Date: Sunday 21st April 2019
Venue: O2 Academy, Leeds
Support: Nothing More
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With only one support band playing this evening it was down to Nothing More to start the night off well and they certainly managed that. Starting their set in an impressive way with vocalist Johnny Hawkins halfway up a ladder spinning an air raid siren to build the hype before crashing into ‘Let It Burn’ definitely got the crowd pumping. Bringing their brand of heavy rock mixed with the fantastic vocals the crowd were lapping it up. Over the next few songs it was impressive to see Nothing More switch between slower parts of songs such as ‘Jenny’ to the harder parts such as ‘Christ Copyright’. This was brought to the prefect mix with ‘Go To War’ which switched between the two styles throughout the song really showing just what the band are capable of! Finishing off with style Hawkins climbed aboard his machine in the centre of the stage and really showed his true showmanship whilst adding effects to the rest of the band’s instruments. Definitely a band to see live if you haven’t already!
Coming out of the gates tonight with Last Resort it was clear that Papa Roach weren’t here to mess around tonight and the crowd were certainly on board as everyone was moving from the start clearly to the band’s approval with them applauding the energy coming from the crowd throughout the show. Set was a perfect balance of older tracks as well as new tracks from their latest album – ‘Who Do you Trust?’. Mixing the tracks up really showed the progress of the band from a nu metal titan to the alt rock powerhouses that they have become in recent years and it’s clear still they they have the punch in their songs. Title track ‘Who do you trust?’ got huge pits going whilst not the only one had the entire crowd shouting along with Jacoby. But clear to see that the older songs still held up well with hits like ‘Getting Away with Murder’ and ‘To Be Loved…’ getting some of the best crowd reaction of the night. Papa Roach were clearly thankful for the crowd and this really showed through ‘Scars’ which brought the emotion side of their music to the forefront.
Encoring with a cover of ‘Firestarter’ in memory of Keith Flint was a nice touch followed up by fan favourites ‘Infest’ and ‘Born For Greatness’ to really end the night in style with the entire crowd in the Academy bouncing. It’s great to see that these guys are still going after so many years and this is definitely helped by their dedicated fan base. Despite the musical changes it’s clear that Papa Roach haven’t lost their identity and are still a force to be reckoned with!
The Other Guy Matt 