Gallery • 8 Photos

Sophia Lottmann

Everyone knows that one of my favorite bands is Limp Bizkit. I even did a timeline article about them earlier this year. I was actually supposed to see the band last summer at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Unfortunately, the show got canceled minutes before the doors opened, but to show his appreciation for the fans, Fred Durst came out of his bus to apologize and hang out with those still there on the sidewalk. When the band announced their latest tour, I made sure to get tickets as soon as possible. I came prepared with the iconic “red baseball hat” again. I was extremely happy that I could even find one because Fred Durst signed my other one, and they are extremely hard to find these days. 

The concert took place on May 6, 2022 at the Etess Arena, and my parents and I went to the show together. Once we got there, the tour buses were parked out front, so we knew that they were already in there getting ready for the show. There were many different statues of guitars and all sorts of things related to music because the Etess Arena is located in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Once we checked in, the first thing that I saw was one of the actual red hats that Fred Durst wore at the height of Limp Bizkit’s fame. 

Opening bands included Scowl, Wargasm UK and a rap group called $not. They really hyped the crowd up and they crowd surfed/stage dived throughout the concert. I took a picture with Wargasm UK’s singer/screamer, Sam Matlock, who seemed like a really nice and genuine person. I was also able to get a picture with Fred Durst’s bodyguard who was at The Stone Pony last year, and he remembered me and was happy to see me. While the crew was preparing for Limp Bizkit’s set, they played some awesome 90’s hits to keep the crowd excited and happy. 

When Fred Durst first appeared onstage, he was in a huge “Dad” chair and he appeared to be trying to figure out how to use this remote that he had in his hand. All of the SCREAMING fans completely distracted him and he remarked that it “Smells like Jersey;” all of the fans roared with excitement. DJ Lethal came onstage after Fred said, “Where’s Lethal when I need him?” The song that they opened with was “Dad Vibes.” During the song, guitarist Wes Borland and bassist Sam Rivers came on stage and the crowd went nuts. They finished “Dad Vibes” and everyone else was on stage except drummer John Otto. Fred walked over to his drum kit and said, “Something’s not right…DJ Lethal, Wes Borland, Sam Rivers. Where’s John Otto? Oh, John Otto in the house!” 

After that, Fred Durst said “I know I miss me some Bizkit,” which led into a new song “Dirty Rotten Bizkit” off of their latest album “Still Sucks.” Throughout the concert, they kept telling the fans that they don’t know how to have a concert, but they definitely know how to have a party and they are going to party like it’s 1999 all night. I definitely believe that they were right, because there is no party like a Limp Bizkit party. They played some covers, some snips of other artists’ songs and some of their hits. They played one of their hit songs from their famous album “Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog Flavored Water.” During the song, Fred Durst noticed me and he pointed and gave me the metal hand. 

After that, he asked the crowd who brought their children to the show and a few people raised their hands. Fred Durst then said they were going to have to have a talk with them after the show. After that, DJ Lethal started to play Bon Jovi’s “Livin On A Prayer” over the speakers, which was the funniest thing because out of nowhere Fred started to dance really weird and funny. Then, DJ Lethal stopped the song and Fred was not too happy that he stopped it. Fred said that he likes ‘88 Bon Jovi, not politician Bon Jovi. After that, Fred asked the crowd “How many of y’all rocked The Stone Pony?” 

Fred then came over to my area and he was drinking his water and then threw the rest of his water and drenched me and my mom, which was very funny. During another one of their songs, Fred jumped down in front of the stage and the crowd in that area went ballistic. After that, Fred came to my area and he held my hand. He was really sweet and very kind. Then Fred started to slow dance with a girl on stage, which was a little weird for a Limp Bizkit concert. The crowd just stood there confused and not happy. They wanted to jump around and go crazy, not slow dance.  After a few more songs, Fred actually stopped the show to confront the crowd and tell them that he had heard there were some fights before their set and he said, “I wanna tell you guys who were fighting earlier, nobody fights anymore; fights are lame.” 

Then they played their hit songs “Counterfeit” and “Pollution” from their first album “Three dollar bill Y’all.” They hadn’t rehearsed “Counterfeit” at all before the show. After a few more songs, they were saying goodbye when Fred realized they forgot one song so he told Wes that they forgot one, and then Wes started to play the intro to “Break Stuff,” their most Iconic live song. The crowd exploded when Wes started to play the intro. The breakdown is the most iconic part of the song. So when that came on, the whole floor got down and then went nuts during the part when Fred Durst says, “Break your face tonight.” The floor got so crazy that it looked like the rail was about to break because the amount of pushing and crowd surfing that was going on was completely insane. 

After the show, I caught their setlist, Wes Borland’s Guitar pick and John Otto’s drumstick. I was also able to get a picture with one of the members of $not and Wargasm UK’s drummer. Overall, I would give this concert 10/10 stars, and I will definitely be going to more of their shows when they do another US tour.