Limp Bizkit - Live at The Observatory in Orange County 5/25/13

Limp Bizkit live on stage at The Observatory in Orange County, CA on 5/25/13

The last time I remember people talking about Limp Bizkit being on tour, I was in high school. It was during Summer Sanitarium 2003, when they played with Metallica, Deftones, and several other acts. Before that was Family Values in 1999 (Korn brought them into this before they were signed), and I was just getting to the age where I could understand why Fred Durst “Did it all for the Nookie.” I would listen to them often but never made it out to a live show.

Fast forward to 2013. After several years of being out of the loop (and not even realizing Wes Borland came back to the band, or that Limp Bizkit had released Gold Cobra in 2011), one of my coworkers brought me into his office to listen to a song that I hadn’t heard before. It was the title track from this most recent album, “Gold Cobra”, and I couldn’t help but notice how solid the track was mixed. I was never a die-hard Limp Bizkit fan, but I’d always liked Significant Other, and I was digging the new track.

What really stood out to me about the track was how well the track was mixed. Fred Durst’s vocals are clear, present, and thick. The guitar parts are clearly audible and Wes Borland sounds huge, and interesting. Sam Rivers’ bass is throaty and punchy, and the drums have that 90’s rock beat that is increasingly uncommon these days. If you listen to the kick, you’ll hear a really cool (and subtle) breathing compression mixed with what sounds like a dark hall reverb, which gives the whole track an underground, middle-fingers-in-the-air edge. Maybe this comes from Limp Bizkit’s days playing to a large underground scene at the Milk Bar in Jacksonville, Florida, before they were signed or went on tour.



Listening to this one song motivated me to purchase the entire album, which I went home and did the same day. After listening to the whole thing, I noticed the rest of the album is mixed equally well, but each song has its own approach. It’s clear that the presets weren’t simply dialed in and copy/pasted across all tracks. For example, in other tracks, John’s kick is more quick and snappy, without the reverb. Fred’s vocals are pushed back in some of the songs. The guitar tone and style changes abruptly and often across the various songs on “Gold Cobra”, too, and sometimes even within songs. Sam’s bass sounds super deep, throaty, and brutal in some songs, whereas it’s more clean and sonorous in others. The thing all these tracks have in common, though, is that they all sound pretty damn good.

Cover art for Limp Bizkit's 2011 release, "Gold Cobra"

After a little investigation, I discovered that Dave Schiffman was the lead mix engineer on the job. I have an e-mail out to him to see if he’s willing to share some of the techniques he used to mix the album, and I’ll be sure to share the info with you all if he gets back to me. I’d like to know the specific approaches and gear he used on every part, because he really got everything balanced and clear while keeping it loud and in your face. I can guess, but I’d rather not speculate if I can get signal chain specifics from the source.

Anyways, the next thing that popped into my mind after all of this was, “Hey, I wonder what the band is up to these days?” After going to their website this past Thursday evening and checking the “Tour” section, I realized they were in So-Cal literally right now. Friday they played at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, and last night (Saturday) they were scheduled to play at the Observatory. The show was sold out, but after a little meandering about on Craigslist, I managed to scrape up two tickets. I asked my coworker (the same one who’d turned me onto the new album just days before) if he wanted to go, and he was just as surprised as I was that they were on tour, much less in town right now and that I’d found two tickets.

The Observatory from above.  The Red "X" marks where the stage is located.

The Observatory is an interesting little venue off of South Harbor Blvd near Huntington Beach, not far from some of my favorite surf spots. We arrived early because we needed to pick up our tickets from our new friend on Craigslist, and a line had already formed to get into the event. There were only about a hundred or so people waiting, though, and the parking lot was right there next to the venue, still fairly empty. I soon discovered from another patron in line that the capacity inside was 850, so quite a few more people would soon be showing up.

Checking out the house mixer before the show.

It turned out to be a blessing that we showed up early, because once we got inside there was limited VIP seating available on a first come, first served basis. My buddy and I grabbed a couple drinks, sat down at one of these tables, and hung out for a short while until the opener came on. The opener was a talented one man act from Florida, using a loop station to create entire songs by himself using nothing but his guitar, a bass filter, beat boxing, and really great vocals. His name is Ryan Campbell and he’s the frontman in a band called “Split Tone.” You should check them out if you get a chance.

Wes Borland wearing his crazy mask.

Back to Limp Bizkit. When they took the stage, the first thing we all saw was Wes Borland in all-black with a glowing, Phantom of the Opera style mask. This set the tone for the evening, in my opinion, as the visuals promised to be just as exciting as the sound throughout the set. Eventually the lights were cued and the concert started, which progressed into a truly interactive show as the night went on. Fred Durst came out into the crowd, handing out the mic to several audience members, passing out Monster energy drinks, and generally getting everyone super amped up. The mosh pit came alive during the heavier sections of their better-known songs, and a mix of electronic cigarette vapor and marijuana filled the air.

Fred Durst out in the crowd sharing the mic with some fans.

Limp Bizkit ran through all their classics on Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish, made sure to highlight some key songs from Gold Cobra, and to my surprise hit us hard in the face with Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of” towards the end of the night.  The sound at the venue was pretty impressive, and while I thought the guitar was turned up too much in the very beginning, eventually they achieved a nice balance -- just like their newest CD -- which made it really fun to listen to.

The lighting at The Observatory was impeccable all night.

Speaking of the guitar, it was really cool to see Wes play live, including catching a glimpse of his pedalboard before the set. These days he’s playing through a 100-watt Orange all-tube amp, although he used to record and play almost exclusively with Mesa Dual and Triple Rectifiers. These are two of my personal favorite amplifiers, and I think they both share some really great tonal qualities. These tonal qualities include super heavy low end, snarling mids, and creamy highs that are both scathing and soothing at the same time. This combo of high-end brilliance and smoothness is a must for someone like Wes who is always playing dissonant, heavily distorted riffs. During his “lead” parts, he saturated his tone with thick delay that added all kinds of ambience and weirdness to the atmosphere of the music. Some have labeled this tendency of his to noodle off on weird riffs as Experimental, but I think a better word would be progressive. It’s my opinion that Wes has always been a bit ahead of his time.

The show was finished off with a few fan favorites, including “Nookie” and eventually the closer, “Break Stuff.” It was cool to see these live performances after several years of taking a hiatus from their music, and in some ways it brought me back to my school days when I first discovered these songs. The mosh pit went crazy and everyone had a fist, devil horns, or middle fingers in the air.

View from mix booth before the show.

For a smaller venue, the energy was unusually high throughout the entire night. It was a good group of folks, and it was nice to have a more intimate experience so to speak. The performance was right on, the sound quality and lighting were impeccable, and even the beer wasn’t a total rip off. We went home happy.

I know there are a lot of LB haters out there, but I would encourage you to keep an open mind in evaluating them as a band overall. I’ve seen plenty of other live shows featuring mainstream acts that didn’t sound as good, look as good, or feel as good as this show did last night. If you remove genre from the equation for a second, I would say their performance was something every band or music artist could aspire to in terms of accuracy, presentation, and overall quality. This is something that isn’t easy to achieve and must be credited to the band and its support staff.

Rock on -- there are still dates left on their 2013 tour if you’re in one of the towns they haven’t hit yet. Check it out!