For rock fans, Wembley Arena has been on an incredible run of late. The likes of Enter Shikari, Fightstar, Skindred, ZZ Top and Scorpions have kept rockers of all ages feasting these past two years and tonight, it’s nu-metal stalwarts Papa Roach’s turn to fill this hallowed hall, which they do with aplomb.
Harris Tomlinson-Spence
“London – you could have been anywhere tonight.” bellows sole support act Wage War’s frontman Briton Bond, and folks may be wishing that were true as the band’s modus operandi is laid bare. Bond cuts a burly shape with his big bear-man vocals before guitarist Cody Quistad handles a clean chorus. Rinse, repeat.
The main issue with the quintet’s set tonight is a lack of flow: when most of their 10 songs steadily builds, it means that the energy is reset with each track. While the huge production value of the night will have been tempting, they may have benefitted from paring back, as the arena plunging to black at the end of each track gets tiresome quickly.
Instead, Wage War sounds best when they go brash, like on the bruising HAPPY HUNTING which spawns a number of pushpits across the arena floor, and Manic closes the set with a final maelstrom of brutish ambition. There are flickers of what Wage War are capable of tonight, but it’s ultimately outweighed by poor decisions.
But now it’s Papa Roach’s turn. They have been doing this since 1993, but they’re not taking a single second for granted. A great white sheet bearing their classic roach logo drops as they open with latest single Even If It Kills Me, which is already sung back with vigor. “This is bucket list shit right here” beams frontman Jacoby Shaddix between full force renditions of Blood Brothers and Dead Cell. Columns of flame and smoke frame the band members and Shaddix’s manic grin looms large over the room courtesy of the stage-flanking jumbo screens.
Their set consists of 90 minutes of unapologetic authenticity and restless energy. They storm through fan favourites like Kill The Noise and Getting Away With Murder as Shaddix runs to and fro, into the crowd and up onto the drum riser. He’s a man possessed, living his best life.
Talk Away The Dark marks a particularly poignant portion of the set, as the band floods the runway and are illuminated by the crowd’s sea of torches and phone lights. Tonight’s partnership with mental health charity CALM – who will recieve £1 from each ticket sale – feels incredibly organic and the weight behind their words is staggering.
They soon get the energy back on the up with Scars and Born for Greatness getting the whole room bouncing, before the band pays homage to the scene they came up in and the crowd erupts for snippets of Korn’s Blind, Deftones’ My Own Summer (Shove It), Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff and System Of A Down’s Chop Suey. “Epic riffs, one after another” Shaddix grins. “We got one of our own” he says before the band launches into Last Resort.
It’s a stunning final show of unyielding power from a band that has ridden the highs and lows to come out the other side stronger and wiser. On the strength of this show, you wouldn’t want to bet against them making it another 25 years.
