Band:
Papa Roach Venue:
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Date:
29 May 2001
Phew! What a scorcher! Normally reserved for the front page of the
tabloids after a heatwave, but in this case it also describes the Papa
Roach gig.
Not only was it a blistering set, but the whole place (and I was in the
"cooler" part upstairs) was also blistering. Think really hot sauna - with
ALL your clothes on (yuk!) Boy am I glad the ceiling in there is wooden!
After grinding through the first three tracks, singer Coby Dick announced
that it was drummer David B.'s birthday.
While Coby got the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" to him, a Sam Fox-a-gram
climbed up on the drum riser, she stuck his head up her top, then showed
the crowd her "assets". It was probably the first time most of the crowd
had seen boobs since they were breast-fed!
As mentioned above, it was REALLY hot. The band did stop the set a few
times between songs to give water to the crowd (very nice of you, guys).
Coby also commented that it may be the last Papa Roach gig ever, as he
swore he was gonna collapse and die afterwards! The crowd energy kept him
going, apparently.
When they came to doing the Faith No More cover "The Art of Making
Enemies", they invited the guitarist from support band Alien Ant Farm
onstage to add a bit of oomph (as if any was needed). And a member of the
audience joined in microphone duties!
Coby did spend a several occasions in the Mosh Pit (about 3 times
altogether) but he saved the best to last by jumping off the speaker stack
into the crowd near the end. Surprisingly, on each occasion, he managed to
retain the microphone!
All else I can say is go see them while they're still doing small venues
to appreciate their intensity. They make the music of long-haired men -
very deceptive. And expect to get really sweaty!
And guys, why did you put Newport on your tour t-shirts instead of
Newcastle?
The set-list (ish) was as follows.
(If anyone wants to make corrections - feel free!)
Infest
Between Angels & Insects
Blood Brothers
Revenge
Binge
Never Enough
Thrown Away
The Art of Making Enemies (Faith No More cover)
Broken Home
Snakes
Dead Cell
Last Resort
