We meet the fans at Limp Bizkit’s sold-out Manchester arena show to find out why the band and the nu-metal scene is going through a resurgence right now...
It's been a big week for those with a penchant for red caps and baggy pants, as the Jacksonville juggernaut of Limp Bizkit has been tearing across the UK in a boisterous blur of starfish and mosh-pits, causing chaos at every turn.
Never ones to miss out on a bout of hotdog flavoured violence, we headed to the sold-out AO Arena in Manchester to meet Fred Durst's biggest fans on the Loserville tour get the skinny on the nu-metal revival and why there are way more than 46 fans in this fucked-up line…
How long have you been a Limp Bizkit fan?
“Since last year, properly. I saw them at Download and it was just sick. It was a cool show – it really lifted my mood after the shit weather all weekend.”
What's your favourite song by them?
“Probably Hotdog!”
Why do you think Bizkit are big again?
“Nu-metal is having a big resurgence at the moment, isn't it?”
What do you think is the most nu-metal thing about you?
“I just love the energy of it all!”
What other bands are you listening to at the moment?
“Beartooth, Knocked Loose, Bury Tomorrow, Electric Callboy, Ghost, Metallica.”
What are you wearing today?
“Cargos, a Beartooth T-shirt and my red cap!”
How long have you been a Limp Bizkit fan for?
“Just a few years really, when I started getting into metal and they are one of the big ones. I got into them through Spotify, it had them on my Recommended after listening to Slipknot.”
What's your favourite song?
“Probably Hotdog, to be honest. Break Stuff as well, though. Gotta go with Break Stuff!”
Why do you think Bizkit are big again?
“I think because they're part of the big four of nu-metal, aren't they? Them and Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park.”
And why do you think nu-metal is back?
“Because it's cool.”
What is the most nu-metal thing about you?
“All the headbanging I do. Especially when I'm playing in my band.”
What other bands are you listening to at the moment?
“(Pulls up Spotify playlist) Whitechapel, The Devil Wears Prada, Bury Tomorrow, Ghost. There's 600 songs in here, so it might take a while to list it all…”
What are you wearing today?
“Cargos, a white T-shirt under here, and a red hat obviously!”
How long have you been a Limp Bizkit fan?
“From years ago! From the start, really. I just remember it was back in the early days, the early ’90s. They're bang on, aren't they?”
Why do you think Bizkit are big again?
“Because they're just it, aren't they? They're cool. I don't know, I couldn't tell you, they're just too good.”
What is the most nu-metal thing about you?
“Just going out gigging. I'm out representing my daughter's band, which I've got tattooed on me: Defovella.”
What other bands are you listening to at the moment?
“Metallica, probably a bit of Korn. Slipknot. Everything really – everything metal! I just try and listen to everything.”
What are you wearing today?
“You just gotta go with the flow, haven't ya? It's a Limp Bizkit jersey with 'Durst' on the back.”
How long have you been a fan of Limp Bizkit?
“Oh, 25 years – they were one of the first metal bands I heard. I listened to the Chocolate Starfish album and I was like, 'This is amazing!' I was a big wrestling fan and Limp Bizkit just tied together with it perfectly. Trying to remember what I first heard… it'll have either been the intro to the album or Break Stuff on Kerrang!.”
What keeps you listening to them?
“Maybe it's the nostalgia for the late ’90s and early 2000s. They're just kind of timeless though, aren't they?”
What would you say is the most nu-metal thing about you?
“Probably my pants! They're not that baggy but still. My band is metalcore – very heavy metalcore – but I'd say Limp Bizkit were an inspiration. There's electric drums in there that are very nu-metally, hip-hoppy. My band is Eschalon. Get the plug in!”
What other bands are you listening to at the moment?
“The new Sleep Token song [Emergence] is really good. The new Spiritbox album is also really good. And a lot of Limp Bizkit gearing up for this tour!”
And what are you wearing?
“Some skinny, light brown chinos with white socks and Vans. Also this Live, Laugh, Limp Bizkit T-shirt in the gothic print.”
How did you first get into Limp Bizkit?
“I've been listening to nu-metal since forever. It's kind of like, once you know Korn you know everyone else, and you listen to everyone else. I think the energy they bring to the community is amazing. Fred Durst has got a good energy, you know? And they're one of those bands that feels like home.”
Why do you think nu-metal is back with such a vengeance?
“When you look at the resurgence of bands now leaning on this Y2K or nu-metal outlook on the way they produce work, it gives you a sense of family as well. There's so many nu-metal bands that are so close-knit with each other. I feel like sometimes with solo artists they don't always have that heart in their work, but with bands who have created their own noise and their own way of making music together, it really brings them all together. And I think nu-metal does that the best out of all the genres.”
What are you wearing?
“This vintage leather coat was second-hand from a charity shop. The shirt I got from a charity shop, too. This T-shirt is actually a Korn shirt, but I'm wearing it backwards because I didn't have another white T-shirt. Vans I bleached myself, and trousers I made myself.”
How did you first get into Limp Bizkit?
“I got into them through wrestling.”
Why do you think nu-metal is back in such a big way?
“I think music in general always does that. Anything that got popular in the early 2000s always ends up coming back at the end of the day. And it goes through cycles, where people get bored of certain genres, and you can only make new genres every so often, so people decide, 'Oh that genre from 20 years ago is actually alright!'”
What are you wearing?
“My steel-cap boots are second-hand from Vinted, I think they're originally from KOI. The pants are from a shop in Afflecks – Punk'd Image I think. This top was something my mum got me years ago. And this hoodie was like £4 off Ali Express.”
How long have you both been Limp Bizkit fans?
Emma: “Maybe like five years.”
Tommy: “This will be my first time seeing them.”
Emma: “It'll be my first time too!”
Tommy: “I've only listened to them a couple of times, but because she asked me to come, I thought I'd try it.”
Emma: “Yeah I'll play the CD at work...”
Tommy: “...And I thought, ‘I kinda like this!’”
What got you into them?
Emma: “I don't know, it's just loud and it's nice, innit?! You get to bounce around and it keeps you going through the day.”
What other music are you listening to at the moment?
Emma: “I went to see Korn in Scarborough and they were really good. Pantera, Slipknot, Metallica.”
Tommy: “I don't really listen to bands as much as her. More like hard techno, proper headbanger stuff. Similar energy, to be fair.”
What is the most nu-metal thing about you?
Emma: “Probably right now it's the Fred Durst cap!”
What are you both wearing?
Emma: “Converse, baggy jeans, white top and the cap.”
Tommy: “I've just got my Air Force Ones, jeans, Berghaus.”
How long have you been Limp Bizkit fans?
Jennifer: “Just forever. I like the style, the vibe.”
Mia: “The fanbase is a really nice fanbase as well, everyone is really warm. The music gives you a chance to express who you are.”
What else are you listening to at the moment?
Mia: “I like a bit of everything – Korn, Slipknot, Papa Roach. I like a bit of doom metal, French metal.”
Jennifer: “Wheatus!”
Why do you think nu-metal is back at the moment?
Jennifer: “It's gained popularity again, hasn't it? I don't know, it's come full-circle.”
Mia: “It's having a huge impact, isn't it?”
What are you wearing today?
Mia: “New Rocks, army shorts, a Slipknot band shirt I got when I saw them in December and a Limp Bizkit hat.”
Jennifer: “DC trainers, ripped tights and jeans and this jacket.”
