NU METAL SUCKS – A Night Of “Feel-Good” Music
Review and photos by Brian Serra
“NU METAL SUCKS” is something that sounds like it would come from a pedantic metal elitist about to go off on a 3 am Reddit rant that nobody asked for, but it’s actually the title of the current tour featuring Primer 55, (HED) P.E., and Spineshank.
All 3 bands are celebrating 25 years since the release of arguably the albums that helped them make a dent in the music industry.
It’s weird to think that nu metal bands exploded onto the scene over 2 decades ago. Back in the day (did anyone else just hear their back crack?), you could feel the musical tides turning. People were increasingly fed up with the polished sheen of boy bands, and the masses started to crave something more… gritty, aggressive, loud, and in-your-face.
Cue the supernova of pop and the rise of “nu metal,” a style that was, more or less, an amalgamation of rap and metal. All of a sudden, every guitarist played in drop D and bands like KoRn and Limp Bizkit replaced N Sync and Britney Spears as the “nu” school leaders of the MTV generation.
Record labels scrambled to snatch up any and every act that would even remotely fall under “nu metal,” and before you knew it, MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball and “Return Of The Rock” specials were the premier shows to find the latest and greatest that the genre had to offer.
I’ll leave the history lesson there, because this is the period in time in which the bands of tonight’s “Nu Metal Sucks” tour took center stage.
But before we get to the tour’s namesake, Oceans On Other Planets was set to warm up the crowd for the nu metal pioneers.
While I and those in attendance at the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, Illinois, enjoyed their set, they’re kind of the odd band out on this bill. The only qualifier that would connect them to nu metal, I suppose, would be their recent collaboration with Jay Gordon, the lead singer of Orgy, a band that rose to fame alongside nu metal bands.
Anyway, nu metal, not nu metal, whatever genre they fall into, variety is a good thing. Oceans On Other Planets got the crowd going. Frontman Nick Wolf even performed off stage among the crowd at one point during their set.
Local Opener So-Called Saints got the crowd warmed up with their hardcore metal sound, despite pivoting with an earlier set time that was listed.
Next up, Primer 55.
Sadly, Jason “J-Sin” Luttrell passed away in 2018, but new vocalist Donny “The DRP” Polinsky made sure to make the crowd know that he isn’t there to replace J-Sin, but to celebrate the band’s music and legacy with its fans. The new vocalist brought the energy of the entire room up a notch with that set and primed the stage for (HED) P.E.
Alright. Here we go. Full disclosure, and no offense to any of the other bands on this tour, but (HED) P.E. is the band that I was here to see tonight.
The first time I caught (HED) P.E. live was on their aptly named “Head to (HED)” tour with the masked nu metal band, Mushroomhead, about a decade ago. Their energy on this night was just as infectious as I had remembered. Jared (lead singer) and company ripped through most of their album Broke, one of the albums that was celebrating its 25th anniversary. You get a little bit of everything with a (HED) P.E. set.
Melodica interlude? Yup.
A noticeably reggae-tinged song with no screaming or aggressive vocals whatsoever? Yup (it’s called “The Meadow.” Look it up!).
(HED) P.E.’s set had such a positive vibe throughout; Jared even shared stories about finding time in-between shows to make it to his son’s graduation, and to spend some time with his daughter. I know most people don’t associate nu metal with the warm and fuzzies, but this just felt right. The set ended with a crowd sing-along to “Bartender,” arguably (HED) P.E.’s biggest hit. It was a PERFECT way to close their set.
On to the headliner… Spineshank!
Now, on the topic of nu metal’s heyday on MTV, as a Filipino kid who never really thought much about the importance of representation, my eyes were suddenly glued to the TV when I stumbled upon Spineshank’s video for “Synthetic,” and Jonny Santos (lead singer) was screaming at me through the screen. Look, the only other Filipino I’ve seen on MTV is apparently one of the Black Eyed Peas (and no, it’s not the one you’re thinking of). At that moment, to little Brian (Hi. That’s me!), it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.
Well, tonight, Spineshank delivered and then some. Celebrating 25 years of their album The Height Of Callousness, Jonny led the crowd to sing and scream along with him. He even prompted the crowd to illuminate the venue with only their lighters and phones during the song “Beginning Of The End.” Towards the end of their set and the night as a whole, I witnessed what I would describe as a “happy wall of death.”
Security didn’t even have to step in to keep anyone in line. Everyone was just clearly having the time of their lives. It was the exclamation point to a night of nothing but positive vibes. At a time when everything in the world seems so… volatile… tonight, even for a brief moment, everyone in attendance at The Apollo Theater in Belvidere, Illinois was able to forget about their problems and just have a good time.
To quote a (HED) P.E. song that was played during their set tonight:
“The world’s dying. We don’t care. We just want to feel good.”
Read more reviews here!
Links:
Spineshank:
Official: https://spineshank.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spineshank/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spineshankband
(HED) P.E.:
Official: https://www.hedplanetearth.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hedpe/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealhedpe/
Primer 55:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRIMER55OFFICIAL/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primer55official/
Oceans On Other Planets:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansonotherplanets/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceansonotherplanets/
So-Called Saints:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socalledsaints/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socalledsaints/
