The Carnival Of Madness Tour featured Shinedown, Skillet, Papa Roach, and In This Moment at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. It was one of the warmer days in Spokane, WA and this late in the year, after a rather steady “warm” summer , the weather made the concert a sweaty mess of splendor.
Getting into the Fairgrounds was a mess and took way too long. So, by the time I got to see the opener, In This Moment, they were wrapping up. No loss, I’ve seen them countless times now and they are comical and sexy, musically boring but the visuals make up for the lack of talent.
Up next was Papa Roach from Vacaville, CA. I believe the last time I saw Papa Roach was in their infancy to success. They were an opener for a big festival at Sacramento State back when Limp Bizkit was HUGE, Staind was breaking and Kid Rock was taking over the world. Papa Roach’s logo back then was the classic “RAID” bug spray logo. I wasn’t too impressed with them then and watching them over the years, they never really had caught my overall attention to the point where I’d buy albums, see their concerts for them, etc. They were a great radio-friendly band and have been blessed all these years with great success in that regard. I have to give it up to Papa Roach at this performance; lead singer Jacoby’s enthusiasm and love of playing live is infectious and he tried so hard to rile up a confined Spokane crowd (all seating, no moshing going on until Jacoby insisted people get loose, security loosens up and the crowd responded accordingly). One thing I noticed at this show, since it was at a family friendly location where the crowd outside the fairgrounds could hear the language of lyrics, so I suspect bands were warned to limit their vulgarity. Papa Roach did the best they could to abide, but it weakened their songs and moments when freedom of speech is withheld. There’s nothing more disgusting when music is censored.
After Papa Roach played, I finally met up with some good friends who were attending. I met them in the beer garden to watch Skillet perform. I wasn’t too familiar with Skillet besides a few songs I had heard on the radio. They were okay. Their music is very rock radio-friendly with strings. They pulled the Slipknot card by putting members of the band on risers that reached high into the air and it overall felt like a weaker version of Apocalyptica. Ultimately, a new generation of rock fans will adore this band because they are harmless rock fun. Ultimately, not for me but I give them kudos for some catchy tunes and an audience that seemed to really adore them.
Headliners Shinedown took the stage next. I had read an article that morning regarding the lead singer of Papa Roach and Shinedown were both struggling to sing through this tour. Jacoby from Papa Roach has a documented history of his throat problems. Look for that documentary where he sits in the same waiting room I have had COUNTLESS times at UCSF before many of my surgeries throughout life. It is very strange to smile at something so awfully familiar. As for Shinedown and Papa Roach, I couldn’t hear that much struggle to hit notes but you can tell where high or long notes where they would either not bother or find a lower key to hit.
This being the Carnival Of Madness Tour, circus performers in black costumes came onto the stage to open with dance and fire breathing, blowing and swallowing. The performers would come out a couple more times during the performance and it just simply got in the way of the band. Unnecessary delays between songs with the performers and a multimedia presentation between many songs had me restless to hear the next song. Each song performed, though, was absolutely fantastic once again by one of the best rock bands in the country. Their closing numbers with Simple Man/.45 blended together was so absolutely breathtaking…I have heard it sung better before but this rendition was so very special.
If you get a chance, do see Shinedown for sure.
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