PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The night kicked off with American alternative rock band American Fangs. They kick off the night with lots of energy and noise. Quite early on in their short set, the singer jumped down off the stage, climbed the barrier and jumped into the audience. He then made his way through the crowd to the back of the venue before finally returning to the stage – all while still singing. It was a great show to watch, and musically they weren’t bad at all either, but they did seem to fall a little flat getting some cheers and applause but nowhere near as much as I expected. They ended their set with “Get the hell on”.
Next up were Middle Class Rut, another American band, from Sacramento. Again they put in a good energetic performance, and again they got a moderate response from the crowd – cheers and applause but nothing special. I thought performance-wise they were less impressive than American Fangs, even if musically I preferred them.
Middle Class Rut setlist:
Busy Bein’ Born
Born Too Late
Aunt Betty
Dead Eye
Lifelong Dayshift
All Walks of Life
New Low
Alive or Dead
Finally it was time for tonight’s headliners – Papa Roach. Right from the start there was a really noticeable difference quality – Papa Roach clearly demonstrating to the support acts that they have a long way to go before they’re as good as Papa Roach. Their last album (The Connection) has been out for over a year now and that means that the fans know the songs well, and that is clearly visible with the newer songs going down just as well as the old songs.
Singer Jacoby Shaddix is a superb frontman and as he moves around the stage and steps up onto small platforms at the front of the stage he towers over the crowd, making sure even fans at the back of this packed venue can see him clearly. He works the crowd to perfection and when he tells them he wants to see everyone bouncing then almost the entire crowd is bouncing up and down. As a result it’s a superb atmosphere in the Academy (and very warm too) At one point I had to nip outside to cool down, and after a few minutes went back in only for my glasses to steam up straight away – that’s how hot it was in there.
With the crowd loving every second of it and bouncing like mad, there were even some crowd-surfers, and it really was a superb atmosphere, and fans at the front got even more excited when Jacoby jumped down off the stage to sing one song from the barrier, right up against the fans.
I’ve seen papa Roach a few times now, and they really do know how to put on a great show. No pyros or other gimmicks (heck they don’t even bother to have good stage lighting), just a great high energy performance that goes down a storm with the fans.
Papa Roach setlist:
Burn
Silence Is the Enemy
Blood Brothers
Give Me Back My Life
Between Angels and Insects
Where Did the Angels Go?
Forever
Leader of the Broken Hearts
Still Swingin’
Born with Nothing, Die with Everything
Scars
Lifeline
…To Be Loved
Encore:
Getting Away with Murder
Last Resort
