I was never really a fan of Papa Roach. I knew Last Resort and Scars from Naruto fan edits from when I was younger. Beyond that, I never really explored their music. So, when they were promoting the Malaysian leg of their Rise of the Roach tour, I was 50/50 about going.
But I saw that the tickets were affordable and it might be a good concert to go for this year, since I’ve been going for concerts each year (Dua Lipa in 2024 and Green Day in 2025). Boy, was it the best decision I made.
I was actually supposed to go with Prishya but she couldn’t make it, so I bribed Muhiilesh and dragged him to the concert with me. He ended up having a great time and even met his colleague there!
When we reached the venue, the DJ was playing rock/pop punk/metal/rap songs from the late 90s to early 2000s. Basically a big chunk of my music growing up. So Muhiilesh and I were just rocking along to the songs, getting hyped up for the main event.
Our assigned seats almost at the very back of the hall (yeah, we got the cheapest ones) were taken by other people. So we decided to sit at another vacant seat. Then, the ushers came up to us and said that we could go to the rockzone if we wanted to. Free upgrade hehehe so of course we went!
The whole show was a crazy experience, especially the Nu Metal Time Machine. I was never a nu metal fan but I did know enough to enjoy that segment of the show. Plus, the Chester tribute was so touching. Muhiilesh and I were joking about how they’re gonna be bringing up a special guest performer since not a lot of people showed up, and in a way, Chester was the special guest for this show.
The mosh pit and the moment leading to it (Jacoby Shaddix, Mr Father Roach himself parting the Rockzone crowd like Moses did the Red Sea) was surreal to experience in person. Sorry, I was not familiar with the rock concert culture as a small town gal from Texas, Malaysia. But not anymore.
