Gig review: PAPA ROACH – Brixton Academy, London,10 December 2013

The subtitle to this review should be ‘My daughter made me do it!’ as not only does she love Papa Roach but I have been tasked writing this review as she thinks she would be too biased! So here we go…I was intrigued to see what sort of crowd Papa Roach would pull and it was mainly an under 30’s audience with a few older rockers dotted around. A very healthy turn out especially as Black Sabbath were playing the same night in London.

First support band were the hyper American Fangs who took to the stage in hoodies looking like some Assassin’s Creed stunt doubles before launching into a very energetic set of hard rock and metal. Very lively singer who for a band just starting out oozes onstage charisma and has quickly learnt how to connect with the crowd. Song wise they had one song that verged on power pop but I did find their songs did sound similar to each other, still they went down well and I am not really their target audience!

Next up Middle Class Rut, led by drummer/vocalist Sean Stockham (who pounded a manic drum beat throughout the show) and vocalist/guitarist Zack Lopez, and the band also included another drummer playing a beer keg! A real mix of music from some frantic in-your-face punk through to energetic stoner rock of say Queens Of The Stone Age and a good dose of weirdness. Possibly not best suited to the Papa Roach crowd they would doubtless go down a storm supporting say Masters Of Reality or QOTSA. The live sound distorted a lot of their music to allow a fair assessment of them.

Papa Roach wrapped up their current UK tour in Brixton tonight as part of their twentieth anniversary tour. From the off vocalist Jacoby Shaddix was whipping up the crowd into pogoing and creating circle/mosh pits.

Mind you opening with ‘Burn’ then ‘Silence Is The Enemy’ the music and vocals demanded audience participation. Guitarist Jerry Horton was pretty lively too but nothing compared to Jacoby who never stopped all night bouncing around and urging the crowd on. I have not seen such a lively mosh pit in a long time and even the barriers dotted around the venue didn’t stop the crowd.

Set closer ‘…To Be Loved’ was the song of the night for me, mainly for the sheer musical power coming off the stage. Three encores with one of the few songs I knew by the band ‘Getting Away With Murder’ and their most recognisable song ‘Last Resort’ closed the set.

I will be honest and say they didn’t overly impress me, but as a live band they connect well with their audience and that’s what counts.

Review by Jason Ritchie
Photos by Iain Scott



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