Well
it’s that time of year, the weather is getting
colder the nights are getting darker and it’s
not far till Christmas, but tonight we have the
amazing Papa Roach here in Birmingham so they’re
bringing an early Christmas present to this sold
out venue in the form of great music and a killer
gig.
Papa Roach have been going for 20 years now, with
their first mainstream success hitting way back
in 2000 so that’s allot of time spent together
which means one of two things, the band have grown
apart not really having any chemistry with the
same old rebranded songs, or they’re closer
than ever with an ever evolving sound and a stage
presence that will blow you away. Papa Roach,
I’m glad to say, is the later.
The stage is dark and quite bear with just some
lights shining up from the floor to illuminate
the big logo on the back on the stage, there’s
no ramps, there’s no pyros there’s
just a empty stage with a drum kit on an elevated
platform so everyone can see and this stage set
up, is the beauty of Papa Roach, they’re
simple, to the point and don’t need anything
fancy to make them stand out as they do it with
their music. The band take to the stage to huge
cheers from a venue full to the brim, and they
blast straight into Burn, which is what they do
to the venue as the heat throughout the gig gets
really unbearable as the room starts to sweat
from all the moving body’s.
Papa
Roach sound amazingly fresh, with the audio being
crystal clear as the simple rock and roll set
up of 1 guitar, 1 drum, 1 bass and 1 vocalist
fills every inch of this venue with powerful nu-metal
which doesn’t feel as old as it is. The
drums beat with energy and power as the bass rumbles
and the guitar riffs with force all making great
rhythms for Jacoby Shaddix to sing along, with
his huge vocal range and occasional rapping styles
that make Papa Roach the stand out band that they
are. They continue they’re setlist with
a new song Silence Is The Enemy before announcing
that they’re going to play an old one for
the long term fans and kick into the killer Blood
Brothers which sounds just as good as ever. The
band strut across the stage giving everyone a
clear view, as Jacoby gets hotter and hotter he
takes of layers of clothing, and it doesn’t
take long before he’s in just his t-shirt
as he moves
around the stage so fast and with so much emotion
it’s easy to see why he and the crowd are
so heated. They continue to play a great setlist
of new and old with Give Me Back My Life, and
Between Angels and Insects, after which Jacoby
warns the band that the stage is slippy due to
the sweat coming of him and the ceiling due to
the heat of the room. They continue with Where
Did the Angels Go?, Forever, Leader of the Broken
Hearts and Still Swinging before announcing how
the band love Birmingham and how it’s been
4 years since they last toured over here on a
headline tour but tonight has made the wait worth
with, with this crazy crowd and hot room this
really has been the best night of the tour so
far. They continue the set with a collection of
fan favourites, Born With Nothing, Die With Everything,
Scars, Lifeline, To Be Loved before leaving the
stage of and coming back for an encore of Getting
Away With Murder and Last Resort.
As
the night draws to an end, the room seems like
its shaking with the pure energy and emotion coming
from both the fans and on stage. It’s amazing
to see how much love there is still for a band
that have been going for how long they have, and
it’s awesome to think that in an ever changing
scene in which bands come and go, you can always
depend on bands like Papa Roach to deliver a great
rock show with great songs and truly awe inspiring
atmosphere. The only downside to the night is
the fact they didn’t play more songs, but
the ones they did play where great and with 2
supports before them it’s hard to find the
time for a longer setlist, plus when a stage gets
so slippy that at one point Jacoby fell and hit
his head, it probably wasn’t safe for a
longer set, tonight at least. So in the end its
great that the only downside to a gig was that
the setlist didn’t go on for longer as it
means there’s nothing musically for me to
be down about, and that the atmosphere was ecstatic
and definitely one of the best gigs I’ve
been too. So when Papa Roach come back around
next year with a new album and a new tour, you
have no excuses not to see them, as they’re
still as awesome as ever.
Papa Roach 5/5
Review By James Daly
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