This past March, I caught a bunch of Papa Roach's East Coast dates with A Day To Remember. As per usual, I was curious to see ADTR's crowd reactions to Papa Roach because much like the Rise Against show in December, the two bands are very different. Papa Roach has often managed to get themselves on bills of all kinds, including the still-confusing tour with 311 back in 2005. So they're used to a challenge every now and then. But the good news for them is that they always rise to it and walk away from these shows with new fans. Their March dates were no exception.
Most of the crowd knew their biggest single, one of the most famous hits of the 2000s/TRL era, "Last Resort." These days, even though TRL does not have anywhere near the influence it did back then (I'm not even sure exactly when it airs now), it would be difficult to find a Rock fan who does NOT know that song thanks to YouTube. But what impressed me is that this crowd, who in some cases, are half the band's age, knew even the most recent hit. "Help", off 2017's "Crooked Teeth" got a big cheer when singer Jacoby Shaddix announced it was the next song they were going to play. This shouldn't have been a surprise, as the song has done very well according to Billboard. This should be comforting to a band that has been in the spotlight for so long they've outlived many TRL bands, still manages to win new followers.
My photos from March can be found here:
Baltimore
Allentown
