Page 49 - Black Velvet Issue 101

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PAPA ROACH / NOTHING MORE – BIRMINGHAM O2 ACADEMY, 29.04.19
Eleven Seven Music is home to some of the best rock bands in the world, so a UK tour featuring two of them together is a very excitable prospect.
It’s Papa Roach’s first UK tour in support of their January 2019 release ‘Who Do You Trust?’ They bring with them the Texas-based, Grammy-nominated
Nothing More. It’s the perfect pairing which gives Nothing More the chance to get their music and show out to a larger crowd. This crowd is no doubt
impressed, as you can’t fail to be when frontman Jonny Hawkins starts the set off by climbing up a tall, metal, ladder-type object. As soon as he comes
on stage he transforms into part anti-Christ, part demented maniac, who will do almost anything to put on the best possible show. ‘Let ‘Em Burn’ has
a sadistic sound, and the power the four-piece bring is huge. Jonny freakily almost bursts out of his own body as he pops around the stage. ‘Do You
Really Want It?’ has a mixture of rabid intensity and melody, while ‘Fadein/Fadeout’ is a more mellow number for the parents in the house as well as
those that have lost their parents. Though it’s the climax of the set which sees Jonny climb onto the metal contraption they call the Scorpion Tail, which
bassist Daniel Oliver welded together and push and pull levers through a merger of Skrillex’s ‘First Of The Year’ and Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’.
Jonny is fearless as he swings back and forth and it brings Nothing More’s set to a mind-blowing end.
Not many bands could top that, and while Papa Roach don’t have any weird and wonderfully outlandish instruments, they do have a core fan base
of diehard fans that have followed the band throughout their 25+ year career. Papa Roach are a band that won fans with their major-label debut,
‘Infest’, at the turn of the century, and have consistently put out solid pieces of work since then that have kept the fans by their side until now. And from
that ‘Infest’ album we’re treated to ‘Last Resort’ as the opening number. It’s a real crowd-pleaser which kickstarts the show in high gear, while second
song, ‘Help’, continues the sing-fest. No help is needed tonight as both the band and the crowd are on fire, with Jacoby commenting on the audience’s
energy at least three times. “The energy from you guys, that’s what we fuckin’ live for,” he says early on in the set. Jacoby tells the crowd they’re
filming a one-take live video for ‘Renegade Music’. The new song has a dark tone, while still creating hyper chaos, and videographer Bryson Roatch,
who is Jacoby’s brother, films the members on the stage, as well as the crowd.
“This is my happy
place, right here,” says
Jacoby before ‘Trau-
matic’, one of the many
songs that incites fast
heartbeats and rowdy
moshpits. Although it’s
the band’s cover of The
Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ in
the encore that really
hits home with every-
one, as Jacoby says
rest in peace to Keith
Flint, who committed
suicide a few months
earlier. “Instead of a mo-
ment of silence for
Keith, we want to hear
you scream at the top of
your lungs,” Jacoby
says – and scream the
crowd most definitely
do. ‘Infest’ and the bass-
heavy ‘Born For Great-
ness’ wrap up the
quality night in an inspi-
rational and rousing
mode. Going back to
the new album, ‘Who
Do You Trust?’ Well,
tonight we trusted Papa
Roach to come and kick
ass as usual and they
most definitely did that.
Trustworthy guys in-
deed.
YYYYY
Shari Black Velvet

Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach)
Photo By Shari Black Velvet

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