Limp Bizkit's Disastrous Guitar Center Contest To Replace Wes Borland 

Limp Bizkit…Great band or greatest band?

I like to think some people met in line and formed their own bands.

Borland's unique riffs and guitar tunings along with his stage and music video attire, including his iconic contact lenses is what really solidified the band's sound and image...for me personally anyway. More so than Durst's backwards red cap and distinct vocal delivery. Borland really was just irreplaceable.

I went to the open audition for this at the Guitar Center in Queens, NY. I took the subway from my dorm at 6am in the morning and I arrived there at around 7am and 100 some odd people were waiting in line. It was towards the end of January and bitterly cold, yet no one seemed to mi. Two HUGE tour busses waited outside the store, as we watched pizza and water get delivered to them. They shuttled us into the guitar center in droves, they had everyone sign the exact waivers mentioned in this video, and as you were waiting to audition, you could hear people playing for five seconds and getting the cut sign. Right when I was about to go into audition, a model was rushed to the front of the line to take pictures and pose with a guitar for an article about auditioning for Limp Bizkit for Seventeen magazine. Finally, I auditioned and was able to play a full song which lasted about four minutes. When I asked about the next step, they just said come back here at 9pm for the announcement. I came back and all the local news outlets were there interviewing contestants, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, they announced that after 500 auditioned, they chose one guy to jam with LB, I had met this person earlier, and he said he was filming a documentary about the band. Fred and the rest of the band then walked through their security and entered the store. All in all, it was a once in a lifetime experience, I am glad I did it, but in hindsight it was a huge publicity stunt.

Wes: Limp Bizkit felt like a business Limp Bizkit: gets corporate sponsor for guitarist search

This dude just blew past the whole 'I sh** my pants on the ride over' thing, huh.

I made it into the audition. This guy is correct about the vibe. Immediately I could tell it was a uncoordinated and a haphazard promotion that was about publicity. As I watched folks going in and out of the room, I noticed it was not a long audition and they were complaining about the amp provided. At this point, I knew if I got in, actually trying to audition was pointless, so I decided to change what I was going to do in the audition. After 7 hours, I got in. I plugged in, took 5 seconds or so to "crack my knuckles," to look like I was getting prepared, took another second or two to take a deep breath, turned around, kicked the amp as hard as I could, knocking it over, then threw my guitar across the room into the wall, thanked them, then walked out. I was immediately tackled by some guys and physically thrown out. As I hit the pavement outside, I screamed "Should I call you? Or wait for you guys to call me?" At the time, I figured it would be the only way to stand out in this "audition" and figured if Durst was actually interested in some random dude, when he got word of my audition, it would impress him. Still waiting for that call...

As far as I know, Page Hamilton from Helmet was the only person Limp Bizkit tried to replace Wes Borland with. He turned them down but agreed to work with them on a couple of tracks for Results May Vary. Those tracks were never used or released.

Guitarist Mike Smith (Ex-Snot) actually did an admirable job. That album ‘Results May Vary’ was LB’s last top 10 album, #3, was their last platinum album, and had some really good tracks.

I auditioned in the DC area. I Got to play live through our local AM talk station DC101 and that got me a jump in the line. I was like #30 out of 300. So later that night after my In studio appearance and playing live on DC101 that am. I went to the guitar center in Rockville. Waited in line , I went in and jammed for about 60 seconds and that was it . I did get some pizza , and Fred Durst showed up. He signed a beer can and my Ibanez RG 7-string. I got drunk, chilled with my GF and met some cool people, as well as playing live on my local AM talk radio station. Walked away with a fun experience and a story to tell.

Mike Smith and I worked together for a few years. I had just come off tour with a national band at the time so him and I hit it off really well. He is one of the nicest and coolest guys I’ve ever met, and a hell of a guitar player. He had a bunch of awesome stories haha. Love ya Mike!!

Hey man, this was a cool format. You should start doing interviews with people like this, who have crazy stories to tell about famous bands!

I was working at the Guitar Center in Queens, NY when they pulled this stunt. After a year and a half there, I can say that the single worst day was when I had to deal with this crap.

Can never replace wes, he was the whole reason I liked that band

I remember this vividly! This is prior to Social Media, in an era when the record labels and the bands could treat ppl like sh*t! Today, this would’ve been an even bigger fiasco!

Fun Fact: C.C. Deville of POISON was in L.B. for about a month around this period.

I saw the band From First to Last perform back in 2006 during their tour for the Heroine album in a small dingy VFW Hall in southern Illinois and Wes Borland was playing bass for them during that period. I had no clue he was even in the band until that night I saw them live and I couldnt tell for sure because his stage attire was so weird even by Wes Borland standards, he was literally playing in dirty tighty whitey underwear, tube socks and had like black and grey make up smeared all over his body.. I kept thinking their bassist looks like Wes Borland! This was still pre social media era where you couldnt find anything instantly about a band. The whole night I was thinking, no way he'd be playing in a smaller band like From First to Last... in a VFW hall where the stage was so small and I was so close right in front of the band. I kept shouting his name and he finally acknowledged me and I was holy crap. Then after the show I hung out w him and he was like were you calling my name during the show? It just blew my mind because Limp Bizkit was my favorite band during the late 90s playing huge shows like big day out fest and the first time I got to see one of my fav guitarist Wes in concert, he was playing bass in From First to Last lol.

1:50 Fred saying that Wes told him that 'their entire genre of music was over' ended up being pretty accurate. Nu metal really started to peter out around 2002-2003. A couple years later pop punk and EMO exploded and took over.

This was one of your best episodes yet. I really enjoyed it, thanks.

I really think it was about outsized talent. Wes Borlan was the great talent behind that group. Alot of people didn't understand what Fred Durst brought - it wasn't his lyrics or ability to sing. It was promotion. He understood the game and knew how to keep everyone talking about them. That is something every band needs if they're going to be on top - a hype man so to speak

Sounds like the plan was, "We just lost the guy who writes our riffs, so let's pull a fake stunt to get a bunch of our fans to unwittingly donate _their_ most Limp-Bizkit-like riffs to us, and then we can make another album." And then, of course, word got out about the shady contest, and the band panicked and ditched the plan, and then called Borland back to apologize.

if someone told me i had 60 seconds to play guitar I'd smack him with it and call it a drum solo.

This interview is literal GOLD, definitely worth sticking around for till the end!

Even after all these years it still feels good to talk about Limp Bizkit in past tense.

Fred - our guitarist always felt like an outsider and had his own dressing room Wes Borland - Literally an alien like from the men in black movies

I remember when this happened. The online punk/hc zine Buddyhead got ahold of some documentation of the agreement that the guitarists had to sign, and buried in the fine print was a clause stating that Limp Bizkit legally owned any riffs they recorded during the audition. The prevailing theory was that Fred, who'd just started learning to play guitar, was trying to get free ideas for the next Wes-Borland-free Limp Bizkit album.

A member of my band was a part of this. This is all 100% legit. He got to the 2nd round, others got cut off after 5 seconds. They were just looking for riffs and publicity.

LB band photos always cracked me up… buncha regular looking dudes and one f@ckin’ space alien!

"Things Didn't Go Well" and Fred Durst in the same sentence are synonymous.

Wes Borland is such a slept on guitarist

I went to the Colorado audition at Guitar Center. The line was wrapped around the building but I remember being excited and having a good time. Just before the line moved me inside GC, this tall guy wearing camo cargo pants and a black ski mask on his face walked past everyone in line right and stopped at the front entrance to yell and incite the crowd a bit before he walked inside and disappeared.. everyone decided it was Wes because of how his voice sounded which was kinda confusing, but I just figured he was still supporting the band and sitting in to help them find the new member. When I got in to audition, they are right about the amp. You would’ve thought Guitar Center would’ve had a Mesa dual rectifier half stack or something but it was this little $50 practice amp. I brought my Metal Zone pedal with me though so I was set lol. I ripped the coolest song I wrote for the rap-metal band I was in at the time.. which had a solo section that was the the highlight of the song. I played the entire song for these executives, and the guy in charge told me I sounded really good but wasn’t right for Limp Bizkit, but he gave me his Business card and told me to contact him when I put a band together. I left happy with that. I remember tacking that business card to the wall in my room and would look at it and fantasize about starting a better band and hitting him up.. don’t remember when but I lost the card at some point, now it’s just a careless whisper..

I used to live in Virginia Beach when this situation was going on. The major rock station down there actually banned all limp Bizkit songs from being played on the radio due to all of the shenanigans that were going on

My guitar teacher at the time tried out for this at the New Orleans location and the story he told is almost exactly what is discussed by others in this video and comments section. Absurd contracts, "you have 60 seconds, starting now," general feeling of apathy and exploitation.

I auditioned during this promotional stunt in Jacksonville. I had no interest in actually joining the band, the only member I liked in LB was Wes. But I thought it'd make for a cool experience and a good story later in life. It was the dead of winter, freezing outside, and I wasn't prepared for the cold. Was several hours before I made it in, and by then I was tired, sore from shivering (my little windbreaker was no match for the cold wind gusts that day, it was much warmer in Orlando when I left that morning) and my hands were in no shape to really do anything. So, I walked in and set my guitar case on the floor and faced what I assumed were the judges, none of whom were in the band or recognizable as anyone of note. Not a verbatim quote (would have been nice to have a smartphone to record it way back then), but I basically said "Thanks for allowing me to audition, but I've just spent several hours in the freezing cold, my hands are in no condition to play anything that would be remotely impressive enough to get a callback, so I'm not going to waste your time with what would be a very embarrassing attempt." I stuck around because I thought there would be members of the band there during the audition, but apparently they couldn't be bothered. I still probably lasted a lot longer than the few players I saw enter the room before me. But I did get a good story out of the entire process. I also still have the guitar pick they gave me when I walked in, so yay?

I auditioned for this also at Guitar Center in Rockville Maryland and got a call back and got to play with the band it was pretty clear from the beginning that it was all just publicity as even then it was already being openly discussed in the auditions that Mikey from snot was going to be the replacement

I worked at Guitar Center during this fiasco... Not good people, they only got off their bus for 15 minutes.

My wife's cousin auditioned. He was pissed.

Borland was right when he said he felt their brand of music was over. By 2002 it definitely was on its way out and he had the semblance of mind to see the writing on the wall. It was about getting out while the getting was good.

There is no "replacing" Wes Borland.

I auditioned in Virginia Beach. At the time, I had already been in a popular band in Denver, been endorsed by Fender, had worked with many major label record producers in Denver and Los Angeles, and had just started working as a music professor. I did it more for fun as I had no delusions of "making it." - I had already done the rock band thing and was transitioning to academia. This video is 100% spot on: I knew just to write riffs on the spot, and I know I write good ones; but I had no more than 60 seconds in front of someone on their crew, you couldn't touch the amp, and sounded horrific. Durst deserves his terrible reputation. He is a class a tool and the band's fall from grace truly makes me happy.

This is what made me worry about employees stealing riffs at any guitar store.

Marcus Henderson plays guitar in my band and this interview is fucking cracking me up!!!!

Wow, straight ripped people off to thier face. Wes got it right.

I’m cracking up about all the comments saying nu-metal is dead or has died back in the mid 00’s. Did you all forget about a little band called Korn? They haven’t stopped. Even RATM is making a come back. Mushroomhead and Slipknot are still going strong…plenty of nu metal bands doing well and keeping the genre alive. It’s not dead, just not as mainstream as others have risen to take its place over the decades

Interesting video and very thorough interview. Next time tho, please, throw on an image for background during the interview, anything.

I loved the interview portion, hope to see more.

wonder if Marcus ever released the Little Tuna song that was at the end of Guitar Hero's songs making off

Wes Borland was the only good thing about that trainwreck.

i like Bizkit, But when Wes Borland left, and did his own projects, a coup0le were awesome. My Fav was Black Light Burns. Awesome band. The song "these four walls" was killer.

My friend who had a license and a car at the time was actually willing to drive me to the closest city where they had those auditions. I never did go. Turns out it wouldn’t have mattered either way!

Wes wearing a Mr Bungle t-shirt in one of those pics demonstrates his taste in music.

I remember this. I was one of them. And for some dumb reason, being a teenager, I thought I'd actually meet them. Nah. Not at all. The whole thing was a sham.

Just found this channel but I am really digging it, keep up the great work

Glad I didn't bother trying out. Remember hearing about it. Sounds like a nightmare having to wait and treated like crap. Then they can rip off your riffs.

I had a friend that was a pretty, damn good guitar player, I was in two different bands with him, he went to one of these things, and he actually drove out of state to go. He said he ended up standing in line forever, and he mentioned there was probably close to 1000 people if not more in line and he never even got to get close to the door of the building before they just called the whole thing off. It definitely sounds like a scam, but I don’t know what the purpose of the scam was because it doesn’t sound like people were shopping in guitar center while they were waiting in line because they would’ve lost their spot in line. Everyone that I’ve talk to that has worked at a guitar center said that all it really did was just completely ruined business for the day because they couldn’t even run their stores the way they normally run the store that day the guitar players in line for the auditions weren’t shopping and anyone else that would’ve normally went in there that day stayed away because of the chaos that was going on. So it sounds like all that really happened was that Limp Bizkit just pissed off thousands of guitar players across America for no reason at all.

I was there, I went just for fun because it was near me in Texas at the time. It was kind of a sham. They gave everyone maybe a minute tops. There was a theory that they just used it to get a bunch of riffs they could catalog and mine for ideas later, which wouldn't surprise me lol. I met a few cool people and we are still friends to this day. That's the only good thing to come out of it.

Minute 8:06 is the mention of this guy that spoke spanish. Living in Latin America i was a young teen and MTV would promote de contest alot. Apparently in L.A. they "had chosen" this guy with "Porno" as his nickname last name Kempes. So Mtv Latinamerica would constantly play this small segment were this Kempes guy would talk about him getting chosen for like the next stage of the contest. I mean they drove that so much its been 20 years and I still remember Porno Kempes and his crazy goggles and how he supposedly had a chance at Limp Bizkit. There was a sense in pride like "oh a Latino could end up being a part of Limp Bizkit."

Aw man I wish you would have mentioned Chris ARP who auditioned. He is the mastermind behind the band PSYOPUS and is THE MOST original and amazing metal guitarist of the past 20 years. If you’re not familiar look him up he’s a one of a kind and incredible

I just was your video and happened to see myself in it. The footage of the Guitar Center was from the Queens store in NYC. I happened to work for GC back then and I was the one letting the players into the Pro Audio room that they took over for the tryout. It was the busiest I had ever seen GC, But the band did end up jamming with a few people that day when the store closed. I still have my badge from when I worked it.

Limp, creed and korn being on top of the music business was a dark time for the music business and one I'd like to forget.

I tried out for Limp Bizkit at Guitar Center in MA when I was 17. My parents brought me and it was truly an all day affair. The try out process was pretty much what was described in the video and I do remember having to wait for the results all day in a parking lot. I do remember that no one was chosen and I never saw anyone from the band. The guys that were in the tryout booth were clearly record label tools that seemed to just be there to check a box. At the age of 17 even I figured out it was all a bunch of crap. I convinced my parents to let me spend the money I saved to buy my first car on a bitchin Ibanez 7 string. I think they felt bad for me lol

I went to one of these and this review is spot on. They gave most people less than 60 seconds, there were hundreds of people in line, the amp sounded like garbage. I wasn't made, just figured they had something specific they were looking for and some method for finding it. Was a huge fan at the time. Actually stopped listening to them when I found they were releasing censored albums with the vulgarity removed. I was like, are you a metal band or some corporate outfit?

A friend of mine from when we were in music school in L.A. went to the audition. He had to wait through that long line, but when he read that point in the contract about LB having copyright of your stuff he walked right out. Also, there were rumors in the line about LB having already decided who they would use as their guitar player, and it wasn't going to be anyone from the audition.

On the other hand, if limp bizkit came out with a song that sounded like one of those contestants riffs, they could be sued. I dont think the contracts were to steal from them but for protection.

Yeah, my friend went and did this and he got his riffs stolen from him.

I knew some Limp Bizkit fans in the late 90's/early 2000's but I had never heard about this contest until today. My first thought was that it was a cool idea in principle and I was about to defend Fred Durst with a "Say what you want about Fred Durst..." Statement until I heard the part about the 3 page contract. My God. And then of course Fred Durst had to be a jerk about it after it came to light that the contest was basically a scam and a shit show.

the words limp bizkit and disaster will always be synonymous

I started at GC in St. Louis a few months after they held the auditions at my location. Limp B and their crew stole a $2600 PRS guitar from us. Someone in their crew kept picking it up and playing it all day/evening and remarking how nice it was. The next day, there was a shitty Squier Strat (that wasn't ours and not even in our inventory) hangin right where that PRS was. MF'ers stole it.

Mike sounds amazing live. I love Wes but man were they so much cleaner with Mike. Wes wrote the best songs and is super original. But Mike doesn’t get much credit to how amazing of a live performer he is. I also bet you 95% of those riffs sucked that the contestants played . “Don’t steal my generic riff okay man “. I think ppl are giving themselves alittle too much credit. The music industry sucks. But it’s all about experience and toughness. Out of thousands of delusional musicians it’s like who went on to be apart of something. If you are crying about that might as well throw in the towel cuz it’s a up hill battle.

Will Sasso does an AMAZING impression of Durst on Mad tV. Check it out. So funny

Any links to Mike smith’s music ?

ngl the cursing censoring is obnoxious shame the dude didn’t record the call to expose it being just publicity stunt but then why make people sign something that says their music can be used by the band lol

I gotta admit I was all in on the first 2 albums. Their style was so unique but it got old really quickly. But they were also major beneficiaries of that early TRL era. Along with people like the backstreet boys, NSYNC, Britney spears, Christina Aguilera and even Eminem

Fun fact: one of the people who entered the Limp Bizkit replacement guitarist contest was Christopher Arp of the ultra-technical Mathcore band Psyopus. Arp has a... pretty unique style of guitar playing that's based mostly around frantic high tapping and insane whammy bar tricks. Imagine a world in which you could hear Fred Durst rapping about how nobody understands him, man, over the sounds of a chopped-and-screwed malfunctioning spaceship. That we were denied such a world is both a great cruelty and a relief.

"The only person who watches a thief is a thief" is exactly what a thief will tell you.

We laughed at this band back then and they are still a joke now.

Cool video, like a change in format now and then. Crazy story that like the guy said would have been ROASTED online nowadays

The guitar player story tho’ 😂😂😂 how do you s**t your pants the day of, show up with nothing prepared, and expect to get a gig?! C’mon!

I remember Fred Durst tried to learn guitar to replace them. He said he thought he could just pick up the guitar and play like Billy Corgan...

Wes has something that Fred doesn't have...Talent.

We need to listen to that story of the kiss tribute band

Respect to Wes Boreland for having integrity.

My brother tries out when they came to DC. I stood in line with him for 10 hours in the rain. It was actually a fun and very memorable day.

Was just coincidentally blasting Results May Vary yesterday.. Trim a couple filler songs off and add a couple of the songs that didn't make the cut on and it's a great album for me. Underneath the Gun, Build a Bridge, Let Me Down, Almost Over, Gimme a Mic, All Radio is Dead are my favorite tracks. It's a long album, go check the over a dozen tracks that were made for the album but didn't make it and should of been released as a B-Sides disk. Including Crack Addict which was promoted as the lead single by being the theme song for Wrestlemania 19... For anybody who's saying Nu Metal was dead by New Years 2002 don't know what they're talking about. After 9/11/2001 was the beginning of the end of Nu Metal being the top sound in popular rock but it still remained on top of the charts by Nu Metal bands up to 2004-2005. For the rest of the decade it faded out. It wasn't a quick death like with hair metal when it got to 1991 Looking back Limp Bizkit did ok without Borland but it's like not having Slash in GNR.

I was working at capitol at the time doing composing work for bands. They did hold rehearsals behind closed doors but only a hand full of people. This was just promo for the band. They were talking about having them for a few songs on tv or a show but that’s it.

Their popularity far exceeded their talent and Wes was the best musician in the band, so this devised scam shouldn’t surprise anyone.

I auditioned right here in Jacksonville Florida, i remember you had to sign away rights to whatever you played, I've always wondered how much original music was stolen from fans

I'm surprised this many people liked limp biscuit

This dude Marcus Henderson is a GREAT storyteller lol I could've listened to his stories about for a while haha

You can't replace wes.

Interview guy said "ostensibly" TWICE. Now that's talent. I woulda taken a step back to admire the second "ostensibly" as it hung in the air like a diamond. lol.

It would’ve been amazing to go in with a fantastic riff from a highly unknown band. LB steals it, turns it into a hit song, so consequently LB gets sued 😂

It seems like the obvious choice would have been to call Buckethead. Shouldn't he be in Limp Bizkit somehow?

I was in a band at the time and my guitar player went and auditioned for this. He did get to play for Fred in a room and he mentioned the little crappy amp too. I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Fred was a really DIY guy in the early days. I remember when 3 Dollar Bill was just releasing and they were playing in the parking lot of 7th Heaven to a little bitty crowd. Fred was really nice and hung out with everyone. He even let my buddy go on his bus and showed him a video of what would be the Counterfeit music video.

He should get together with the guitar player from u2, the "corner" or the "side" or whatever his name is.. and make an album of distorted guitar "chords".. Boy that would be impressive

“I’m not a fan of the band but if you pay me money I’ll join them!” There’s a musician with integrity. It’s funny how so called fans won’t listen to the band because of their punk rock ethos type mentality but as soon as it comes to even a one in a billion chance they line up for hours hoping and praying they can be apart of the band. Lmao wow

How hard could it be to play for Limp Bizkit, you show up to the audition with a guitar and a carrot, and then start slapping the guitar repeatedly with the carrot and whatever noise comes out is a new Limp Bizkit song

...so the contest was faker than a $3 dollar bill yall....

I was at the Portland, Or. audition and did get to play in front of Fred for about 2 minutes with him sitting in the corner bobbin his head. All i played was my digital delay heavy warm ups. i too waited in line and wasnt going to play him anything i "wrote" after that waiver. i bought a 7 string Ibanez before leaving the store. I had lunch in the vegetarian joint that shared the lot, Sweet Tomatoes. Where Fred ended up gettin the table next to me. we chatted for a bit and i will say, his rep stands true. little dude with a huge ego chip on his shoulder hidden under that long fur coat. Funny enough, when he left that restaurant he was hit with a cream pie. he wasnt having a good day at that audition. ....i laughed my ass off seeing his 7ft tall bodyguard run off with the fur coat to the back to get it cleaned asap. ...true story. ...there's a ps to this story.

I liked limp Bizkit, their first 3 albums were pretty good and I think the first one after Wes left was decent but after that I didn't listen to em much after that