Limp Bizkit Tour Thrills Fans

July 12 -- Sherra Elkins of Ann Arbor, Mich., arrived at the State Theatre Sunday morning, two and half days before the first show of Limp Bizkit’s “Back to Basics” free tour Tuesday night.

Not only was she the first fan to score one of the 3,000 wristbands that secured her admission, she also talked to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst via a cell phone provided by an MTV news crew.

“It was pretty cool,” the pink-haired Elkins, 17, said as she waited for the theater’s doors to open. “He just wanted to know how we were doing.”

Fred Durst’s Pre-Show HospitalityThe answer was that they were just fine — thanks in part to hospitality that included free water, pizza, cereal, bananas, and even rain ponchos from Limp Bizkit and other sources during the fans’ stay on the sidewalk. Durst even made several visits to the line himself to shake hands, sign autographs, and hand out water and, at one point, a bag of Doritos from backstage.

And the fans were even better off once Limp Bizkit roared into its 85-minute, 16-song show, which kicked off a 20-date (and counting) road show that’s courted controversy with a reported $1.8 million sponsorship from Napster.

Ironically, the show took place just a few hours after a congressional subcommittee heard testimony, pro and con, about the music-sharing software in Washington, D.C. By the time the lights went down, however, nobody cared about Napster, which had provided free bottled water for those who waited in line and was represented by a painted bus parked outside the theater and a few banners inside. All eyes and ears were focused on Limp Bizkit, which delivered a performance that didn’t let up from start to finish.

Metallica Tribute

Introduced by Verne Troyer — Mini Me from Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me — Limp Bizkit opened with the aggressive groove of “Hot Dog Flavored Water,” the only song it played from its upcoming album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water.