From the moment the first flames shot up from the stage at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena (8th February 2025), it was clear Papa Roach weren’t here to mess around. A packed-out crowd, a setlist built for chaos, and enough pyro to set off alarms—this was rock at its most explosive.
Before the main event, the energy was already high. Fans packed into the arena, beers in hand, throwing inflatable Papa Roach pool rings into the air as Alyx Holcombe’s DJ set turned the room into a pre-show party. System of a Down, Sum 41, Slipknot—every track hit hard, with heads banging and voices already shredding before the first live riff even dropped. By the time Wage War stepped on stage, Nottingham was more than ready.
They came out swinging. Black-and-white strobes ripped through the dark as their guitars hit like a hammer, frontman Briton Bond’s long hair whipping back and forth as he threw himself into every growl. Tombstone cracked open the first massive circle pit, Blur had hands stretching toward the stage, and by Manic, security was already pulling crowd surfers over the barricades. The set was fast, aggressive, and completely relentless.
And then, the fire hit.
Pyro blasted up from the stage as Papa Roach tore into Getting Away with Murder, and the place erupted. Jacoby Shaddix was a blur, charging from one end of the stage to the other, climbing speakers, throwing himself into the crowd’s energy. “You crazy motherf**ers, I hear you! Nottingham, this is home tonight!” The response was deafening.
The setlist was pure adrenaline. …To Be Loved turned the floor into a storm of bodies jumping in time, flames blasting on the beat. Born for Greatness had arms in the air from front to back, the entire room moving as one. Scars was a full-volume singalong, fans screaming the words as if they’d waited years for this moment.
Then, the mood shifted.
The stage washed in deep blue and purple, and the intro to Forever melted into a chilling snippet of In The End in tribute to Chester Bennington. “We fing miss you, Chester, but this music lives on. And so do all of you,” Jacoby said, gripping the mic, his voice raw. The arena lit up with phone torches, thousands of tiny lights flickering in the darkness. The crowd clapped in unison as Falling Apart built to its climax, Jacoby roaring, “I keep falling apart… but I get back up.”
Then, complete blackout. The stage screen lit up with a message about mental health awareness, directing fans to FindAHelpline.com. When Leave A Light On began, it felt like the entire room was breathing together, standing still for the first time all night.
But that didn’t last long.
The next run of songs hit like a sledgehammer. No Apologies had Jacoby climbing down to the front barrier, screaming the words with fans as bodies flew overhead in waves of crowd surfers. Born for Greatness turned the arena into a bouncing mass, pyro blasts heating up the air with every beat.
When the band left the stage, the crowd wasn’t having it. The chant was immediate—“PAPA ROACH! PAPA ROACH!”—a demand, not a request. They came back out, teasing Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff before throwing the pit into complete chaos with Broken Home.
Then, the final explosion—the unmistakable intro of Last Resort. The arena went off, crowd surfers flooding the barricades, security scrambling, Jacoby screaming every word as thousands of voices roared it back at him. The band stood together at the end, looking out at the destruction they’d just caused. One last high-five to a passing crowd surfer, one last blast of applause, and it was over.
Nottingham just got wrecked in the best way possible.
🔥 11/10. No survivors.
