California based hard rock band Papa Roach return to the UK for 3 dates to promote the blistering new album ‘Metamorphosis’. The Birmingham o2 Academy is packed to the rafters with 3000 screaming fans for this sold out show, and as the band hit the stage it feels like those rafters are going to come tumbling down.

Looking in his element charismatic front man Jacoby Shaddix plunges the crowd into a full blown frenzy by belting out some of their best work to date.  Accompanied by Jerry Horton on guitar, Tobin Esperance on bass and relative newcommer  Tony Palermo on drums, these guys play rock like its running through their veins.

Playing a mix of tracks from their new album ‘Metamorphosis’ together with tracks from their previous five albums, the show flows seamlessly from start to finish, pleasing both the oldschool fans and new fans alike.

During the track ‘lifeline’ Shaddix, much to the delight of the fans, climbed up onto the first floor balcony via the speaker stack, and moved through the crowd still singing before finally  making his way back through the pit to the stage, where he appeared with one of the brightest torches we have ever seen, waving it accross the crowd getting huge cheers from the sections that the beam fell on.

Before the track ‘Hollywood Whore’ Shaddix was commenting on various female ‘celebrities’ and the ‘plastic’ people that Hollywood creates mentioning the likes of ‘shitney spears’ much to the delight of the crowd that responded with peels of laughter and a round of applause.

This was one of the most heart pumping and energy filled shows we have seen for a while and marks the return of Papa Roach in their full glory with Shaddix and the rest of the band giving 110% of themsleves to the fans.  If this is anything to go by their return to the UK to play the Download festival in June plus another two shows in Bristol and Oxford are going to leave their fans battered and bruised.

Papa Roach