PAPA ROACH feast on the 20th anniversary of Infest.
WETROC STUDIOS, SACRAMENTO
Jacoby Shaddix gives Infest’s 20th anniversary a positive boost
PAPA ROACH MAY have survived the nu metal boom, but tonight fans worldwide are being encouraged to open up their respective living rooms and embrace the nostalgia of that bygone baggy-pants era. Beaming live from a Sacramento studio due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the band’s second live-streaming experience, a special virtually ticketed broadcast called INFEST In-studio, is continuing the celebration of breakthrough album Infest – which hit its 20th anniversary milestone back in April – with all 12 tracks being performed in their full, headbanging glory.
Sofas across the globe are undoubtedly obliterated as the insatiable clamour of the title track and quintessential banger Last Resort (the latter of which burns with the same vitriolic fire of two decades ago) fully erupt. It’s perhaps the effects of quarantine, but vocalist Jacoby Shaddix seems to have so much energy his body can’t expel it fast enough, and only a cynic with a heart of stone could fail to be moved by his infectious positivity. It’s consistently fun, with throat-shredding renditions of Dead Cell, Blood Brothers and the hip hop-inflected Snakes sandwiched between pockets of band camaraderie and reminiscing, although the anthemic nature of tracks like Broken Home and Binge mask a genuine darkness that refers to Jacoby’s well-publicised battles with depression and alcoholism. Not that he’s afraid to address it. His emotional plea to those watching (“Remember, if you’re struggling there is a way out”) proves the weightiest moment of the night.
Two rounds of fan Q&AS, with topics including career highlights, favourite memories of the Infest recording and the band’s reaction to Shaddix finding nodes on his vocal cords, also help reinforce that sense of familiarity, not to mention creating an intimacy usually associated with the smallest of physical shows rather than online streams. “Lead with compassion – compassion is genius,” the frontman declares, flanked by gold mannequins, as an impassioned rework of Tightrope rounds off 90-plus minutes of unequivocal classics. And in the midst of an unprecedented year that continues to try and test us to our limits, we could not agree more.
SOPHIE MAUGHAN