Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Papa Roach

Details: Written by: Katrin Renner; Published: 05 October 2009

Schlachthof, Wiesbaden, Germany
29th September 2009
Papa Roach, Madina Lake, Harmful

It all began in 1993, when front man and vocalist Jacoby Shaddix and the former drummer Dave Bruckner met on a football field and decided to form a band. The today’s line-up consists of Jerry Horton (lead guitar), Tony Palermo (drums, percussions) and Tobin Esperance (bass, backing vocals). The guys named their band PAPA ROACH after Shaddix´ grandfather William Roatch. The band produced the first full-length album `Old Friends from Young Years´ in 1997. Later on, they went on tour supporting INCUBUS and STATIC-X. Finally, the four-piece reached its breakthrough by releasing the long-player `Infest´ in 2000 and became popular due to the combination of the so-called Nu Metal style with Hard Rock sounds.

Their popularity spread world-wide when PAPA ROACH went on tour through Europe in the same year. The following releases `LoveHateTragedy´ (2002), `Getting away with Murder´ (2004) and `The Paramour Sessions´ (2006) represented the band’s orientation towards Hard Rock. In March 2009, PAPA ROACH released the recent long-player `Metamorphosis´. At the moment, the band is touring Germany, the UK, Japan and the USA. On 29th September 2009, PAPA ROACH and the supporting acts MADINA LAKE and HARMFUL spent an evening at Wiesbaden’s Schlachthof. http://www.myspace.com/paparoach / http://www.paparoach.com/

When I arrived in Wiesbaden at 5 pm, there was already a small crowd sitting in front of the building. They must have waited for hours. As it was a beautiful late summer day, the young people (mainly teenagers and twenty-somethings) were enjoying the sun. The admission should take place at half past 6 pm. However, there were some sound check problems. Thus, the doors were opened at about 7 pm.

Harmful

In 1992, the German Noise-Rock band HARMFUL was founded by Aren Emirze (vocals, guitar), Chris Aidonopoulos (bass) and Nico Heimann (drums). Over the years, that line-up hasn’t changed. Meanwhile, the Frankfurt-based three-piece has released all in all seven albums. The last one entitled with `7´ came into the stores in 2007. It was co-produced by FAITH NO MORE-bassist Billy Gould who also supported the formation live on stage two years ago. http://www.harmfulweb.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/harmful

Music & Performance
When it was HARMFUL’s turn, the hall was only half-full. Due to the delay of about 30 minutes, the admission was still in progress. Therefore, many arriving listeners went straight to the bar or to the wardrobe. Other attendees took a seat in the rear part of the venue, as they were waiting for PAPA ROACH and MADINA LAKE in particular... not the best conditions for a support act, but the guys didn’t seem bothered. They presented their Metal-influenced Noise-Rock coming up with heavy guitars connected to lead singer’s Aren Emirze’s expressive vocals and gained rather restrained applause. I would have appreciated a livelier performance, as the pretty big stage provided plenty of space to move.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.6 / 10

Madina Lake

Meanwhile, the hall was well-filled. The front rows had to cope with heat and thirst resulting in some circulatory collapses. The friendly security staff was very busy with rescuing all the exhausted persons who needed to be thrown out of the crowd. In parallel with this, there was a lively hustle and bustle in front of the masses, as the crew was doing the changeover preparing the stage for MADINA LAKE. The Rock / Pop Punk quartet from Chicago was founded by the twin brothers Nathan (vocals) and Matthew Leone (bassist), Mateo Camargo (guitar) and Dan Torelli (drums). One year later, they recorded their first EP `The Disappearance of Adalia´. Signed with Roadrunner Records, MADINA LAKE released the full-length debut album `From Them, Through Us, To You´ in 2008. The guys attracted the attention of popular bands such as LINKIN PARK, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and PARAMORE asking the four-piece for supporting them on tour. The recent album `Attics to Eden´ was released in this year’s April. The song `Never take us alive´ from that recording is part of the soundtrack of the computer game “Colin McRae: DIRT2”. http://www.madinalake.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/madinalake

Music & Performance
When the lights went off, it was obvious and audible that there were many MADINA LAKE-fans among the listeners. Two red letterings displaying “Madina” and “Lake” and embellished with a lot of glimmering LEDs announced the upcoming appearance of the four guys who were welcomed in a frenetic manner. All in all, MADINA LAKE presented 10 songs such the well-known `House of Cards´ and the recent anthem `Never take us alive´. It was nice to see how the musicians interacted with the crowd. They were really into what they did and one couldn’t deny that they were having fun too. Front man Nathan (who looks a bit like the young BILLY IDOL) ran across the stage like a dervish and shouted with his strong vibrato at the top of his lungs into the micro. Showing some acrobatic movements and jumping up and down, his twin brother Matthew rushed to the drum set and back. Everyone on stage was moving the entire time. Though guitarist Mateo’s leg was injured, he was striking expressive poses. Shaking his head and bathed in sweat, Dan Torelli wildly celebrated his drumming. I really enjoyed the melodic Rock with a pinch of Punk and the dramatic vocals. I had listened to the recent album before and therefore I have to admit that MADINA LAKE’s music works best live on stage. I experienced a furious show of an extremely likeable band I was allowed to interview later on.

Setlist
01. Me vs. the World
02. House of Cards
03. Never take us alive
04. Let’s get outta here
05. Da Limp
06. Here I stand
07. Welcome to Oblivion
08. Not for this World
09. Legends (or Adalia)
10. True Love

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 5
Total: 7.7 / 10

Papa Roach

More and more girls and boys had to surrender because of the heat and the limited space in the front rows. My praise goes to the friendly security staff that offered some water to dehydrated persons and cared for them in an exemplary manner. Those who weren’t tired or exhausted started to chant “Papa Roach, Papa Roach”.

Music & Performance
At half past 9 pm the long wait came to an end: Firstly, the lights went off and then bright light made visible how Tobin, Jerry and Tony went to their instruments. It was a deafening spectacle, as everyone began to scream. The audience became even louder when front man Jacoby headed to his microphone and jumped onto the monitor speakers. Raising his arms, rolling his eyes and clenching his fist, the tattooed singer animated the crowd to clap the hands and sing along. He didn’t take any rest and didn’t miss any chance to get in contact with the audience. Therefore, it wasn’t astonishing that he was all in sweat after some minutes. His colleagues didn’t cut any corners and showed their skills on guitar, bass and drums. Up to then, I had known some PAPA ROACH songs, but I hadn’t had any idea what great live act they are.

The guys´ wild performance brought the listeners to their feet and left them breathless. I liked the songs´ live versions much better than the studio versions although the soundscape was dominated by way too booming basses. Particularly, `Getting away with Murder´ was turned into a pretty long and cheeky track making the people shouting out the chorus. With regard to his energy-sapping effort, Jacoby should have been lying on the floor, but of course he didn’t. As the sweaty concert was impressing illuminated, it was a pleasure to take photos while listening to songs such as `Lifelines´, the blast `Scars´ and `I almost told you that I love you´. Finally, they intonated the eagerly awaited `Last Resort´ whose ass-kicking version was sung along by the totally exhausted folks with the last ounce of their strength. PAPA ROACH delivered a memorable appearance that certainly will be remembered by the attendees - and the paramedics.

Setlist
01. Days of War
02. Change or Die
03. Lifeline
04. Dead Cell
05. The World around you
06. Had enough
07. To be loved
08. Getting away with Murder
09. March out of the Darkness
10. Scars
11. I almost told you that I loved you
12. State of Emergency
13. Harder than a Coffin Nail
14. Blood Brothers
15. Forever
16. Between Angels and Insects
17. Time is running out
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18. Into the Light
19. Last Resort

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.1 / 10