CMW: Papa Roach with One Bad Son and Second Pass at The Danforth Music Hall

Papa Roach helped Toronto kick off Canadian Music Week with a BANG!, as they performed at the Danforth Music Hall on Tuesday night.

In all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect from their set as I haven’t really followed them since 2008. But holy cow! They exceeded my expectations and essentially left me in the dust as I witnessed their performance.

They opened up with the title track from their upcoming album, ‘Crooked Teeth’, before indulging us with some fan favourites such as …To Be Loved, She Loves Me Not, and of course, Scars. The set list was very diverse – making sure to please all of their fans, while also giving us a taste of what’s to come on their new album.

Vocalist, Jacoby Shaddix, is one of the most energetic front men I’ve ever seen. He was never in the same place on stage for very long, and when he wasn’t running around he was trying to find more ways to interact with the crowd. The band as a whole radiates this positive energy on stage that’s hard to describe unless you were there. It’s as if they turned the Danforth Music Hall into one big dance party with the band and the fans feeding off each other’s excitement. It really felt like a community.

At the end of the night it was clear that Papa Roach had defied any expectations anyone had of them. They closed out their show with Between Angels and Insects, and proved that even after being a band for over 20 years, they’ve still got it and won’t be slowing down any time soon.

Be sure to pick up Papa Roach’s upcoming album Crooked Teeth, which will be released May 19^th.