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Photograph by George Sakkestad In the Ink: P-Roach's Coby Dick shows off a new adornment. Tour de Force Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Eminem and Xzibit offer a crash course in Anger Management this Sunday at the Arena By Sarah Quelland WHEN PAPA ROACH held a CD-release party with local fans and friends at the Edge last April to celebrate its DreamWorks Records debut, Infest, no one could have predicted how quickly the band would take off. Now, only seven months later, the four-piece from Vacaville returns to the South Bay to play the San Jose Arena, with Limp Bizkit, one of the most powerful names in rock. There's no denying that P-Roach is making good on its promise to infest the world. The aptly named Anger Management package, which co-features rappers Eminem and Xzibit, hits the Shark Tank with a vengeance Sunday (Nov. 19) on one of the last stops of the cross-country tour. This has been a tour rife with controversy due to the backlash against the multiplatinum Eminem's off-color lyrics, which have been repeatedly slammed for being "misogynistic" and "homophobic"--charges that Eminem shrugs off. The contentious figure also lost his Britney Spears notebook, which evidently contains lyrics to his next album. But aside from all the Eminem hullabaloo, the rest of the tour appears to be going relatively smoothly. No doubt South Bay fans will be particularly curious to learn how well P-Roach translates to the Arena's stage after seeing the band in June on the midsize Local Lounge stage at Live 105's annual BFD. It's surreal to watch a band skyrocket from playing the Cactus Club on a monthly basis to national fame. By all calculations, P-Roach should go down as one of the biggest hits of the year and a force to reckon with in the future. P-Roach broke out of the gate fast with the hit single "Last Resort," which caught the ears of a generation with its blunt lyrics and honest message. The songs on Infest bring attention to social issues like suicide, divorce, alcoholism and domestic abuse in a way that the band's youthful audience can relate to. Live, the band has built a solid reputation for performing with furious intensity and wild unpredictability. P-Roach has always been known in local circles as one of the hardest-working bands on the circuit. Even with a double-platinum album that peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts and is hanging in at No. 18 after 27 weeks, the band's strategy hasn't changed. The playing field is just bigger now, and P-Roach is covering all the bases. In addition to being a favorite on MTV's Total Request Live, the band made the talk-show rounds with performances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Late Show With David Letterman. Frontman Coby Dick even got some airtime on E!'s Howard Stern. After appearing on the cover of Alternative Press and this month's Spin, and being written up in numerous magazines and fanzines, it seems like only two things are missing: a date on Saturday Night Live and the immortalizing cover of Rolling Stone. (The band's close--Papa Roach's name was printed prominently on the cover of Rolling Stone, and just last Saturday (Nov. 11), the musical teacher couple played by SNL's Ana Gasteyer and Will Ferrell performed "Last Resort" in a skit.) P-Roach's tour schedule has been similarly hectic. Following an early promotional headlining tour, the band jumped from the Vans Warped Tour to a tour with Korn and Powerman 5000 to a brief jaunt through Europe to its current position on the Anger Management tour. When Anger wraps, the band immediately embarks on its own headlining tour across America. An extended European tour is also a possibility. If the band can accomplish this much in only seven months, just imagine what the future might hold. The Anger Management tour with Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Eminem and Xzibit stops at the San Jose Arena, 525 W. Santa Clara St., Sunday (Nov. 19) at 7pm. Tickets are $42.50 and available through Ticketmaster. The Nov. 17 date at the Cow Palace in San Francisco is sold out. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]