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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Web-only feature: Papa Roach Infests the world of rock

As the sun began slowly maneuvering behind the 50-foot buildings in downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, a huge mass of people patiently awaited the star performance of rock’s new unsung heroes, Papa Roach.

Held at Power Plant Live and sponsored by WHFS 99.1, the free concert lured thousands. People maneuvered their way into the nearby parking garage to get a better view and escape the mayhem down below.

Audience members climbed cement walls and managed to secure a bird’s-eye view of lead singer Coby Dick and his crew. Everyone was there for one reason – to see the outrageous and entertaining Papa Roach.

Some may call them the new rock heroes, others say that they are another spin-off of hard-rock-rap-filtered bands like Limp Bizkit. However the group is classified, the wildly energetic Papa Roach has arrived and is here to stay. The quartet from Vacaville, Calif., which makes up Papa Roach are lead singer Coby Dick, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Tobin Esperance and guitarist Jerry Horton.

As the foursome, dressed in monochromatic black, takes the stage, the band’s animated singer shouts for the crowd to make noise. Dick, a gifted singer, bellows the first song, Infest. A slew of fans begin to crowd surf and Dick notices men fondling the women crowd surfers. The music stops and Dick instructs the crowd to respect the females. A roar of approval erupts from the ladies in the crowd.

The music continues, and Baltimore rocks on. During the entire concert, Dick and the band gave it their all. They know how to maintain the energy within the crowd. For the finale, Dick ended the show with the chart-topping hit Last Resort. There are no gimmicks with Papa Roach – what you see is what you get. Sounding as good, perhaps even better than on their CD, the band’s performance was stellar.

Papa Roach’s new CD, Infest, was released in August and has made it to Billboard’s top 100, remaining steady at number eight. Although the band struck gold with its first album, Papa Roach is not letting the success go to its head. The world of music has embraced the band with open arms. For their fans, they can’t seem to get enough of the hard-hitting sound that Papa Roach creates.

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