It’s been 25 years since Papa Roach dropped Infest, one of the most iconic and genre-defining albums in nu-metal. Their use of hip-hop influence in tandem with heavy riffing and emotionally driven lyricism helped make them superstars in the scene and their latest show in Liverpool shows they’re still at the top of their game. Wage War joined as main support.
Following a DJ set from DJ Krazy from the Krazyhouse, a rock club in Liverpool, Wage War began their set. Frontman Briton Bond came out on his own at first as the industrial beats and moody lighting accompanied him before the band followed with the unbelievably heavy guitar riff and monstrous drumming of ‘The Show’s About to Start’.
Their set was fueled by Dope-style riffing and monstrous breakdowns, they’re a clear bridging point between nu-metal and metalcore (although they’re closer to nu-metal). The audience were constantly starting vicious circle pits and keeping as animated as possible through violent anthems like ‘Circle the Drain’ and ‘Godspeed’.
Finally, Papa Roach made their way to the stage as the giant sheet featuring their mascot, Carl, dropped and the band went straight into ‘Even if it Kills Me’. The band were immediately full of energy and frontman Jacoby Shaddix proved himself to be a flawless hype man as he raced around the stage. The band continued with the song that introduced me and many other millennials to Papa Roach, ‘Blood Brothers’ which was included on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. It was a brilliant moment where I regained some feeling of youth as my knees no longer hurt and I felt like I could do a kickflip without injuring myself.
This show was marketed as a celebration of 25 years of Infest, their classic iconic album that helped launch them into stardom. It was implied that they’d be playing the whole album but it was really just a selection of bigger tracks like the borderline groove metal rager, ‘Dead Cell,’ the cathartic and emotional recovery anthem, ‘Broken Home’ and the seething rage of ‘Between Angels’ and ‘Insects’ which came with its own remixed ethereal intro and acapella intro from Jacoby.
Despite this, Papa Roach made up a set of brilliant tracks from other eras in their career and opted to make this show more of a celebration of what Infest helped to build and that’s arguably a better way to structure an anniversary setlist. Either way, there’s enough pomp and circumstance to make this feel like a massive once in a lifetime event, there’s pyrotechnics and gigantic screens with visuals that work together to make this one of Papa Roach’s biggest shows.
Newer tracks still hit with the same amount of power and precision like ‘To Be Loved’ which inspired a glorious circle pit that seemed to keep getting faster every time I looked over at it. Jacoby even managed to pull off a sick kickflip at the end of the song which begs the question “what can’t this man do?”. The band shortly followed this up with a strange and out of nowhere cover of ‘California Love’ by 2Pac which inspires a phrase that will never leave my brain for as long as I live: “There ain’t no party like a P Roach party”. Bars.
A major theme in Papa Roach’s music has been dealing with mental illness and the set included a PSA about seeking help at your darkest times and suicide prevention. For those unaware, £1 from each ticket sold will be donated to The Campaign Against Living Miserably which is a very noble cause that is close to the band’s hearts. Throughout the show, Jacoby gave shoutouts to Chester Bennington of Linkin Park by focusing less on his tragic passing but more so on the wealth of amazing music he left for us.
The band segued from this PSA into the lighters-in-the-air ballad, ‘Leave a Light On,’ as Jacoby reminded the audience “We’re in this together y’all”. A more callous person could call all of this corny but it comes from such a genuine place that it becomes impossible to criticise. Jacoby truly believes everything he’s saying from the deepest part of his soul and it’s a rare and admirable thing to witness in person.
‘Scars’ had to be stopped due to a woman being injured. Jacoby said a prayer on stage before leaving as the paramedics came to help and everyone was relieved to hear that she would be okay. We celebrated this fact by hearing ‘Scars’ a second time which is perfect because it’s one of their best songs.
The show ended with a medley of nu-metal classics and Jacoby told stories of how he first discovered all these tracks and Papa Roach’s history with these bands like how Korn was the first band to take them out on tour or their desire to write a song like ‘Break Stuff’ by Limp Bizkit. “Let’s feel the spirit of Chi Cheng in this room” as he paid tribute to another fallen legend by playing ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’. This medley ended with ‘Chop Suey’ by System of a Down before Jacoby said “I got one for ya” followed by the magic phrase everyone came to hear…
“Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort” is a brilliant declaration of desperation made all the more intense by Jerry Horton’s amazing guitar work, something that isn’t especially prominent in nu-metal. This song has this youthful primal scream about it and the listener is always transported back to a more youthful and angsty version of themselves and while you can call it corny, it feels so genuine and comes from a true place that everyone can connect to at some point in their lives. Truly a master class in writing a teen angst anthem without coming off whiny or juvenile.
Papa Roach are an institution in nu-metal and their music showcases some of the best songwriting and performances the genre can offer. It’s simultaneously a snapshot of the early 2000s but somehow feels timeless, they’re sure to go down as one of the great rock bands of the 21st century. All of this was just an extraordinarily long way of saying: We love Papa Roach!
