Papa Roach / Leo
5/17/07
Power Plant Live
Baltimore, Md

It’s a no brainer that anytime there’s a FREE event, it’s usually going to be insanity, but toss in a national headlining act like Papa Roach, & it’s insanity X 10!  Miller Light sponsored a free show outside of the Power Plant area for the week of Preakness, so on Thursday, May 17, the downtown Baltimore area was under siege as this huge rock n roll show was getting ready to explode!

I’m actually making it sound a little more violent & devious than it actually was...I got there about 45 minutes before the first band took the stage & the crowd was kinda small, kinda mellow, & enjoying the beer specials outside while chillin’ in the cool weather & mild sunshine of this Thursday afternoon/evening.  

The opening band was called Leo & they played close to an hour set which was well received, but it was apparent that the crowd was there to see Papa Roach.  I spoke to the guys in the band after their set & they told me that this was their first time playing in Baltimore & they had a great time, but their set was spoiled by problems, but I quickly told them that I couldn’t tell anything wrong happened & I felt like their set was great, because even if there was problems, no one knew it, I mean the majority of this crowd was drinking pretty heavily or very drunk, so it wasn’t a problem!  Leo’s member all kinda looked like they could be brother’s with matching dyed black bob’s & after their set, there was a short breakdown & it seemed like Papa Roach actually took the stage pretty fast.

Jacoby ran across the stage like a hyper kid on a sugar buzz, sporting his spiky black hair & black eye liner, while Jerry Horton played every guitar lick flawless.  The band’s drummer had to set this tour out for personal reasons, & their replacement drummer filled in perfectly & didn’t miss a beat!  Papa Roach played all of their hits & some of the highlights were definitely “Getting Away with Murder”, “Broken Home” & the closer “Last Resort”.  I did see a few fights break out, there was some crowd surfing, & it’s to be expected at a rock show, but the one thing that Jocoby from Papa Roach did that kinda annoyed me was when he told the crowd to put their girlfriends on their shoulders...it looked cool, but logistically, it was dumb, because he was telling all these drunk guys to hoist their girls on their shoulders & I’m just hoping that no one got dropped!  

Being up in the front against the barricade, the only scary moment for me, was when all these really large people began to crowd surf, because alot of times you see little people crowd surfing, but at this show, there was some rather large people crowd surfing & it was a little uncomfortable at times, but that’s the thrill of being upfront for a rock n roll show!  Papa Roach played an entire set & the band thanked the crowd for coming, & left the stage at 10:30, but if you walked around the area, the entire band hung out & could be seen at various places in the Power Plant area!  Papa Roach will actually be touring again after this leg ends & they will start the Bad Boys of Rock 2007 tour alongside Hinder & Buckcherry, but I doubt they could ever top the energy this show had!