Limp Bizkit – The New Kings of Dad Rock

Father time is undefeated, and life comes at you fast. These are both cliches, but in many cases, cliches are derived from a least a sliver of truth.

Case in point, Limp Bizkit.

Once the most polarizing, dangerous and – dare we say it – popular band in America, Limp Bizkit is very much having a moment, thanks to a 2021 Lollapalooza set that went viral and a proper, and quality, studio album (aptly titled Still Sucks) that followed a few months later. Fred Durst and crew have since embarked on a worldwide tour that includes a show at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Sunday night. They’re also bringing along Corey Feldman and Riff Raff, and yes, that’s happening.

But back to the Bizkit.

If there was a band more simultaneously loved and hated during its prime than Limp Bizkit, well, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. On the one hand, Limp’s first three albums all went Platinum many times over, they basically owned rock radio for a stretch in the late 90s and headlined festivals and concerts around the globe. Durst was the consummate rock star, a don’t-give-a-damn type that appealed to young aggro males with just enough sensitivity and catchy hooks to draw in the ladies.

So, Limp Bizkit was beloved in many circles.

Others criticized Durst’s juvenile hooks, questionable mic skills and, to put it kindly, an overreliance on profanity to get his point across. Some decried them as the end of rock music altogether and, akin to bands like Creed and Nickelback, a punchline of sorts for an era that some would rather forget.

Hell, long before Lollapalooza 2021 in Chicago put Durst back on the map, he was pelted by garbage and heckled by a Chicago crowd as part of the Metallica-led Summer Sanitarium tour in 2003. Throw in the mess that was Woodstock ’99 (though to put that all on Limp Bizkit feels more than a bit unfair) and Durst and company sure had their share of haters. Durst knew this, and sung of it often; he uses the word “hate” nearly 40 times on the band’s 2000 hit, “Take a Look Around.”

But time has a way of softening memories, and Limp Bizkit the band has almost become a sympathetic figure in recent years, former chart-toppers who have weathered controversies and ever-evolving tastes and maintained relevance in an era when that is very much tough to do.

The resurgence of Limp Bizkit can be attributed in part to their somewhat surreal set at Lollapalooza 2021. To say the band had been off the radar for some time would be an understatement, but their afternoon set went viral for a number of reasons. For starters, that hair (natural or not, it doesn’t matter) that Durst was rocking was certainly a curious choice. Secondly, the set was pretty objectively awesome, and the crowd echoed as much. More importantly, this was not the Limp Bizkit people remembered.

The angst was minimal; in fact, Durst was downright playful and engaging with bandmates and the audience alike. He encouraged masking at one of the bigger music festival to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic. He finished the set with a song called “Dad Vibes.”

Woodstock ’99 this was not, and this is a good thing.

People mature, artists evolve, tastes change. If you’re attending Sunday night’s show in The Woodlands to catch a group of older angry guys channeling their rage, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you’re looking for a little peek at history, at a band that has softened and almost become warm and cuddly – even with songs like “Break Stuff” still on the setlist – this might be the way.

One day, you’re doing it all for the nookie. The next, you’ll settle for a good night of sleep. Doesn’t make either any less satisfying.