Papa Roach Electrify Xcel Energy Center on Final Night of Rise of the Roach Tour

As I made my way to downtown St. Paul for what was only my second show of the year so far, I was a little preoccupied with thinking about how in exactly two weeks I would be in the Pacific Northwest running my next major event, this time a marathon. I was starting to obsess over what was sure to be an ever changing forecast, which was starting to look a lot like the weekend weather we had in the Twin Cities. There’s just something about the season change from winter to spring that makes going to shows more carefree for me; I’m sure the hundreds of others piling in to the Xcel Energy Center agreed. The legendary Papa Roach was headlining the last night of the Rise of the Roach Tour with a stellar support cast of Rise Against and Underoath, and I couldn’t wait for the evening to get started.

First up for the night was the Florida based rockers Underoath. I had the pleasure of catching this band last fall on their “They’re Only Chasing Safety” anniversary tour at The Myth, and I was ready to see how their show translated to a bigger stage. The band is fresh off of the release of their most recent album “The Place After This One,” which dropped on March 28, and used the larger stage to play a handful of new tracks while also sprinkling in a few fan favorites. While I was glad to see a little bit of a setlist shakeup from Underoath, something always hits when the first notes of “In Regards to Myself” or “Writing on the Walls” ring through the room, watching hundreds of others also get lost in the cathartic moment. One of my favorite moments of their set was during their last song “Generation No Surrender,” when the band started to get the crowd in the pit moving around more in a circle pit. The best part about Underoath was that even though they played the largest venue I’ve ever seen them in, their performance and connection with the crowd made it fell like I was back in a club venue.

The penultimate band of the night was fellow legacy group Rose Against. While I was scrolling through social media memories in the morning, I found it funny that it was exactly three years ago to the date (April 13th) that I last saw this band take over Skyway Theatre.  Underoath set the bar high for me performance wise, but Rise Against came out swinging, complete with pyro, opening their set with “Re-Education (Through Labor).” The Chicago rockers blasted through their eleven song set, with hit after hit, and one circle pit after another. Rise Against did take a moment to slow things down midway through their set, albeit for only a couple of minutes, with a solo acoustic performance of “Swing Life Away,” the crowd lighting up the arena with their phones. While I would consider myself a very casual fan of Rise Against (I just never gave them enough listening time), throughout their set I realized I knew more of their hits than I thought. The ones I did know, of course a majority of the crowd also knew, and the arena went wild for “Prayer of the Refugee,” “Help is on the Way,” and closer “Savior.”

Finally it was time for the one and only Papa Roach to take the stage. Even though I didn’t start regularly going to shows until 2007/2008, Papa Roach was one of those bands that until this show, I never got the opportunity to see in person. Shortly after 9:25, the white curtain dropped and Papa Roach exploded on stage opening with “Even if it Kills Me,” before going into a couple of back to back tracks off of their record “Infest.” The stage came fully loaded with burst after burst of pyro, incredible lights, and giant screens going back and forth between imagery and the snippets of the live performance. One thing about Papa Roach’s set was certain: the band had the crowd absolutely locked on for every moment of their career spanning set. Lead singer Jacoby Shaddix wasted no time getting chummy with the crowd: from almost immediately acknowledging the infamous crowdsurfing man in the banana suit (who had been going strong for the entire show), to even jumping off stage and getting up close and personal with the fans, the band showcased their gratitude for the fans in attendance. Almost halfway through their set, Papa Roach broke out an instrumental cover of 2Pac’s “California Love,” complete with a T-shirt cannon, before continuing to rip through to the next song. While the band saved some of their most iconic songs for the back end of their set (including the beloved “Last Resort”), their time on stage really was a showcase of some of the best highlights of their 20+ year career, and it was an awesome experience to be a part of the celebration.