The concert featuring Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold and Papa Roach was by far one of the best things to come to Topeka in a long time.

Papa Roach were the first in the line up. They really got the crowd going, mostly playing songs off their new album. Lead singer Jacoby Shaddix surprised the whole crowd when he got off the stage and started singing in the stands. Many audience members were lucky enough to get close to Shaddix as he walked along the wall and climbed up the stairs to a few more fans.

Buckcherry played next, and it was obvious they were the band most people came to see. With the occasional crowd surfers and random objects being thrown around, Buckcherry definitely had the audience’s attention. They played songs from a few different albums, but my favorite song was “Sorry.” It was amazing to watch lead singer Josh Todd perform, and it turned out it was actually his birthday.

Todd wowed the audience with intoxicating lyrics. Buckcherry is one of those bands that is just as good live as when it spends hours recording in a studio.

Avenged Sevenfold also played a good set. I wasn’t really a fan of them before last night, but they were pretty good. They were loud and kept the crowd going until the end. I plan to keep listening to them now.

All in all, the show was great and not something normally available to Topekans. The only bad part was waiting almost an hour to leave the parking lot after the concert was over.