Now there’s a very good reason as to why Limp Bizkit have sold over 40 million albums in their career. Since bursting onto the scene in the late ’90s as one of the founders of the nu-metal sound, the band has always seemed to have been surrounded by chaos and controversy. The bands frontman, Fred Durst, is possibly one of the most loved, yet hated people in the music industry, due to the ‘We don’t give a fuck’ attitude that the band are so famous for. But take away the gimmicks, the crazy stage antics and all the other nonsense. When you break it all down Limp Bizkit are one hell of an awesome live band, it’s fun, it’s loud, and it’s just stellar entertainment.
The house lights die, and the classic ‘Ladies and Gentleman, introducing the chocolate starfish and the hot dog flavoured water’ sample comes over the PA. The crowd, which resembles a sea of backwards turned red caps and 10-year-old band shirts, roars and it is on. The pit is jumping and will maintain that hard intensity for the next 90 minutes as they roll out what seems to be an endless string of nu/old anthems. You see Nu-metal follows a very simple formula, here comes the big bit, here comes the big bit, here comes the big bit, BANG! And Limp Bizkit have perfected that.
It’s great to see guitarist Wes Borland return to the band, not only is he a great player to watch live, he is also well known for these bizarre costumes and personas. Tonight he wore this cool LED suit, that was more like something you would expect at a Daft Punk show. It looked incredible, he played incredible. His guitar could have been slightly louder, but overall the front of house mix was great. Sam Rivers (bass) and John Otto (drums) provided a solid, fat, hip hop groove throughout the show. From the laid back feel of Re-Arranged to the cover of Rage Against the Machines, Killing In The Name, the bass and drums got the crowd dancing and jumping. The bands newest touring member, DJ Skeletor, who recently replaced DJ Lethal, after a very public and ugly departure from the band, did a fine job of samples and scratching throughout the show.
In the past when I’ve seen Limp Bizkit, some of the things Fred Durst has said has grated on me. Clearly he had his best backward red thinking cap on, and pulled off a great performance involving the fans, nailing his vocals and best of all demonstrating why his band are still pulling massive crowds and selling records 10 years after their genre supposedly died.
Could this be the beginning of a nu-nu metal revival? We’ll just have to wait until Stampede of the Disco Elephants is released and see.
Photos by the awesomely talented and all-round nice guy of the photo pit, Matt Allan
