Papa Roach light up the stage at Wembley – RISE OF THE ROACH

 

Papa Roach sold out the 12, 500 Wembley Arena in their first UK arena headlining tour. The band that was prominent in the Nu Metal revolution back in the early 2000s was clearly delighted to have a capacity crowd, describing it as “Bucket List Shit”. The band have been gracing these shores for a about a quarter of a decade and this show marks my first of these since seeing them at Milton Keynes Bowl back in 2001. There have been some lineup changes in their time, but they continue to deliver their own brand of hip-hop metal fusion to an adoring crowd.  The band’s popularity has only grown since their video for “Last Resort” was regularly featured on the music channels of the time.

 

 

The support act for the evening was Florida base Metalcore band Wage War.  The metal group had a well-blended mix of heavy vocals from the lead singer combined with the more melodic backing vocals from their guitarist. This is not the bands first visit to the area with them commenting “It feels good to be back in London, especially in Wembley”. There was strong interaction between the group and the crowd with a shout of “Are you with us” and being met with a large cheer and throughout the set members of the audience were seen crowd surfing, moshing and clapping along. The band released a new album “Stigma” last year and 6 of their 10 track set showcased the material from that release which singer Briton Bond described as “being true to yourself”. The group received a massive cheer as the ending their final track, “Manic” having delivered a powerful performance that set the stage for the headline act to follow..

 

 

 

 

THE SHOW’S ABOUT TO START

Godspeed

Low

Circle the Drain

NAIL5

BLUR

TOMBSTONE

HAPPY HUNTING

MAGNETIC

Manic

 

 

A large flag with the roach symbol covered the front of the stage before the commencement of Papa Roach’s set. From our seats located at the side of the stage we could see the band form up behind it in anticipation of their first track “Even if it Kills Me”. Jacoby Shaddix started to sing as the group were silhouetted by the back lit stage before the large sheet was dropped to reveal the performers. From the very beginning the atmosphere was palpable and the energy from the crowd was apparent in the almost immediate most pit that formed near the front of the standing area. In third track “Dead Cell” Shaddix asked for the audiences help with a call and response for the lead line of the song. Following on he spotted a sign and wish a fan happy birthday before instructing the crowd to start a birthday mosh pit.

 

The tech team were kept busy as the band delivered a striking visual display that featured pyrotechnics at the front and back of stage as well as smoke canons and well-designed lighting that successfully added to the over impact of the performance.

 

 

Following on from 2004 track “Getting Away with Murder”, the back launched into a cover of Dr Dre and 2Pac’s “California Love” the first of many small covers that the band weaved throughout the set. Each of which was met by loud participation from the crowd as they were in full voice during these sections. The most poignant of these was of Linkin Park’s “In The End” at the end of track “Forever”. At the end of this brief interlude Shaddix addressed mental health in the context of himself and Chester Bennington (who had been a good friend of his from their early touring days on Ozzfest) and played a video explaining that the band would be donating to a local charity to support suicide prevention.  When the band members rejoined on stage the venue dimmed the house lights and the audience all raised their phone torch lights producing an emotional mood in the auditorium.

 

In recent months many bands have been doing tours showcasing their debut albums from 20-25 years ago. Papa Roach wasn’t doing this but did include many tracks from their debut album “Infest” which became more frequent as the set progressed. The final four original tracks coming from that album only broken up by brief covers of Limp Bizkit, Korn and System of a Down releases that were again sung with gusto by those assembled.

 

The band completed the evening with a rendition of “Last Resort” and at the end I was gutted that the evening had come to a close. This performance was one of the best I have seen in recent memory and the nostalgia it prompted from a simpler university life when I had the debut album on loop is one of the reasons we all love music so much.    

 

The band moves on to perform in Liverpool on Sunday before progressing to Mexico and then back to the states. If you haven’t booked already and can get tickets you won’t be disappointed.

 

 

Even if it Kills Me

Blood Brothers

Dead Cell

To Be Loved

Kill the Noise

Getting Away with Murder

California Love

Swerve

Liar

Forever/In the End

Falling Apart

Leave a Light On

Roses on My Grave

No Apologies

Scars

Help

Born For Greatness

Angels and Insects

Infest

Broken Home

Blind/Summer

Break Stuck/Chop Suey

Last Resort

 

Current members

Jacoby Shaddix, – lead vocals (1993–present),
Jerry Horton, – guitars, backing vocals (1993–present),
Tobin Esperance, – bass, programming, backing vocals (1996–present),
Tony Palermo, – drums (2007–present),

Touring members

Anthony “Twan” Esperance, – rhythm guitar, keyboard, percussion (2017–present),