Linkin Park Last Night at the Viejas Arena
| Written by Paul Lyons |
| Monday, 21 February 2011 21:47 |
 Stockholm syndrome...known throughout the world as an occurrence where a kidnap victim falls for their kidnapper in one way or another. It never occurred to me that I may experience it myself, yet that’s exactly what’s happened within the last 24 hours. The scene of the crime...San Diego's Viejas Arena, one of the smallest sports arenas in the state of California, with a capacity of only 12,845 people. Home of the San Diego State Aztecs basketball team, and located smack dab in the middle of the sprawling campus of San Diego State University...the arena has a simple set-up of a floor area that is surrounded by seats set on a very steep incline. There are no skyboxes nor any other corporate nonsense to distract you from the event at hand. Fortunately for those who happened to be among the 12,000 plus in attendance Sunday night, the event at hand was a fantastic concert by the immensely popular rap-metal-pop-rock and roll band Linkin Park... Having learned just recently that I had a ticket to see Linkin Park on Sunday, I faced up to the fact that I barely knew anything about the band...and was only vaguely familiar with their music. Sure, I knew a few things from the radio...and I had eight of their songs on my iPod that were given to me as a gift, yet I was by no means a fan. In fact, it could be said that I just did not like Linkin Park at all. Yet I refused to be ignorant, so I buckled down and gave myself a crash course on the band Saturday evening...I read the articles and reviews, I watched videos, and I listening to all four of Linkin Park’s albums...2000‘s Hybrid Theory, 2003‘s Meteora, 2007‘s Minutes to Midnight, their new album A Thousand Suns, plus their 2009 single from the movie Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen “New Divide.” After my exhaustive journey through their catalog, I was still not convinced that Linkn Park were a great band, nor did I feel that they deserved the attention, album sales, and heavy radio airplay they’ve had over the years.  Upon entrance to the arena, the first thing I noticed was the unusual stage set-up. Instead of the traditional rectangular shape of a concert stage, Linkin Park set up their stage in the shape of a V. I suppose this made it easier for more people to be set up closer on either side of the stage. This also allowed for two large video screens to be placed on each side of the V...facing each other. Unfortunately, the seats that I had were fairly high up on the side of the stage, towards the rear...and those bloody video screens ended up blocking part of my view of the band. The irony was not lost on me; the screens that were supposed to show close-ups of Linkin Park were actually preventing me from seeing a full view of the band. I only ever saw the bottom half of the drummer, and that was only if I was sitting down. Thankfully, the bassist came around my way now and then, otherwise I would not have seen him either... Shortly after 7:30pm, the show began with an exciting set by 90’s UK band Prodigy. Spouting out four-letter words every other sentence, frontmen Maxim Reality and Keith Flint helped the band deliver a powerful 50-minute set filled with heavy techno-dance grooves which got the audience on their feet. Reality and Flint towered the stage and taunted the audience with hits and lesser-known material. The crowd loved hearing songs from their 1997 smash album The Fat of The Land...including opener “Breathe” plus showstoppers “Firestarter” and “Smash My Bitch Up.” With heavy anticipation, Linkin Park hit the stage at 9:15pm...opening with the first song from A Thousand Suns, “The Requiem.” When the lights came up, there I saw them: Joseph Hahn on turntables and keyboards, David “Phoenix” Farrell on bass guitar, the (bottom-half of) Rob Bourdon on drums, Brad Delson on lead guitar, Mike Shinoda on rap vocals, guitar and keyboards...and Chester Bennington on lead vocals. Let me tell ya, it’s one thing to listen to a band’s music...it’s another thing entirely to see the band perform live right in front of your eyes. The stakes change immediately. It’s a sharp contrast to the casualness one feels listening to an artist’s music at home, or in your car. Seeing Linkin Park live was a real eye-opener for me...and gave me the opportunity to truly appreciate the band for the first time...  After “The Requiem”, the band went back to the first song from their first album Hybrid Theory: ”Papercut.” It was as if they were saying...”We have new material folks, but first let’s go back to where it all began...” A strong “Lying From You” came next...with the crowd happily singing along. I smiled when Brad Delson played the opening cords of “Given Up”...as it has become a new favorite of mine. The band rocked it, with Chester Bennington delivering powerful vocals. The crowd went nuts when they heard the piano intro for the next song, “What I’ve Done”, a catchy tune from Minutes to Midnight that everyone loved. I was excited when they went into the song couplet of “Empty Spaces” and “When They Come For Me” from A Thousand Suns. I had seen Linkin Park perform the songs a few weeks back on Saturday Night Live, and was very impressed. Just like that performance, Chester Bennington and Brad Delson pounded on the drums, while Mike Shinoda rapped the vocals. “No More Sorrow” came next, and the crowd ate it up. We were then treated to the other great couplet from A Thousand Suns (which was also performed on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago) ”Jordana del Muerto” with “Waiting For The End.” Keeping the ball rolling with new material, Linkin Park followed up with the cool, calm and collected “Burning In The Skies.” Yet just when the vibe quieted down, the crowd was brought to a frenzy with the 2003 classic “Numb”...and everybody sang along. I gotta admit, I loved hearing Mike Shinoda’s rap vocals in this song, and others...specifically the way it answered back to what Chester Bennington was singing.  The new track “The Radiance” featured creepy excerpts played on the video screen (and re-mixed live by Joseph Hahn) from nuclear weapon mastermind J. Robert Oppenheimer. Then Linkin Park brought out the crowd favorite: ”Breaking The Habit” from the Meteora album. The crowd in San Diego had a particular fondness for this pop-oriented tune...and it showed. After the somber new song “Fallout”, the band broke out with the first single from A Thousand Suns...”The Catalyst”...a pounding chant of a tune that sounded very strong live. The audience got into this, yet went bananas for the triple threat that followed. Like a machine gun, Linkin Park destroyed the San Diego crowd with three of their biggest songs to close the set: “Crawling”, “Faint” and “One Step Closer.” The crowd sang loud and proud throughout this dangerous trifecta...and were left breathless. The encore began with a sample of the band’s foray into U2 territory...a triple-header of melodic and sensual sounds that come from a different world than their nu metal-rap songs. First up was “Wisdom, Justice and Love”...featuring the words and sounds of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was soon followed by “Iridescent” from the new album...featuring slick harmony vocals, an arm-waving chorus and a guitar sound exactly like U2‘s The Edge. The last song of the U2-like triple header was the most U2-sounding of all...Minutes To Midnight’s “Shadow Of The Day.” I’m not sure how I feel about this side of Linkin Park...especially when played all together. It’s almost as if a different band does these songs. They’re done well, yet perhaps suffer by comparison to U2, and themselves... Just as in the main set, Linkin Park chose to end the evening with three songs that would pummel the crowd to oblivion. “New Divide” played well, yet this was just the set-up for what would happen next. The roof of the Viejas Arena exploded when the band broke out the classic 2000 song “In The End.” Not giving the San Diego audience a chance to breathe, Linkin Park next broke out the Minutes to Midnight raucous raver “Bleed It Out” to close-out the night...and leave everyone with smile on their face...  Call it Stockholm syndrome, or whatever you want...yet I walked out of the Viejas Arena a different person than I was when I walked in. To my shock and amazement, I now can call myself a Linkin Park fan. I did not see this coming at all, yet now that it has...I welcome the notion with open arms. It’s amazing how one concert can make a difference, yet that’s how good Linkin Park are. It’s no wonder I felt that the concert went by very fast...as if no time had passed at all. This band kidnapped me for 90 minutes Sunday night, and dared me not to love the sounds they were making on stage... Well, Linkin Park...you win this round. Chester Bennington blew me away with his vocals...from the guttural scream to the most sensitive of melodic sounds. Mike Shinoda is a force to be reckoned with, and I am no match for his stage presence, rapping style, keyboards, and guitars. Speaking of guitars, how cool is Brad Delson? He plays the entire concert wearing large headphones (for reasons I do not fully understand)...and still looks rock star cool. Joseph Hahn is a mystery to me on the turntables and keyboards...yet he stands proud, and makes the most interesting sounds. Keeping this all together, is the impossibly solid foundation that David Farrell and Rob Bourdon bring to the bass and drums. These are six men who know how to make really good music, and rise to the occasion to make a truly great show... |
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