May 30, 2001

Limp Bizkit : Antwerp Sportpaleis

The Anger Management Tour hits Belgium...

When you've staged a zillion propane explosions, state-of-the-art choreographies, and a laser show worthy of Jean-Michel Jarre, what exactly do you do for an encore? Well, nothing, it turns out, as the "we want more" chants of the audience grow to a deafening roar before the houselights are finally switched on. But hey, who needs an encore when you've just witnessed one of the most perfectly staged pop extravaganzas this side of the Pet Shop Boys?

That the Bizkit have chosen to play the Antwerp Sportpaleis for the Belgian leg of their European tour is indicative of their priorities: the technical possibilities of the venue are nearly endless, but the sound quality in here sucks beyond belief. No surprise then, that by a thousand miles, the least exciting thing tonight is the music - or at least what we hear of it. However loud Fred Durst shouts that his songs will last longer than the nu-metal fad, live there's no concealing that they're all built around the same flimsy formula. For now, however, the kids are more than happy with the primal energy and stormy sentiments of the songs on 'Chocolate Starfish And The Hotdog Flavored Water', which, alongside previous hits like 'Break Stuff', 'Nookie', and their version of George Michael's 'Faith', make up tonight's set.

Musically, the only surprise is Wes Borland's solo rendition of Metallica's 'Master of Puppets', with the lyrics changed to "Napster of Puppets". On the pyrotechnical side of things, spectacular surprises are less few and far between. In fact, on the evidence of tonight's perfectly timed explosions and gigantic Bunsen burners, the theory that Fred Durst knew exactly which types of fireworks he was going to use before he had written one note of music becomes scarily plausible.

Perhaps most evident on this Anger Management Tour is that Limp Bizkit are not in it for the credibility stakes or the approval of the rock cognoscenti, but for the simple thrill of a good night out. For all his lighters-in-the-air platitudes, you have to give it to Fred Durst that he's struck a chord with millions of kids across the globe. And that can only be a good thing.

Manu Lammens