Papa Roach bring the chaos, the anthems and an unforgettable live show to Cardiff

Papa Roach, LANDMVRKS and Sleep Theory
Utilita Arena Cardiff — 9 November 2026

Some concert bills simply make sense. From the moment Sleep Theory stepped onto the stage at Utilita Arena Cardiff, through the controlled chaos of LANDMVRKS and into a career-spanning headline performance from Papa Roach, this was one of those evenings where everything clicked.

Each band brought something different, but every set raised the temperature for the one that followed. By the time Papa Roach arrived, the arena was ready to erupt.

I made sure I arrived early because there was no chance I was missing Sleep Theory. Judging by how full the venue already was, plenty of others felt the same way.

The Memphis four-piece sounded enormous. Their combination of crushing guitars, electronic production and huge melodic hooks has already made them one of modern rock’s fastest-rising bands, but their music feels even bigger in an arena. Cullen Moore’s powerful vocals filled the venue, while his chemistry with guitarist Daniel Pruitt gave the performance a constant sense of movement and energy.

There is an obvious accessibility to Sleep Theory’s music, with polished choruses and the occasional use of vocal effects, but none of that diminishes what they can do live. Moore can seriously sing, and the production is used as another instrument rather than something for him to hide behind. The result feels like a modern continuation of the sound bands such as Amity Affliction helped popularise, rebuilt for a new generation and designed for much larger rooms.

Their crowd interaction was confident, their energy never dropped and they looked completely at home on an arena stage. Calling Sleep Theory an opening act already feels slightly misleading. They are developing at a speed that suggests they will not occupy that position for much longer.

LANDMVRKS followed and immediately changed the atmosphere.

The huge statues positioned on either side of the stage gave their set a much darker and more theatrical presentation. Atmospheric sounds and electronic details added tension between the heavier moments, creating something that felt immersive rather than simply loud.

At the centre of it all was Florent Salfati. His versatility is remarkable. He moved between clean singing, rapping, screams and guttural vocals without ever making the transitions feel forced. Around him, the entire band contributed to the performance, attacking the stage with enough energy to make their relatively short set feel like a headline show compressed into half an hour.

Sleep Theory had warmed up the arena. LANDMVRKS ripped it open.

Neither band felt like a traditional support act, which created the unusual problem of wondering how the headliner could possibly follow them. Fortunately, Papa Roach have spent more than three decades learning exactly how to command a crowd.

As Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” played, footage showed the band making their way towards the stage. Jacoby Shaddix appeared with the Welsh flag draped around him, avoiding the surprisingly common touring mistake of treating Wales as an interchangeable part of an English or British date.

Then the curtain dropped and “Between Angels and Insects” detonated inside the arena.

For me, this was a moment almost 30 years in the making. Papa Roach were one of the bands that first pulled me into nu-metal and alternative music. I grew up drawing their logo repeatedly and playing their records obsessively, yet somehow I had never managed to see them live.

Any fear that years of expectation might have built the moment up too much disappeared almost immediately.

Jacoby Shaddix is one of the best frontmen I have ever watched live. His energy is relentless, but there is far more to his performance than simply running from one side of the stage to the other. Every movement feels unmistakably his, right down to that trademark shoulder-and-chest movement and the way he throws his entire body into each lyric.

He commands an arena while still making the performance feel personal. One moment he is roaring through a chorus; the next he is whispering into the microphone, joking with the audience or encouraging another wave of crowd surfers. His sense of humour gives the show spontaneity, but he never allows it to disrupt the momentum.

At the London show two nights earlier, a fan’s shoe found its way onto the stage. Shaddix invited its owner to crowd-surf forward and collect it, only for the fan to throw his remaining shoe into the audience after arriving. Shaddix responded by launching the first shoe back into the crowd and telling him to enjoy the rest of the show.

That kind of interaction captures his appeal perfectly. He is charismatic, quick-witted and completely present in the moment. Even after more than three decades of performing these songs, nothing about him feels as though he is following a routine.

He must be absolutely exhausted when he leaves the stage.

The rest of Papa Roach are every bit as tight. The production was superb, the stage design gave every section of the arena something to watch and the setlist drew from across the band’s career. Early classics such as “She Loves Me Not”, “Blood Brothers” and “Getting Away With Murder” sat naturally alongside newer material including “Kill the Noise”, “BRAINDEAD” and “Even If It Kills Me”.

What stood out was how strongly everything landed.

There are Papa Roach songs I would not necessarily choose first when listening at home, but live, Shaddix transforms them into enormous arena moments. The hooks sound bigger, the heavier sections hit harder and the emotion behind the lyrics becomes impossible to ignore.

“Help” was the highlight of the night. Already one of the band’s most emotionally direct songs, it became something else entirely when thousands of voices joined Shaddix for its chorus. His vocal performance was outstanding, but it was the connection between the song, the band and the audience that made it feel so powerful.

Elsewhere, the band celebrated the scene that helped shape them with their nu-metal time-machine section, weaving tributes to artists including Deftones, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Korn into the set. Shaddix spoke about Korn being among the first major bands to believe in Papa Roach and take them onto an arena tour.

That acknowledgement felt significant. Shaddix has now become that same supportive figure for a younger generation of artists. His influence stretches well beyond Papa Roach’s own music, and his willingness to champion emerging bands has helped him become one of the scene’s most respected figures.

He belongs on nu-metal’s Mount Rushmore.

A thunderous cover of The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” fitted the set remarkably well, while mash-ups involving “Break Stuff” and “Chop Suey!” turned the closing stretch into a celebration of an entire musical era. Cullen Moore also returned to join Papa Roach for “Born for Greatness”, reinforcing the sense that the three bands were sharing a night rather than simply occupying separate slots on a running order.

Of course, everything eventually led to “Last Resort”.

Here is my potentially controversial opinion: “Last Resort” is not even one of Papa Roach’s five best songs.

Its importance cannot be denied, and hearing an arena scream every word remains an incredible experience. But the idea that Papa Roach are a one-hit wonder is one of rock music’s strangest and most persistent misconceptions. Their streaming figures, longevity and ability to headline arenas should have ended that conversation years ago.

This Cardiff performance made the argument redundant.

Papa Roach have a deep and varied catalogue, with songs capable of creating completely different reactions. They can produce chaos, vulnerability, humour and mass singalongs within the same show. Most significantly, their newer material does not feel like something the audience politely tolerates while waiting for the classics. It belongs alongside them.

More than three decades into their career, Papa Roach are not surviving on nostalgia. They are still evolving, still introducing younger bands to enormous audiences and still performing with the hunger of a group trying to prove itself.

Sleep Theory demonstrated why they are rapidly outgrowing the opening slot. LANDMVRKS delivered a devastating display of modern metalcore. Papa Roach then completed an unbelievably strong evening with a headline performance full of personality, spectacle and genuine connection.

After waiting most of my life to see them, Papa Roach did not merely meet the expectations I had carried since childhood.

They blew straight past them.