Review by Stephen Brophy for MPM
The first few days of November bring some of the heavy hitters of Nu Metal to Dublin, with Korn and Papa Roach playing successive nights in the 3 Arena. It’s great to see these bands not only playing in Ireland but headlining arena shows here and as with a lot of shows in recent times it’s brilliant to see the mix of older and younger fans at shows.
The lineup for tonight’s show is very strong with Sleep Theory and LANDMVRKS in the support roles. As the show begins there is already a very decent crowd in the venue and Sleep Theory are planning on making the most of that, kicking things off in style the guys hit the stage running and didn’t let up for eight song smash and grab. When you have two guys in the band that can sing besides the excellent frontman Cullen Moore the options are much wider in what a band can do with songwriting and the variations that can be created in their music. The band are very slick, tight, interact constantly with the crowd and look like they are having the most fun you can have on stage. For me the band sound heavier live and latest release “Giving In” was a standout for me tonight. There’s something about this band that makes them different and interesting, keep any eye out on them, hopefully they return soon.
A bands elevation can often be seen in what sort of a production they have alongside how they deliver as a band and how they get a crowd going, well judging by French outfit LANDMVRKS the sky is the limit and they are just getting better as they evolve. To be a support band with the stage production they brought is impressive, it looks great and doesn’t take away from what the band do. The energy from these guys is ridiculous, looks a little like a pinball machine as they run, spin and jump around the stage. How you pigeon hole them into one genre is beyond me, there’s elements of everything in the music and vocal delivery, while Florent definitely hits home with hardcore, clean vocals, that guttural reach or hip-hop, add in the electronic element, backing vocals and just the power of the band and they are a real force live. There is plenty of movement in the crowd right through the set and this may be the bands first time in Dublin, but I’d be very surprised if they weren’t back again soon based on reaction alone. From the classy brooding “A Line In The Dust” through the building power of “Blood Red” to the closing epic “Self Made Black Hole” the band keep the attack coming and have been on top of their game from the first note. Would have loved a few more songs, so next time we get to see them they can resolve that.
Whether you have been on board with Papa Roach since the early 90’s or are a more recent convert, one things sure about this band, they put everything into their live shows and they ask the crowd to get involved in their own particular brand of madness. With a backstage cam showing a beaming Jacoby parading an Irish Tricolour and the bands walk to the stage area is shown on the screen backed by Bon Jovi’s smash ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’, which lifts the excited crowd another couple of notches. You can just feel this setting up like big fight night with the theatrics adding to the excitement.
First off there really isn’t a perfect set, your perfection is missing something for another fan, but there’s a really good balance tonight, launching into ‘Between Angels And Insects’ to get straight in your face and blast the energy to every corner of the venue. For me the show really explodes somewhere between ‘She Loves Me Not’ and a blistering version of ‘Getting Away With Murder’, I’m looking around at this point and floor is like a moving sea, it lifts the heart and the time just flies in. How on earth are we already an hour into the show, it’s crazy, but great. There’s a group of lads not from me absolutely lost in the music, they definitely should have been down on the main floor, watching people love songs that get you lost in memories is a special thing at gigs. It was nice to hear some tracks from that Ego Trip album and how well they worked with the older music.
On a personal note ‘Scars’ is a song that hit home for me when it was released and still does today, great song and as with the rest of the set the band and Jacoby sound spot on. ‘Even If It Kills Me’ is a piledriver of a song live and keeps everything moving nicely. Bringing out the lead vocalists of both support bands to sing on different songs was a nice touch. It should also be said that the crowd sang along to a lot tonight.
Jacoby isn’t one of those front men that stay quiet and just mumble the odd song title as they go along, as a member of the crowd you feel like you are integrated with the band, as he has always been he’s very open about the ups and downs that life has thrown his way and it appears very obvious that now life is on a much more even keel, whether he’s getting you to stand, jump, or get involved in their ‘Nu Metal Time Machine’ section of the show where the band has fun and pays tribute to their peers by covering snippets of some old school classics. They just have this ability to draw you into the belief they have and to join in, makes the gig a real show. The production was also top class, with an intense lighting rig. As we approach the sad but inevitable end to the set ‘Blood Brothers’ reaches back to the Infest album and shows just how strong those songs still sound closing in on 30 years later. Closing things out now is ‘Last Resort’ and naturally it’s as loud from the crowd as it is from the PA system, great way to send people home with a massive smile on their faces and wondering when we can all do this again.
What you get from Papa Roach is everything you want from a live show, all the classics, a fantastic performance from the band with the energy transferring back and forward from the stage just pushing the atmosphere to another level. Looking down on the floor there was a point where it went from some random small pits to the whole floor moving, and it was awesome. Great to see all bands putting in sets that moved the crowd and do yourself a favour if you missed this show make sure you go see Papa Roach the next time they hit out shores, there’s a reason they are known for how good they are live.
Papa Roach Setlist –
Entrance music ….… Livin On A Prayer ( Bon Jovi)
1 Between Angels And Insects
2 Kill The Noise
3 …To Be Loved ( with Ramones Blitzkreig Bop snippet)
4 She Loves Me Not
5 Getting Away With Murder
6 See U In Hell ( with Florent Salfati of Landmvrks)
7 Liar
8 Blind / My Own Summer ( Shove It) (Korn/Deftones covers)
9 BRAINDEAD
10 Help
11 Falling Apart
12 Tightrope
13 Always Wandering
14 Scars
15 Even If It Kills Me
16 Born For Greatness (with Cullen Moore of Sleep Theory)
17 Firestarter (The Prodigy cover)
18 Blood Brothers
19 Break Stuff / Chop Suey (Limp Bizkit/System Of A Down covers)
20 Last Resort (with We Will Rock You Snippet)
Outro music ….. Cissy Strut (The Meters)
