Papa Roach live at Welcome to Rockville 2017

Today, I’m in the middle of what’s going to be a stupidly large gallery of Amon Amarth at Rock on the Range. I figured that would be a suitable follow up to my gallery of them at Carolina Rebellion… But, they’re not quite ready to share yet. In lieu of that, I thought some photos of Papa Roach live at Welcome to Rockville would suffice for the evening.

Like most people of my generation, it was love at “Last Resort”. Infest and lovehatetragedy were the soundtracks to my teenage years and I was lucky enough to see Papa Roach in 2004 before they could even sell out a 750 max capacity venue. Since then, I’ve been to countless, sold out headline shows and watched their sets on many major US rock festivals. They only get better with time.

Vocalist Jacoby Shaddix comes out swinging, guitarist Jerry Horton flashes a radiant smile and bassist Tobin Esperance pounds his heart out – the crowd is hooked in a beat.

Only a couple singles from the upcoming Crooked Teeth album had been released at the time of Welcome to Rockville. I was already addicted to the single “Help” and was glad to hear it incorporated into their setlist.

I found myself bewildered by a new face on stage. He looked strangely like a mix of Jerry and Tobin. I eventually made the discovery that he actually is Tobin’s brother, so I wasn’t too far off. Anthony Esperance hangs toward the back of the stage, but is just as expressive as Tobin and gives an extra boost to the live sound with additional backup guitars and keyboard.

A new touring member was not the only surprise Papa Roach had in store…

The ever lovely Maria Brink of In This Moment joined Jacoby on stage for a live performance of their duet, “Gravity”!

Papa Roach tossed out plenty of drumsticks, guitar picks and setlists to the devoted crowd before saying their thanks and signing off stage.