Live: Papa Roach

11th October, 2017 — o2 Academy

As the crowd were still reeling from a trip through the weird and brilliantly twisted minds of support act Ho99o9, a large sheet covered the stage as Papa Roach set up their own equipment. When the time came, Papa Roach showed that they were keeping the edgy spirit of Nu-Metal alive by inviting the audience to raise their middle fingers and shout “Fuck Papa Roach” over and over, until the sheet dropped and the band launched into the titular track of their latest album, Crooked Teeth.

Papa Roach weren’t messing around: fifteen minutes in and we were already experiencing the fifth song of their 21-song set, frontman Jacoby Shaddix drenched in sweat. Playing a selection of their older, angsty nu-metal, their slower, more emotive songs, and their newest, more electronic pop-influenced songs, the transitions could often be a little jarring, but the band kept them coming, providing songs for both new (nu?) and old fans alike.

As the show progressed, we were treated to an interesting rendition of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ — with Californian frontman Jacoby doing a very convincing Damon Albarn impression. Following their performance of Forever, which they segued into a small cover of Linkin Park’s ‘In the End’, Shaddix gave a heartfelt tribute to Chester and urged the audience to “live for music”, before launching into their anti-war song American Dreams.

Playing a five-song encore, the band didn’t falter one bit. Starting with ‘None of the Above’, and finally getting to crowd-pleaser ‘Last Resort’, Papa Roach didn’t seem to show the tiredness or reluctance of many other bands to play their defining song, with Shaddix in the crowd for almost the entire performance.

Papa Roach pleasantly surprised me — their show was full of genuine energy from start to finish, and that only comes from people who truly love what they do.

8/10