The wind and rain is hammering outside, but inside Wembley Arena the vibes are all good, as DJ Alyx Holcombe spins the growing crowds favourite metal and numetal tracks of the last 20 years the party atmosphere really gets going to help Papa Roach celebrate 25 years of their debut album on a major label Infest.
For many of the slightly older crowd this harks back to the days of DJ Krusher being at major gigs and events ad what a blast that used to be and one can’t help but think “should we bring back DJ’s before gigs…?”
It’s not long before The Show’s About to Start rings out and Wage War hit the stage, ploughing through a 10 song set of their bigger hitters, front man Briton Bond leading the crowd in controlled chaos while stalking the stage like a much more interesting Kraven The Hunter, an absolute highlight of their set being the Tombstone quote of “I’m coming and Hell’s coming with me!” from the track of the same name as the classic Western movie.
The band goes over well with both those familiar and unfamiliar, their mix of heavy metal, hooks and almost dubstep-esque breakdowns making them a cross between a more brutal Electric Callboy and Rob Zombie, but it’s when the band of the hour hit the stage for their biggest headline show on these shores that the crowd raise the already very high roof.
It’s a bold move for a band to open a show with their newest single, but Papa Roach pull it off with Even If It Kills Me, starting from behind a curtain that drops when the band kicks in proper and the song sounds even stronger live, before they move on to Blood Brothers and Dead Cell from their previously mentioned genre defining album and then another straight up banger in …To Be Loved.
I am not sure exactly when Papa Roach became such a handsome band, but Jacoby (Shaddix, vocals) is still a crazed energetic frontman that, in the words of Jacob Fatu, appears to be “all gas, no brakes”, while the staple guitar and bass players Jerry Horton and Tobin Esperance hold everything down.
A somewhat ill advised jam of California Love (pt2) introduces everyone to the band, including Tobin’s own brother on additional guitar, keys and percussion, which to be fair has really added to the bands live sound over the last few years, but unfortunately Swerve and Liar fall just as flat live as they do on record, so it’s fortunate that live favourite Forever brings the energy back, especially when Jacoby works in the chorus to Linkin Park’s In The End over the last chorus. It’s a great little mashup that works wonders and it’s hard to fail mixing 2 great tracks together.
A short video message plays of Jacoby highlighting the struggles many people face with depression and suicide and those who have followed the band since the start will know a lot of his own demons and struggles so it’s great to see him not only still here, but trying to give something back before the inevitably play recent megahit Leave A Light On, the band all centre stage and close like a pseudo MTV Unplugged.What follows is the realisation that despite all the posters and marketing shouting the words “25 YEARS OF INFEST”, we are not going to get the album in full tonight. This seems like a bit of a cheat to the fans, many of whom are probably here to witness that and whilst the posters did not state the album would be played in its entirety it was certainly alluded to – let’s be honest, why else would you mention it? It’s not a celebration of 25 years of the band as Jacoby himself says they’ve been together over 30 years, so it was a very strange situation, especially as this tour is also not a career spanning set as there is nothing to be found from either Lovehatetragedy or even Metamorphosis, but luckily the band then pull out Roses on my Grave, a song that seems to require backing tracks for the first thirds of it but is nonetheless a welcome performance as the last time it was played was way back in 2007.Tony Palermo, the band’s drummer since Metamorphosis (Which might make him the longest serving now) then gets a chance to shine even brighter than he already is with a drum solo and there is no question the man has done nothing but add value since joining, before Scars and Help and the final song Born For Greatness, which sounds the best it’s ever sounded, particularly with the slightly more uptempo outro while Shaddix waves a Papa Roach flag like he’s in an Iron Maiden tribute band.Fans don’t have to wait too long for an encore which starts with the one-two punch of Between Angels and Insects and Infest, with Jacoby rather offensively saying “it’s all old school from here” – well that’s no good mate, you mentioned the Infest album before we got here and now we’re in the encore.What is enjoyable, however, is the video wall behind showing loads of home video clips from the days of being unsigned and the early videos, which really provides further cause to ask “exactly when DID this band get so handsome?” By now everyone has heard about the medley of tunes I’m sure, but yes the band bang out snippets of Blind, Chop Suey, Break Stuff and My Own Summer. It’s not clear why, they don’t segue into each other like an actual medley, it’s more just a time wasting dick about to be honest, but is so clearly rehearsed and contrived it’s not as fun as it could be.The obvious closer then is Last Resort and there is no doubt on anyone’s mind that Papa Roach should have headlined Wembley Arena a hell of a lot sooner and despite the complaints about not playing Infest in full there is no denying that as a live band they were absolutely untouchable tonight and if they come over again this year then everyone needs to get amongst it.
8.5/10
All photos by Harris Tomlinson-Spence
