Papa Roach and Buckcherry Concert Review
It's no surprise that on Wednesday night, the Metropolis theater was packed with excited fans. California natives, Papa Roach, blew into town with one mission: to rock Montreal. The Jagermeister Music Tour brought Papa Roach across Canada with Bleeker Ridge, My Darkest Days, and tour buddies, Buckcherry. But did they bring the crowd to their knees? Read on to find out.
We also had the opportunity to interview Papa Roach, so check back in about a week for our video interview.
Bleeker Ridge
Bleeker Ridge started the night. It was obvious that they not onlyhad existing fans in the crowd, but they made new ones as well. The band is interesting to watch, their music is tight, and most importantly, they do not perform like an opening act - they take command of the stage. When Bleeker Ridge comes onstage, they give it their all. Songs performed included You Would've Liked It and Sick of You.
My Darkest Days
Canadian rockers, My Darkest Days, took the stage next. The audience welcomed them warmly as they jumped into songs, Move Your Body and Fucked Up Situation. They even threw in a cover of Duran Duran's Come Undone. Close to the end of their brief set, the band asked fans to pose, so they could be documented in footage that the band will post to their Facebook page. So if you were at the show, look out for your mug on their page.
My Darkest Days, as expected, ended the set with their first major-label single, Porn Star Dancing. It was an obvious fan favorite, not to mention the fact that the crowd was offered the opportunity to flip the bird at the band. Good times.
Buckcherry
By the time Buckcherry hit the stage, the audience was ready to get a little crazy. The band members were full of energy from the get go, and this spark engulfed the crowd; this is where the moshing and crowd surfing began. Frontman, Josh Todd, couldn't keep still. In fact, he even danced around with the tambourine to keep moving - so much so that he began to remove layers of clothing to keep cool. The pants remained.
Songs performed included Dead, Rescue Me, Everything, and It's a Party. Josh Todd introduced Lit Up as being a song about his first time trying cocaine. It was obvious that he already had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand because he was able to even have them chant, "Cocaine! Cocaine!"
The Buckcherry portion of the evening came to a close with the slower, more vulnerable Sorry, and ending with Crazy Bitch fused with Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion and KC and the Sunshine Band's Get Down Tonight.
Buckcherry kept the crowd on their toes, and full of energy, from start to finish.
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Papa Roach
How do you describe a Papa Roach live show? Raw. Vulnerable. Electrifying. Energizing. There are too many descriptors I could throw at you, so instead, I'll just explain.
The band burst onto the stage with Kick in the Teeth, from newest album, Time for Annihilation. The high-impact song had the right effect on the crowd, sending them into a music-induced frenzy. Next, Lifeline and Blood Brothers merely fueled the fire that had already been lit. From early on, it was obvious that the band, frontman Jacoby Shaddix in particular, was impressed with the crowd.
One of my favorite moments was during the song, Time is Running Out; before even being invited, the audience belted out the lyrics, matching Jacoby word for word and note for note.
Songs performed were a balanced mix of old and new, running the gamut of emotions and subject matter. Scars proved to be another fan favorite.
At the show, I was able to witness what Jacoby describes as the "wall of death." He managed to separate the crowd on the floor into two groups: one group represented his good side, the other group represented the bad. After being physically separated, they were told to charge at each other. The result: insanity - the best possible kind, of course.
As the night started to draw to a close, fans danced and sang along to Getting Away With Murder, To Be Loved, and Between Angels and Insects. At the encore, when the first few notes of Last Resort started, fans let loose unlike ever before. The singing was deafening. The emotion was heartfelt. We were lost in a moment. Papa Roach screamed, and we screamed harder. It was a great ending to the night.
Papa Roach has released some quality albums, but nothing compares to their live show. Jacoby is one heck of a frontman who acknowledges, engages, and feeds off of the crowd. Jerry, Tobin, and Tony also grab your attention, and the combination of their talents makes for quite the experience.
What surprised me most were the surprised, at times humbled, looks that the audience received from the band when they went full force, or sang at the top of their lungs. It was a show to remember. At one point, Jacoby said, "I feel the heart and soul from you tonight, guys." The feeling was mutual.
This is one roach infestation that I welcome with open arms.
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