Papa Roach Take Over The O2

Words by Dave Martin/ Photos by Harris Tomlinson-Spence

I first saw Papa Roach live at Ozzfest 2001 at Milton Keynes Bowl when they were an up and coming band having burst onto the scene as part of the nu-metal revolution. Papa Roach’s Last Resort combined with Linkin Park’s One Step Closer were my introduction to the genre that has been a firm favourite of mine ever since. On their last trip to the UK they played Wembley Arena but ave now progressed to the largest indoor UK venue they have ever headlined. The Californians were joined on their Rise of the Roach tour by the sensational Sleep Theory and French metallers LANDMVRKS.

Sleep Theory

First band of the evening were, Memphis hard rock and alternative metal outfit Sleep Theory. The band who played Download festival over the summer have amassed a huge following since their 2023 EP Paper Hearts and 2025 debut album Afterglow, came out to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” before diving straight into a mix of soaring clean vocals and heavy grooves. Frontman Cullen Moore demonstrated his sense of humour on a number of occasions through the set early on asking, “Who hates Sleep Theory?” drawing a few playful cheers and laughing along with the room.

Making full use of the stage risers alongside the rest of the band, Moore spent plenty of time right at the front riser as spinning searchlights shifted into rapid strobes and vertical smoke jets fired toward the rafters. They treated London to a new track, “Giving In,” which earned a massive cheer at the end, and Moore kept the arena vocal by asking the crowd to sing the choruses back at him.

Audience participation was a huge part of the set. Demanding some physical energy, Moore told the room to “lock in” and get their hands pumping, leading to a sea of waving arms during “Stuck in My Head.” Things quickly turned playful when Moore laughed and asked for someone to crowd-surf from the back “like a dead roach”—a request that eventually saw someone dressed as Jesus crowd-surfing all the way from the back of the arena. Later, security handed Moore an inflatable, which he promptly used to hit his guitarist mid-set.

A standout musical moment came during “Numb,” when the entire band cut out completely to let the O2 sing the solo section before crashing back in. Announcing their final track, “Static,” a heavy intro kicked in and sparked a mosh pit right near the front. Surrounded by vertical smoke jets, Moore spotted something in the crowd so funny he couldn’t stop laughing while singing, even throwing on a wig before wrapping up the set as Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” played out over the PA.

Setlist

Fallout
Just a Mistake
Gravity
Giving In
Words Are Worthless
Stuck in My Head
Numb
Static

LANDMVRKS

Taking over as main support, French metalcore unit LANDMVRKS made the most of their 2025 album The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been to entice the crowd with a punchy, crushing set to the O2. With a giant inflatable statues looming at the back of the stage, frontman Florent Salfati paced relentlessly from side to side, commanding the room early on.

“London, are you fucking ready?” he barked, bathed in a single spotlight before calling for the crowd to open up the floor. The fans immediately obliged, tearing open a pit as a nonstop stream of crowd surfers poured over the security barrier. Salfati kept the intensity locked in throughout, shouting, “Let me fucking hear you!” as the band laid down a heavy, tight foundation before the headliners took over.

The group had the security team earning their wages with large numbers of crowd surfers enjoying the heavy atmosphere that the Marseille group generated.

Setlist

Creature
Death
A Line in the Dust
Sulfur
La valse du temps
Lost in a Wave
Rainfall
Blood-Red
Self-Made Black Hole

Papa Roach

Before Papa Roach even hit the stage, the O2 was already at fever pitch. Video screens at the front of the stage showed the band with frontman Jacoby Shaddix sporting a Union Flag over his shoulders walking through the backstage tunnels of the O2 to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” intercut with footage of the London crowd singing along at the top of their lungs. Suddenly, the screen cut to static, strobes began flashing, and the curtain dropped as the band launched straight into “Between Angels and Insects,” met by thunderous applause and a deafening cheer at the close.

Shaddix was in complete command from the jump. Calling on the crowd to “open up this pit” and pushing them to make it “bigger, bigger,” he kept the energy surging as beams of light swept over the audience at the end of “Kill the Noise” before plunging the arena into darkness. Demanding an “old school circle pit,” Shaddix headed down to the barrier during “…To Be Loved,” sharing a hug with a crowd surfer who came right over the top. “She Loves Me Not” followed, ending with hands in the air across the entire arena and a massive roar from the crowd.

Bathed in red and blue flashing lights and later deep crimson for “See U in Hell,” where Shaddix brought a guest vocalist out to join him on stage. Papa Roach balanced raw aggression with genuine gratitude and their long-standing commitment to mental health advocacy, having raised a large sum for UK suicide prevention charity CALM across the tour. Shaddix bounced across the stage during “Liar,” getting the whole floor jumping with him, before pausing to thank London for their energy and “for making our dreams come true.”

One of the loudest moments of the night came during their “Nu Metal Time Machine” medley. Kicking off with Korn’s “Blind” and their iconic chant of “Are you Ready?” followed by Deftones’ “My Own Summer (Shove It),” Shaddix teased the opening line of “Last Resort” with the line “Cut my life into pieces” only for the crowd to roar the rest of the verse back at him. Laughing, Shaddix shut it down: “It’s too early for that shit!”

The connection between band and fans never let up. Shaddix high-fived a steady stream of crowd surfers, returned to the barrier during “Tightrope,” and shared an encouraging message to “keep chasing your dreams.” On “Scars,” he asked London to sing at the top of their voices, and the arena happily echoed the chorus back at the stage, followed by vertical smoke jets lighting up “Even If It Kills Me.”

For “Born for Greatness,” Shaddix brought Sleep Theory’s singer back onto the stage, setting a mission to get a crowd surfer in a cockroach costume all the way from the front to the back and back again. The spectacle ramped up even further with red lights and searchlights sweeping the arena for a cover of The Prodigy’s “Firestarter,” where Shaddix had everyone crouch down to the floor and even led the arena through breathing exercises before erupting into a massive pit for “Blood Brothers.”

In one of the night’s wildest moments, a fan threw a shoe onto the stage, got crowd-surfed all the way to the front, and then threw their other shoe back out into the crowd—sticking around near the front as Papa Roach tore through a massive rendition of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” before finally bringing the house down with “Last Resort.”

Papa Roach’s modern show is a far cry from back in 2001 but their energy has increased tenfold. The group never disappoints and I can’t wait to see them live again.

Setlist