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LIVE
IN CONCERT! |
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LIMP
BIZKIT |
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With
Special Guests |
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KID ROCK |
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And |
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STAIND |
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Review By
Bushman
Cox Arena
San Diego, CA
6/25/99 |
Arena rock. As a fan it's loud, big but not
very personal. As press it equals headache. Witness the review
(or more precisely lack there of) of Staind, nor any cool ass
pictures to accompany this article (and believe me, there where
more than a handful of pristine Kodak moments). Tickets were
in place (Thank you Elektra and Atlantic), but it seems the only
photo pass that was given for "Staind" was to the San
Diego Union Tribune. And you all know that’s where I turn
for my "Staind/Kid Rock/Limp Bizkit" coverage (like
they’ll even run any pictures - actually they did - of Limp
Bizkit). Normally, that’s just the game of being press and
it’s to be expected. But when two camps fail to get things
in place, it sometimes gets a bit annoying, 'cause a live review
(in my opinion) is dry without some visuals to back it up. And
in the process of "dealing" with this (and having to
run the gauntlet back to my car to put my camera back because
it wasn’t making it in without the photo pass), I completely
missed "Staind’s" entire set.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Upon speaking to Atlantic (Kid
Rock) and Elektra (Staind) publicists following the concert,
I discovered that Limp Bizkit issued the order that ONLY The
San Diego Union Tribune was permitted to take ANY photos of ANY
of the bands, although we did have confirmed Photo Passes for
both "Kid Rock" and "Staind." We apologize
for the lack of live photo coverage of this concert, but since
Limp Bizkit had our photo passes pulled, we didn't have much
of a choice. (See 7/99 Editorial re: Band Egos!)
"Kid Rock" was into his set of metal pushed raps by
the time I got into the semi-crowded arena. Signs said the floor
was sold out, but even at the evening's fullest, that was an
overstatement. I’d heard more hype than music from "Kid
Rock" at this point, so this was a pretty uneducated observation.
Basically, rap musically supported by a metal band (two guitarists,
no bassplayer) and a DJ. Most songs I thought were pretty cookie-cutter,
meaning all verses consisted of a "band" playing stripped
back rap beats and then trying to blow the whole thing up with
the big ass metal chunk choruses. Mostly washed off me.
When the songs were more. . .ah. . .songs (that "Bull God"
tune and one or two others), the dynamic wasn’t so played
out, and their was some different vibes flowing. But when the
bulk hit with the same flow, different guitar effect mentality,
it got old quick. Until the midget (kid?) came out. "3 feet
tall with a 10 foot Dick!" I believe was the line spouted
by the slight of height rapper. Call it a gimmick, call it equal
opportunity, it was pretty funny. His verbal prowess wasn’t
that astounding, mostly playing the cool catch phase at the end
of the raps and occasionally doubling "Kid Rock." But
it still looked pretty funny. But that got old after a song or
two also.
I seemed to get that overall vibe from watching a "Kid Rock"
set. Whatever element that he claims that rocks (and he does
have rights to claim some status of "rockin") was run
into the ground after about three songs. The "Bull God"
song was pretty cool though. The crowd was about 1/3 committed,
but those down with the Kid were vocal enough. There was some
"cowboy song" that they played second to last that
found a good chunk of their core crowd sitting in their seats
and it was a snore.
But the "Kid Rock" ". . .fuck you all this is
what I do approach" won out with the closing number that
was pretty damn rockin’. This also found "Kid Rock"
proving he is a versatile and talented musician as he took turns
scratching the tables (which found me and my crew giving nods
of approval), jamming some wah’d guitar (while it was still
strapped to the guitarist), soloing out behind the keyboard (again,
not bad a’tall) and finishing off behind the drums - and
you can’t even try to fake drums so I know he’s very
rounded. A bit high in the ego department, but I don’t think
there was ever a question of who this band is about.
The raps got a bit long winded (clever enough, but toggling between
tuff guy rants and juvenile bitch/whore runs), but the rocks
hit enough so that it wasn’t a total washout. The Kid’s
a definite performer, so if the music is your bag, the live show
should please. And to watch the midget (kid?) callin’ out
props to all the ladies and pot smokers was something new. He
was representin’ all the way.
Make no mistake, "Limp Bizkit" was the reason for the
night. Even with that "Faith" song, and Fred Durst
turning into an MTV tool (anytime MTV takes a band's front man,
sticks a microphone in his hand and turns him into a sort of
"guest MTV VJ" or news correspondent, we know who’s
starting to pull the strings = $). I still think their first
album "$3 Dollar Bill, Y’all!" is a smoking blend
of metal and rap and surprisingly fresh. I have not had a chance
to hear their newest, "Significant Other," which was
just released a week or so prior to this set.
"Limp Bizkit" started their set with some noise, which
found the large outline of the drummer being projected on the
curtain courtesy of large spotlights behind the stage. Then the
guitarist’s shadow appeared overlapping the drummer (nice
effect) and it drove the crowd wild! The curtain fell and LB
came out hard. The opening two numbers were newer material, but
the crowd was pumped, and a larger portion of the floor was already
pitting and bouncing and crowd surfing. But this was just a warm
up for their 3rd song. The beginning echoed lines of "Counterfeit"
started to bounce around and things got real tense. With the
whisper growing to a build, the crowd eagerly started mimicking
singer Fred Durst’s lines "Freakin’ me out - you
wear a mask called counterfeit - You're freakin’ me out
you wear a mask. . ." and then BLAST! into the harmonic
induced sick-ass guitar rhythm and the crowed went nuts. 90%
of the seats were on their feet, and all that is "Limp Bizkit"
was laid out for the crowd.
The evening was an even mix of new and old "Limp Bizkit,"
and like most bands with a new release, LB wanted to get their
new tunes out there and work’em. Since I’ve not had
the privilege of hearing these recorded (I rarely listen to the
radio - same for MTV - because it sickens me, so I hadn’t
even heard that "Nookie" song yet), my opinion of the
new stuff is it’s great, but sounds more like the Deftones
than "Limp Bizkit." It’s almost reactionary in
the sense that LB probably doesn’t want to get stuck with
rap-core tag, so have made a conscious decision to lessen the
elements that made "$3 Dollar Bill, Y’all" what
it was.
Some of the new stuff was tangible in the "Limp "Bizkit"
sonics, and used those rap verses backed by big chunk metal choruses,
but a lot of it used big walls of guitar progressions and left
the tight chunk alone. Newer material also found Fred stretching
his vocals out and leaving the raps behind. Not all, but a noticeably
large chunk of the new material, made use of more progressive
flowing structures, and brought out a melodic side of LB not
heard previously. The crowd, however, did not seem as impressed
as I was. Many of the new songs saw a noticeable slide in crowd
response, and people even taking breaks and sitting down! Fred
must have noticed this and started taunting the people in the
back. He decided to venture along the side of the floor to make
his way to the very back of the general admission area. "Don’t
touch me. Don’t touch me. Leave me go. Seriously."
he kept saying as the mass scrambled to get a better view of
the LB singer.
"You feeling me now?!" Fred demanded as he mounted
the back stairs railing. "Shit’s getting tense now.
. .Can you feel it?" He was right, it was having an effect.
Normally, I don’t go for that rock star shit of strolling
around in the crowd, but Fred had a purpose and made no mistake
of messing around with a bunch of rambling dialog. A bit more
taunting and he started into the solo rap that begins "Stuck,"
and sang the whole song from the back of the floor while the
band raged on stage. Again, anything off the $3 Bill album got
the whole of the crowd pumped. During this episode, Fred pulled
back on one of the songs and commanded that at the break "This
side of the audience. . .I want you to fucking jump as high as
you can. . .and this side of the audience. . .I want you to jump
as high as you fucking can. . .and Pauly Shore! Get your ass
out on stage Pauly (enter a stupidly grinning Pauly Shore) -
Pauly I want you to jump your ass off. . .here we go" and
boom! The whole crowd, including an impressive amount of those
in seating, and yes, even Pauly Shore, was repeatedly airborne
for the remainder of the song.
At this point, it’s hard to say why the newer material wasn’t
hitting with the same intensity. My guess is the album just hasn’t
been out long enough, but that "Nookie" song that has
been seeing some airplay around San Diego illicited a huge response.
A particularly large version of "Cambodia" was memorable,
and the LB guitarist was a mad man of spinning quick leg jerk
jumps and never tired throughout the whole set. Man, I wish I
would’ve got some pictures of the energy LB can generate
in the live setting. They are one of the more ripping bands to
come along in a long time. Energy fluctuated throughout the whole
night, with $3 Bill songs hitting the hardest with the crowd,
but never was there a dull moment.
After the obligatory fake ending, LB came out to offer up a couple
of more songs, the last of which was "Faith." I hate
that song. Always have, no matter who is singing it. The forgiveness
came in the form of two VERY well endowed females that took position,
soon to be joined by a horny Pauly Shore, upon one of the stage
risers (actually a city building type prop that served as the
LB set), and proceeded to undress each other, while displaying
and caressing each other’s large wares. I was never more
disappointed at my lack of photo pass. I was a ways back in seating,
and I could still see those clear as day, so LB... I’ll
forgive you for ending your set with "Faith." It’s
all about the Nookie anyway. |
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