Cold und (Hed) P.E.

Being nostalgic from an early age, I was incredibly upset when I first discovered Cold on YouTube and realised that they had disbanded in the year 2006. The moment I found out that they were reuniting and promising both a tour and new albums, I immediately sought to find a spot where I could see them perform live. After watching so many concerts on YouTube, the real thing was a whole new level of fantastic. I saw them in Florida, at the Central Florida Fair this year, and there could not have been a more perfect addition to Saliva's main set. Cold has this almost unattainable quality where they constantly leave you wanting more, and they work so well in tandem with each other that you can't help but become addicted to their sound. My personal favourite is Scooter, mainly because of his rough, Pearl Jam-style vocals, perfect for the post-grunge feel that the band emulates. Their songs are so powerful, they get right through your skin and you can't help but want to headbang and sing-along to every hit track. They of course played two of my favourites: 'American Dream' and 'Wicked World', and the atmosphere generated by these classic hits from a newly reformed group was just unforgettable. These are guys full of energy, and you could tell from watching them on stage that they're not quite done with music just yet.

Californian rap-metallers (Hed) P.E. have always suffered a tough time in the UK music press, particularly when it’s debated how they’ve managed to sustain a 20 year career with eight studio albums. The simple truth is that they make a distinctive fusion of hip hop, punk and metal; instead of the wave of nu-metal bands that simply featured token rapping, (Hed) P.E. actually feature an able rapper-MC and a sample-laden sound that feeds off Gangsta rap.
I actually saw them in their home county of California years ago, when they were touring their third and biggest album, Blackout. They were really, really enjoyable, with frontman Jared Gomes – then known as M.C.U.D. – charismatically roaming the stage, moshing when he was screaming and shouting, and bouncing when he was spitting his rhymes. The riffs were crunchy and the DJ added silly but effective scratching, as well as growled backing vocals.
I couldn’t have asked for a better setlist, with the band unleashing the best cuts from my favourite album, Broke, such as ‘Killing Time’ and ‘Feel Good’, as well as a throwback to their hardcore punk beginnings with ‘Firsty’ from their self-titled debut. Best of all was the title track from Blackout, which had everyone screaming the chorus. In my humble opinion, (Hed) P.E. are one of the more underrated bands to emerge from the nu-metal scene around the turn of the millennium.