likes of 'Forever', 'Kick In The Teeth', 'Lifeline' and 'Hollywood Whore'. It was equally impressive however that the crowd's reaction to new tracks 'Broken As Me' and 'Warriors' was on par with classic tracks 'Blood Brothers' and 'Thrown Away' from 'Infest'.
Indeed it was evidenced on the night by both the band and the audience that Papa Roach won't be resting on their laurels anytime soon, they are in it for the long haul and with newer material like main set closer 'Still Swingin'' on offer fans will keep filling the venues as they have on this tour. An encore of mega single 'Last Resort', 'Scars' and '...To Be Loved' was enough to send the crowd home happy.
It was a great night of music which had kicked off earlier with supports bands The One Hundred and Coldrain. In opening the show London based The One Hundred represented the home grown element of the line-up. The young four-piece delivered a somewhat frustrating set; frustrating in the sense that I found myself swinging in my mindset between good and bad. When they were good they were good but when they were bad they were bad which kind of evens out at average and that's probably where they stand right now. Potential however is definitely there and if the stars align the future could be bright.
Coldrain though are a band that have reached the next level and are striving to reach the sort of level attained by headliners Papa Roach. The group from Japan demonstrated their experience on the night with a well oiled performance that pleased the audience members in the know and won over the few that didn't. The night however belonged to Papa Roach who once again proved themselves as one of the most entertaining bands on the circuit.
FUTURE GIGS
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