Limp Bizkit Live @ The Paramount
By Seth M
It’s been a good seven years since Fred Durst took Limp Bizkit on a full tour ~ but from what I witnessed the other night, this band hasn’t missed a beat.
Limp Bizkit had some highs and lows in their days of touring and I even recall a tour where they were literally booed from the stage. This certainly wasn’t the case on Tuesday when Bizkit played to a sold out, 1500+ crowd, at The Paramount. Not only did Fred Durst, Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, and John Otto rock, but the crowd did too.
From Wes Borland’s first note, this crowd was on fire. For those who have never seen Wes Borland play, let me tell you ~ he’s not only a kick ass guitar player, he’s also a crazy, eccentric dude when it comes to his stage presence. Over the years, I have enjoyed the anticipation of seeing what Wes would look like at each and every show.
Tuesday he once again outdid himself: dressed in full black body paint and lit-up face mask, he was something out of a horrific Phantom of the Opera. Of course, no one can outdo Wes at a Limp Bizkit show, but Fred held his own, sporting his obligatory baseball cap and a bushy beard like he had just come from filming his part as the Hipster Unabomber.
The show kicked off with four songs from the multiplatinum Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. The band plowed through “Rollin,” “Hot Dog,” “My Generation,” and “Livin it Up,” and by the time they dove into “My Way,” the crowd was in a total, full-blown frenzy. Fred was definitely having it his way. He said he was told that the Long Island crowd is “fuckin’ crazy” and that he had to play The Paramount. As if the crowd weren’t already pumped beyond belief, when Fred announced that it was “fucking official,” this was the place and the show where they were going to film their latest video for “Ready to Go,” and that they were going to need the everyone to get crazy and stay that way through multiple takes, the L.I. fans gladly obliged. Every single person in attendance went totally nuts for “Ready to Go” ~ not once, but twice. For the second take, Fred invited some fans on stage including one he let sing, a dancing girl in a red cape and a Winnie The Pooh costumed crowd surfing, cart wheeling/somersaulting dude..
Bizkit continued the onslaught of songs with “Bring it Back,” “Eat You Alive,” “I’m Broke” and the old school “Sour” ~ which they haven’t performed in over a decade ~ followed by “Re-Arranged.” Just when it seemed like the crowd was going to explode from excitement, the band segued into a cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of” and the 1500+ audience members lost their freakin’ minds, chanting the infamous “…Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me…” line as if this song were still in daily rotation.
But wait, it’s wasn’t over…this crowd wasn’t even close to tired and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and his band weren’t ready to leave what might arguably turn out to be the best show of their tour. Kicking off the encore with a cover of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes,” the band couldn’t not be impressed when Fred stopped and stopped the music and they witnessed the whole crowd singing every single word. They ripped into George Michael’s “Faith,” then “Take A Look Around,” and then it happened.. YES!! The song that no Limp Bizkit show is complete without, the unsurpassed crowd favorite “Break Stuff” ~ and if there had been anything to break, I think this crowd would have destroyed the place.
If anyone thinks this band is done or can’t get out and rock like they used to…WRONG!! They came out high energy and never slowed down, they sounded great, Wes Borland’s guitar was screaming, and the set list was fantastic. If you’ve never seen Bizkit love, now’s the time ~ “So come and get it!”