POW! You think their albums generated mega energy? Well, you had to be at Merdeka Stadium last Wednesday to see how much harder Linkin Park rock in concert.
35,000 screaming and singing fans from all around Southeast Asia would attest to the raw energy that swept through the stadium that night.
But hold up one minute... Linkin Park at Stadium Merdeka? The world's loudest nu-metal, rap-rock band, here in Kuala Lumpur? Thanks to Jojo Entertainment, we got lucky – very lucky.
Although no moshing was allowed, fans made the most by jumping, throwing rock fisted signs in the air, and singing along at the top of their voices to every word that came out of Chester's and Mike's mouths.
The queues started from almost four hours before the show, with thousands of fans getting a sneak preview of what was to come when Linkin Park did their soundcheck about an hour before the gates opened, with fans outside singing along at full blast. After a considerable delay, the gates opened, and a flood of adrenalin pumped youths rushed in to grab the best seats in the house.
It really was amazing that nobody was seriously injured, showing that in the name of fun, we Malaysians know how to do it safely.
With beach balls, drink stands, colours galore and friends running around looking for each other, time flew by before the sun went down, and festivities were began.
Too Phat took to the stage, and delivered a energizing performance, featuring Phlowtron, fantastic b-boy choreography, trombone and trumpet players from Gerhana Ska Cinta, and two decks featuring DJ's T-Bone and Goldfish, and introduced Little Z, a 14-year-old talented rapper from Johor.
Everyone clapped and sang along to hits such as Ala Canggung and Just A lil' Bit, while the b-boys showed Too Phat's patriotism by holding up high a Malaysian flag, which really got the crowd cheering, reminding them of something that's easily forgotten at a major foreign act's concert, the fact that Malaysian acts can also rock a 30,000 strong crowd. Too Phat did a good job, getting the crowd roared up and ready for the headliners.
It was time for the the cross over, with Linkin Park choosing the electronic goth rock outfit, Nine Inch Nails, with the song Something I Can Never Have, as their bridge before they walked on stage.
When the boys burst onto stage with their first track, Don't Stay, the stadium erupted. Everybody knew the words, and didn't hesitate in singing along.
An emotional rendition of Somewhere I Belong followed, which reverberated through the stadium, with the crowd's singing almost overshadowing Chester's growling, and Mike's rapping.
Somewhere through the night, Chester asked the crowd to repeat after him, and though they may have copied just about anything that came out of his mouth, there was an element of surprise when the crowd heard him shout out three times, "Malaysia Boleh!" With him saying to himself after that, "Anything is possible." With no visual distractions onstage, the band proved that they didn't need props to create a mood. No, Chester Bennington, the man of many voices, Mike Shinoda, the baby-faced rapper; Joseph Hahn the sampler responsible for the amazing sound textures and visuals; Rob Bourdon, the drummer who worked double-time with Phoenix, the perfectionist bassist to create a rock hard groove, and Brad Delson, the guitarist, were the whole focus of the act.
With every song Linkin Park threw at the audience, the energy and adrenalin levels increased, as fans enjoyed song after song from both Meteora and Hybrid Theory, throwing in brilliant re-mixes from Re-animation. And then came Faint, at which point, Mike and Chester could've been miming, because all we heard were the fans singing – loudly. Slowing it down a little with From the Inside, they built all the energy up again with Numb. When Mike urged the fans to "help them out" by singing along to the mega-hit, they didn't need to be told twice! The fans fed off each other's energy until it felt like the whole of KL could them, proving the connectivity of music.
We showed them that they made the right choice in choosing Malaysia as their only South-East Asian stop, despite the strict restrictions imposed. Chester and the boys had no problems with these performance instructions, though. They weren't here to cause a scene, but to create one ... with their music! After trying to fool the fans into believing they were gone for good, they returned on stage for their mandatory encore wrapping it all up with the song that launched them into super-stardom, In the End. And just when you thought it was all over, fevered screams of "We want MORE, WE WANT MORE!!!" brought Linkin Park out once again as they showed us what they were made of and pumped it up once more with Forgotten. Leaving fans with One Step Closer reverberating in their ears, the boys thanked Malaysian fans profusely, saying that they've never been treated so well in any other country before, it was all over, as the fevered pitch died down, but the memory of watching Linkin Park live, will always remain.
Cressa Chan and Terrina Hussein
October 21, New Straits Times