papa roach live

Dear Superstar are one of those bands that seem to have only been on the scene for the last year. Suddenly getting the big support tours and press, along with their relative youth, and you could be forgiven for thinking they were the new kid at the school. Recent reviews have even erroneously named Heartless, their latest release, as the band’s debut album. Any journalist who did their research properly wouldn’t take long to see that actually these guys are on their third album and have been around for several years, doing it the old skool way; gigging, building a fan base, word of mouth, earning a serious record deal and learning their craft as they grow as performers and songwriters.

Oxford Academy was sold out tonight, and although it was one of the smaller venues on the Papa Roach tour, the crowd was there in force from the start with Dear Superstar coming on stage to practically a full venue. The layout for the room doesn’t lend itself to a stunning sound and it took a while to stop it sounding like the band were in a tunnel, but they enthusiastically launched into a mix of songs from the latest album Heartless such as Brink of Destruction, Diseased and Distraught, and a couple of newer ones such as Never Surrender and You Glitter Just Like Gold, which resulted in a bit of a mosh pit starting.

Singer Micky Satiar was a very impressive front man with his accentuated facial expressions; wild eyed manic looks and slightly psychotic licking of the mic lead giving off an energy that was infectious. Live Love Lie with its screaming BFMV backing vocals from guitarist Milton Gunns at the start was perfect for this audience, and the crowd was soon up and down and punching the air. The wonderfully anthemic and symbolic Brothers in Blood had Satiar stage diving into mosh pit at the end.

The hard work has paid off and the breaks are now coming thick and fast, and the support slot to Papa Roach was an almost perfect choice. Dear Superstar are made for this sort of audience, the slightly younger nu-metal crowd that appreciate catchy hard rock with a bit of eyeliner thrown in. Tonight saw an energetic performance, and no doubt won them many more new fans.

Buckcherry soon took things up another level, coming on to an intro (the Mission Impossible theme), and looking smart in well thought out stage outfits, instantly giving a more professional air. "Are you f***in’ ready?!" yells vocalist Josh Todd and they’re into the first first track, Todd bouncing up and down on the spot, jacket already undone to reveal his naked and tattooed torso underneath. The crowd were ready, Buckcherry could probably have filled this place on their own. The crowd lapped up trilby wearing guitarist’s enthusiastic stage dancing, and banners were passed from fans to band and draped on amps and shoulders.

Before the gig I had no idea why they’re so popular, but after an hour I understood. I am never going to like them musically, I am never going to find Todd’s nasally vocals anything other than irritating, and I’ll probably never stop thinking of him as a bit of a weirdo. Whilst very Steve Tyler-esque, he doesn’t use the stage much and his rapport between songs is quite frankly boring and dated. "You know what the best thing we got going on the planet? F***ing." says Todd, before changing the lyrics of their smash hit track to Crazy Bitch… suck my dick. Is it supposed to shock? It doesn’t. Haven’t you anything more interesting to say? For me, as an absolute non-fan, Buckcherry are a one hit band still I’m afraid, but credit where credit is due, their energy and musicianship was outstanding, and if you love the sounds Buckcherry make, and know their back catalogue, you will love them live.

Papa Roach therefore had a difficult act to follow, but if anyone could top it, Jacoby Shaddix could. Within seconds he was up on the boxes at the front of the stage, interacting with the entire crowd with energy most singers can only dream about.

The band mixed it up with old and new songs alike, both going down as well as each other. The moshpit was vibrant all night, Into the Light saw a pretty decent wall of death, and several crowd surfers made it over the barriers. Steel Panther may joke that Papa Roach aren’t metal enough, but on tonight’s showing it was a full on rock attack in Oxford Academy and there was no room for lightweights.

"Let me hear some cowbell!" yells Shaddix, immediately earning more brownie points; more bands need cowbells. He was taking photos with his mobile, down in the pit with the kids, all over the stage and venue. One of the best vocalists around right now for putting on a great show. The predictable but necessary and utterly brilliant Last Resort brought a hot and sweaty Academy to rapturous applause as the band took their final bows at the end of the encore.

A buzzing sold out relatively intimate venue + one of the best and most energetic front men around + a stunning set of catchy powerful sing-a-long rock perfectly executed = one hell of a Papa Roach gig.

by Lynn Wyeth