Camden Underworld
05/04/06
It was like being transported back 5 or 6 years when I walked past the World’s End, next to the venue. Kids wearing huge baggies, key chains, nu metal patches and t-shirts, all lined up to see the return of (hed)pe. I was looking forward to it, and had been bumping their album Broke in anticipation for what I expected to be a pretty rowdy show.
Unfortunately, I was dead wrong. Whilst the set started well, with Jahred and his group bringing the crowd to boiling point by knocking out some nice chunky nu metal, it went downhill faster than a rollercoaster at Alton Towers. Firstly, the set included just 2 songs from Broke, easily their best album, and was filled instead with third rate reggae and fast punk stuff that barely anyone knew or cared about.
Secondly, Jahred’s constant spiel about getting his nuts licked and how bitches should shut up and listen to Fall Out Boy just made me shake my head like a mother hearing her son use a cuss word at the dinner table. It got boring quickly, as did his talking about what a fool George Bush is. It’s not like we don’t know this, he’s been around 5 years, talk about something else.
The final straw for me was the encore. Or encores. There is absolutely no need for a group to walk off stage and come back on 4 times. In fact, the final time they re-emerged, they were facing only a half full crowd as everyone had assumed that they’d finally finished and started to leave.
Nu Metal isn’t as dead as everyone seems to think, with a full venue wanting to hear an hour long set filled with it, but if (hed) keep playing sets like this, then they’ll be digging their own grave, without needing the press to help them.