Wow. I've never watched a recorded concert where I was throwing the devils horns and screaming the words before. But that's exactly what I was doing while watching Papa Roach's new DVD. The record starts out good, then hits great, and enters excellent land towards the end.The band filmed their show in Chicago and for good reason: the crowds are reasonably mental. This 75 minute concert shows a connection with the fans, most likely due to the stark ugly but honest lyrical matter and the hard-hitting riffs. The DVD has great sound and all the songs are really sonically clean without sounding sterile or devoid of any rawness.
Jacoby Shaddix is a terrific front man and capable of eliciting responses from every corner of the venue. Guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Tobin Esperance and drummer Dave Buchner all anchor the musical foundations and they approach it with a deathly serious resolve. It's left to Shaddix, who jumps, gyrates and throws his body like he's trying to cast out the demons, to engage the audience.
The set spans the four Papa Roach records and it's paced perfectly. The band comes out and begins destroying with an electrically-charged "Dead Cell". They alternate their torqued-up rock with stuff from the most recent record "Getting Away With Murder" which rolls as good as it rocks.
The most powerful cuts are those from the debut record, "Infest". Along with "Dead Cell", "Blood Brothers", "Broken Home" are intense. They all lead into the last song "Last Resort" which is more like a psychiatrist session gone bad. The encore "Between Angels & Insects" is most excellent indeed.
All throughout the set the band is feeling the love and you can see the devotion from the fanatics. And Shaddix demonstrates how the band sends the feeling back, particularly during "The Last Resort" where he's into the crowd and having a touching moment with one fan.
This DVD is light on extras. There is a picture gallery and seven videos. However, when you have a show this hot, you don't need the frills. This is an excellent snap-shot of a band that is made for the stage.