Limp Bizkit Tour Thrills Fans

July 12, 2000 -- 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.

From there, the quintet covered mostly familiar ground from its two albums, Significant Other and Three Dollar Bill, Y’all, along with a batch of covers that included a short piece of Slayer’s “Angel of Death,” its hit rendition of George Michael’s “Faith,” Ministry’s “Thieves,” and House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” A cover of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” came as a particular surprise, since that group has been critical of Limp Bizkit for accepting Napster’s sponsorship. But Durst positioned the song as a conciliatory gesture, reminding the crowd of 3,000 that he and his bandmates are “huge Metallica fans.”

Fans Invited to StageThough accented by pyrotechnics and a storm of confetti during the encores, the show’s most striking feature was a 20-foot high chain fence that Limp Bizkit performed behind — and was occasionally obscured by — in lieu of a standard barricade.

Fans who took advantage of the group’s proximity — and Durst’s encouragement — by trying to scale the prop were quickly pulled off by security guards, though some made it to the top, while a couple were able to slip through a slightly lower hole from which Durst often sang. Despite that, and some ferocious moshing on the floor, theater paramedics reported treating just a few cases of heat exhaustion during the show.

The members of Limp Bizkit sounded tight and were animated throughout the night, prodded by the palpable joy of an audience that was clearly thrilled to be at what it considered to be a major rock and roll event. “Is this a great f—king night or what?” Durst asked early in the show, while later he announced, “Are you glad this show is free tonight? I am.”

The singer periodically tossed bottles of water over the fence, and, towards the end of the set, he brought one fan on stage to perform Method Man’s part during “N 2 Gether Now.”

Family Affair

Among those watching were Tommy Lee and his band, Methods of Mayhem (in town for Ozzfest), members of Britney Spears’ tour crew, and the parents of Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto, who came up from Jacksonville, Fla.

After the show, the group members pronounced themselves pleased but also expecting better things for future shows on the tour. “Over all, I think the fans got it,” said bassist Sam Rivers. “They were really energetic. It was awesome. But it’s the first show; we have to work a bunch of kinks out. Overall it was good, and I think the fans got their worth out of it, so hopefully they liked it. That’s all that matters.”

The band mates said that they planned to make some modifications in the stage and lighting designs to make the musicians more visible to the crowd. More new songs might be added, too, but they weren’t sure of that just yet.

Cypress Hill Opener

After an opening set by the Detroit band Broadzilla, Cypress Hill got the crowd bumping and swaying with an hour-long blend of hip hop fare and a selection of rockers from its latest album, Skull & Bones. Favorites including “Insane in the Brain” and the dope anthem “Hits From the Bong” were enthusiastically received, as were raging, leaden rock songs such as “Can’t Get the Best of Me,” “(Rock) Superstar,” and the Internet-only track “Take It Back,” which featured backing by Cypress member Sen Dog’s side project, SX-10.

Like Limp Bizkit, Cypress expressed great pride in being part of the free tour. “Nobody else is doing this s—t,” said the group’s B Real. “Nobody else has [the] balls. But you have two groups here that have a lot of balls.” And a lot of heart, too, which resulted in the kind of concert that would have been worth paying for, but was absolutely a treat for free.