Kerrang Tour 2014 Hits Birmingham!

Posted on February 19, 2014

It’s a cold, wet and miserable Thursday evening in Birmingham for most, but for a lucky few thousand it’s an evening that is soon to be full of Riffs, Moshpits, sweat and sing-a-longs! Why? Limp Bizkit have landed in the second city!

The Kerrang Tour headlined by Jacksonville’s finest, is in town for the night, in the main room of the O2 Academy Birmingham, a room usually for bands of a smaller fan base that aren’t quite arena fillers yet. To have a band as big as Limp Bizkit headline the room can only suggest one thing. Mayhem!

The bill that is touring the UK is made up of four bands. Gig openers Baby Godzilla, followed by Nekrogoblikon and then Japanese rockers Crossfaith who tear up the venue before Limp Bizkit finish the night off with raps, riffs and obscene amounts of Rollin’ gestures!

Not long after doors, Baby Godzilla take to the stage. The band from Nottingham comes out on stage with a purpose. What this purpose is I’m not quite sure of. Within seconds of starting the stage is an utter bombsite. Amps knocked over and stood on, mic stands in the crowd, and even half the band is missing from the stage. Now, usually an opening band gets the crowd going and some of the most brutal pits take place at the start of a gig, however, this isn’t happening tonight. The crowd is having none of it. No matter what the band does the half filled room looks on as if there is nobody onstage. There are maybe one or two people nodding their head (most likely just being polite). Within the 1st song the lead singer is running through the crowd to the back of the crowd with his mic trying to act like a great front man but still nothing in return from the crowd. In fact fans are walking past him throwing his mic-lead left right and centre to just get past. This is something I’ve never seen in all the gigs I’ve attended.

It becomes quite clear throughout the set that the band are almost posers by spending most of their time climbing the barriers in front of the crowd for the pro-photographers to snap them. No matter what the pictures look like, the crowd interaction is not there… You can’t edit that in or out of a picture! Sadly Baby Godzilla did not have the support or intrigue any opening band should have. It must feel to the fans like time wasted that could have been filled by bands higher up the bill!

Rating 3/10.

Next up is Nekrogoblikon from California. Before the band has even took to the stage a man dressed as a goblin takes his place in front of the crowd. The green figure known as ‘John Goblikon’ introduces the crowd to the band and within seconds those lifeless faces from during Baby Godzilla have disappeared. They’ve been replaced with faces of laughter and excitement. The band come to the stage and rips into their setlist at full speed. The band that started out in 2006 has an almost pirate feel to it with group sing-alongs about rum, mixed with copious amount of organ-like keyboard playing in the background of monstrous guitar riffs. The crowd are lapping it up whilst the goblin runs round the stage swigging beer and mimicking the lead singer and co. Once again I have never seen a live act like this, but this time it is for the right reasons. The crowd is starting to grow in numbers and the pits begin to flow throughout the venue! A set highlight for sure must be the song ‘Giraffe’; it’s at this moment where the sing-alongs, fist pumping and genuine feel of fan satisfaction reach full swing! This continues over into their final song of the set ‘No One Survives’. It’s safe to say that Nekrogoblikon have definitely made some new fans tonight. A real perk of attending live music events. Birmingham will be eagerly awaiting the US Metallers return to English soil!

Rating: 6.5/10

Setlist:

1. Bells & Whistles 

2. Friends (In Space) 

3. Powercore 

4. Nothing but Crickets 

5. Giraffe 

6. No One Survives

As the latecomers flood into the main room of the O2 Acadamy, the stage is being set for the arrival of Japanese rockers Crossfaith. Crossfaith who hail all the way from Osaka are a band on everyone’s lips as of late. After a successful 2013 with the release of debut album ‘Apocalyze’, and successful gigs including Reading Festival, you get the feeling that when they hit the stage they will blow everyone away. Time will stop still as pits erupt throughout the room and standing-ticketed fans become part of a every man for themselves battle royal.

As expected Koie Kenta and co. hit the stage armed with their weapons of choice; Guitars, Bass, Mixing decks, Drums, oh and JAGERMEISTER! Yes that’s right! The Japanese crew party and party hard! Seconds into the drop of their first song, the crowd has been torn wide apart. Mayhem has broken out! Fans are jumping up and down, moshing, hardcore dancing etc. You name it, its happening at this moment of time! The chugs of Takemura Kazuki’s guitar mixed in with the electronica/Dubstep beats of Tamano Terufumi, intertwined with the roar screams of Koie Kenta create a real party tempo! Something that is perfect considering Jacksonville badboys Limp Bizkit are up next. Throughout the whole of Crossfaith’s 30 minute set, there is not a single body froze in sight. Everyone is truly in party spirits. Crossfaith’s music was intended for times like these. Live music is most definitely for the win! In between songs vocalist Koie Kenta interacts with the crowd rearing them up for headliners Limp Bizkit, whilst the following band members take a well-earned break and down the Jager onstage! The metalcore band also treat the crowd to a cover of The Prodigy’s hit ‘Omen’. This song is a perfect cover for a band like this! The crowd breakout into a raving atmosphere, belting out every word at the top of their voices back to Koie Kenta onstage! This will sure be a highlight to look back on come the end of the night! Crossfaith most definitely bought the WOW factor. Top songs of the set included ‘Jagerbomb’ and ‘Eclipse’. If you’re attending this year’s Download Festival, make sure you see Crossfaith! A must see band for anybody attending!

Rating: 9/10

Setlist:

1. We Are The Future
2. Jägerbomb
3. Countdown To Hell
4. Eclipse
5. Omen (The Prodigy Cover)
6. Leviathan

The time has come. Crossfaith has left the stage; the crowd catches their breath and recovers for what is to be another hour and a half of pure madness. After a 20 minute break it is finally time for nu metal legends Limp Bizkit to embrace their fans! Guitarist Wes Borderland takes to the stage oddly dressed as always playing the ukulele. Wes is met by an outrageous amount of cheers. It’s as if every man and woman in the crowd have turned into lovesick fangirls! The extragavent Wes is dressed to the nines. Painted up as per usual for the live shows but this time wearing a white suite and holiday-esque trilby! His mic stand is covered in Hawiian flower leis. This all makes sense later on in the set when Fred Durst announces Wes is still in ‘holiday mode’, hence why at this point he loses his trouses revealing his pants but still wearing his blazer and various different hats. Typical Wes.

Anyway, back to Wes and his ukulele, this goes on for a good minute and a half before he flings it off stage and begins to rock his guitar as the rest of Limp Bizkit roll up on stage. The 1st few chords of 9 teen 90 nine kick in and a roar from the audience grows louder and louder. Whilst Fred spits his bars the fans go mental screaming and rapping every word at the top of their voices. The fans are so loud at points during the song you really do struggle to hear Fred. This evidently blows him away.

A few songs in, Fred and co. decide to drop their most successful song to date. The song of a generation, Rollin’.  The crowd is in awe, as it should be. For the next four or five minutes, from the front to the back, all you can see are mimics of Fred Durst doing the famous dance moves from the music video. A truly great moment to witness live. The set also includes three fantastic covers. One of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ by Gun N’ Roses and then two covers they have released on their LP’s throughout the years. The 1st being ‘Faith’ by George Michael (dedicated to all the women in the audience) and then ‘Behind Blue eyes’ by The Who. Like every song in the set, they all had a special moment for the crowd which was entertaining regardless of if you’ve seen Limp Bizkit thousands of times or for the first time.

Other set highlights included ‘Hot Dog’, ‘Nookie’ and ‘Break Stuff’, all in which sparked numerous wild moshpits, an excessive amount of crowdsurfing and mass sing-a-longs, everything and more of what you’d expect when seeing Jacksonville’s finest tear the place apart.

Seeing Fred Durst and co. live for the second time also made me realise how skilled the band are at what they do. For a band to start out in 1994 and still be at the top of their game in 2014 is something to be truly proud of! Not many bands can say that in this day and age. You have to respect that about this band, rocking it on the big time for 20 years! Tonight’s gig alone shows they’ve still got it and for more years to come!

Limp Bizkit will be playing Sonisphere Festival this year. If you are attending be ready to get blown away by the red capped warrior Fred Durst, painted up Wes, Drum magician John Otto and the rest of the Matthew’s Bridge crew. They will eat you alive!

Rating: 9.5/10

Setlist:

1.  9 Teen 90 Nine 

2.  Full Nelson 

3. Welcome to the Jungle 
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
4. Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle) 

5. Gold Cobra 

6. Hot Dog 

7. Faith 
(George Michael cover)
8. My Generation 

9. Livin’ It Up 

10. Behind Blue Eyes 
(The Who cover) (aborted halfway through)
11. My Way 

12. Nookie 

13. Break Stuff

All in all, Kerrang Tour 2014 has been a major success. Let’s hope when it roles around in a year’s time, it’s lineup is just as exciting and sells out like this one.  Full credit to the bands involved.