The Limp Bizkit Issue

The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 144

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Me and the Mighty Dave Durkin hanging out at the Limp Bizkit show at MSG.

Random Thought

I got to see Limp Bizkit live at MSG this past Friday and it was a real treat and an unexpected good time. I’m not sure what I was expecting actually, but I think a part of me was real prepared to not enjoy it for whatever reason. I got the tickets for free from a friend who couldn’t attend anymore so I hopped on the opportunity at a free concert. Full disclosure, I was, at one time, a Limp Bizkit fan. This would be earlier in their career, albums 1-3, and I’m still a little on the fence about album #3 actually. But having been a fan at any time is a good enough reason to go see a band live.

They played most of the hits (although they didn’t do, ‘Faith,’ wtf guys?). They were tight and energetic even though Fred Durst started the night off telling us he was under the weather (but not Covid). They brought vocalists from all the opening bands to perform with them which is always a cool move. And, to end the night, they played, ‘Break Stuff,’ but with all the house lights on and ALL the opening bands on stage with them. It was a wild scene.

Was there nostalgia? Absolutely. Limp Bizkit leaned into it. The theme was, ‘party like it’s 1999,’ and their songs would be buffered with interludes of hits of the day like Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, DMX and even Biz Markie (Biz is not really 1999, but it was a nice touch to pay tribute).

1999 was a fun year. I was there. I was 19 for most of it so I might not be impartial because 19 is probably a fun year no matter where you’re at. Pop music made a huge comeback. Hip hop had gone mainstream. Punk went bubblegum (Blink 182 and such). And bands like Limp Bizkit were angry for no reason. Well, maybe not no reason, but no good reason. It was mostly good fun to be that angry about something because we’re young and got hormones raging in us.

I sometimes wonder if Fred Durst was almost an overlooked voice of a generation. He made it okay to be mad and I think to some degree, young people need some kinda outlet for their anger and rage. It can be a healthy release. Parallel to, ‘Fight Club,’ it almost felt like anger for the sake of anger as a release was the cause of a generation.

But y’know, then came 9/11. And that felt like a real, ‘you wanna be mad, I’ll give you something to be mad about,’ moment. Suddenly, I didn’t wanna be mad. Life got too serious. I wanted to mellow out and have fun. All the sudden, along came the Strokes and the White Stripes and that felt like the appropriate soundtrack for a Friday night cruising dive bars. I can’t imagine a band like the Killers being the biggest band in America pre-9/11. But something about that moment, we needed to step back and feel things and a band like the Killers were the antidote (there’s also the emo/screamo boom that I think helps to support this theory that in a post-9/11 world, young people just wanted to feel things).

So anyways, a band like Limp Bizkit suddenly felt unnecessary in that environment. We put them away and figured we’ll look back at them in 20 years and think about how much fun that fad was for us. And that’s what I did on Friday night.

I think that might be one of the reasons Nickelback gets such a bad wrap. It’s like they played dumb rock music for a dumb pre-9/11 world and had the audacity to keep it going and be successful at it when it no longer seemed necessary. This may just be a wild take on my part. But I think there was a moment when nu-metal bands were shown the door and most complied except for Nickelback and a few other bands that would make money playing entrances for professional wrestlers in WWE. Hence the backlash. It may not be that Nickelback’s bad (I almost threw up typing that), but maybe it just feels too out of place, like there’s something wrong with the time/space continuum and so that in turn makes me nauseous.

But also, Nickelback sucks and Limp Bizkit still has 5-6 songs I’ll stand by maybe forever.

Fred Durst chatting it up with the MSG crowd.

Movie I Watched Recently

Get Him to the Greek

(Netflix)

I’m kinda surprised I haven’t seen this movie before but some things just fall by the wayside and I never get to it, or I do, but it’s like 10+ years later. I knew this movie was kinda old when a young Elisabeth Moss shows up mostly to just be Jonah Hill’s girlfriend and all I can keep thinking in my head is, “she’s a better actor than the whole lot of you!” (I absolutely stand by this statement.)

Anyways, this movie is entertaining and funny and everything it should be. I was looking for a silly comedic getaway from the grind of reality, and this did the trick. Nothing much to write home about except that Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, etc) absolutely kills in this movie. He’s so funny. It’s unreal. Also, the music they wrote for Russell Brand’s character kinda sucks. But if you can get past that, it’s a fun time.

Sean Combs floating head in a scene where Jonah Hill’s character is tripping.

TV show I’m currently watching

I’m not really watching anything at the moment. I’ve maybe watched Jeaopardy! three times this week and a few reruns of Seinfeld. But other than that, it’s been mostly basketball and professional wrestling.

This is Ryan Long, current 3 time champ on Jeopardy! (hopefully 4 times by the time you read this). I will now refer to him as the Stoic Big Man. He’s cool and calm. Also, he fosters kittens. What’s not to root for?

Album of the Week

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers / Kendrick Lamar

This is not your average hip hop album. This is some heavy shit. It’s bold, artistic, poetic, dark, and unafraid. Sometimes I’ll listen to an album and it’ll feel like I’m also reading a book and in this case, it’s a book of poems. Lamar lets you in. This album shows a ton of vulnerability. No club bangers. This is something to think on and ponder and maybe give a listen when you wanna feel things. There’s a ton of sparse piano and I appreciated the darkly beautiful vibe it lends to it all. This is something different. I don’t wanna exaggerate, but I kept thinking, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s,’ when I was listening. It just feels that fresh and different from everything else that’s come before it. Time will tell what kinda influence this album will have on hip hop, but goddamn, it feels like it has all the potential to be a game changer (or maybe in 3 years people will just be like, “remember that weird Kendrick album in ‘22?” But I really hope that’s not the case).

This is the album cover. I have nothing clever to say. Clever would dilute how serious I think people should take this album.

Book I’m Currently Reading

Wuthering Heights / Emily Bronte

Now I’m just reading this book to be done with it. If I’m being honest, I’m just not enjoying it. But I’m gonna fight through and I have a couple cool books I’m really looking forward to dipping into on the horizon so that is my current motivation.

But I am also hoping for some kinda reckoning by the time this book ends. That’s what I’m rooting for pretty much, for bad things to happen to bad characters because I’ve had enough (but I also dread that the lesson at the end MIGHT be, this is what happens when a child isn’t loved properly. They grow up to be an unlikable dingus which is a good lesson I suppose, but I want something more vengeful).

This cover looks bleak which fits the vibe of the book.

Random sports thought of the week

I don’t think I’ve ever watched a game quite like the Phoenix Suns/Dallas Mavericks Game 7. Shame on me, I had, at one time, predicted that the Suns would sweep this series. Instead, the Mavs were able to push it to a game 7 and embarrass the Suns on their homecourt. I’m not sure if a team’s ever experienced a bigger embarrassment in all of NBA history, given the stage and all. I wonder if the Suns can even come back from it. This feels like the kinda loss that shakes a team to its foundation. Although I know it to be fact, it’s hard for me to believe that the Suns had the best record in all of the NBA this season. I’m certain they won’t accomplish that again next season. Not that I’m rooting against them, I just think a loss of this magnitude does bad things to a team. There’s gonna be a hangover and I don’t think the Suns will perform anywhere near as well as they did this season. It almost ensures a step back, not forward.

Luka played one of the best games I’ve seen a dude play and he was laughing and smiling most of the time. Unreal.

Random pro wrestling thought of the week

I guess I sorta have to talk about the Sasha Banks/Naomi thing. Leave it to a walkout to finally make Monday Night Raw interesting and worth talking about. I’m not sure what to make of it honestly. I’m inclined to side with the employee over the employer as a default. I think Sasha is super talented and a part of me would almost rather see her wrestle elsewhere (especially AEW, which would be HUGE for them). Naomi is also a super talented performer and a part of me worries that in the end, this might hurt her more because Sasha has more name recognition. I also think WWE went too hard with releasing a statement and having Corey Graves call them, “unprofessional,” on air. This would’ve probably been better treated as a ‘cooler heads will prevail,’ type situation but I feel like maybe we’re already beyond that point. I mostly hope Sasha and Naomi’s future in pro wrestling, whether it be in WWE or elsewhere, remains bright. They both deserve to showcase their talents on a big stage and succeed.

Sasha and Naomi winning the tag titles on the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania.

Top 5 Limp Bizkit Songs

1- Break Stuff

2- My Way

3- Counterfeit

4- N 2 Gether Now

5- Faith

Weekly Quote

“I was a kid who got picked on in school, and now the guys beating up those kids were wearing red caps and using my music to fuel that aggression. But if they listen to the lyrics, the aggression is targeted at them.”

-the often misunderstood Fred Durst

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