Making a case for rock
The Star
Linkin Park took Stadium Merdeka by storm on Wednesday night, leaving behind a rock concert packed with a bang and wallop. MELODY L. GOH was there, swigging it live and soaking the electric atmosphere from the capital’s biggest rock concert in ages.
HAVING starved for a real rock concert in the country for years, Malaysians rocked themselves silly at Kuala Lumpur’s Stadium Merdeka on Wednesday night, to the blaring sounds of Linkin Park.
The American band were in the capital this week to perform a 90-minute concert at the historical stadium, much to the delight of Linkin Park fans, as well as other music fans, everywhere. The stadium was packed with 25,000 multi-racial fans from all over the country, including some from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and other neighbouring countries. Malaysia was the band’s only stop in the South-East Asia region for its world tour this year, which is something that rarely happens, considering the country’s strict guidelines for organising concerts.
“We’re very excited to be here. We’ve been wanting to come here for about three years now. We know we have a huge fan base in Malaysia and we just want to give them something in return. We can’t wait to see the reactions of our fans here,” said bassist Phoenix in an interview backstage, shortly before the concert. With him was drummer Rob Bourdon.
The show started at 8.30pm with local boys Too Phat doing a half hour performance. Not many people were thrilled by the duo’s appearance however, and some even jeered them. With their B-boys, turntablists, musicians and guest artiste Phlowtron all on stage, Too Phat’s set was too cluttered and uncoordinated. It seemed as if Joe Flizzow and Malique were trying to outdo each other very badly, getting the audience to listen to them individually, instead of as a group. Guess the boys just got a little too excited over being chosen as an opening act for one of the biggest-selling rock bands in the world!
“Usually we do get to choose our own opening acts, but when we perform in a country that we don’t really know much about, the recording label or the concert organiser will advise us on who to get,” noted the gruff-looking, but very sweet Phoenix, who also revealed a liking for golf (he played a few rounds at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club the day before the concert).
After Too Phat’s over-eager performance, there was another half hour break as riggers and roadies prepared the stage for Linkin Park. An entire half of Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine album was the filler music for the expectant crowd. When the lights finally came on, a huge blue banner with the words “Linkin Park” on it could be seen in the background, while turntablist Joe Hahn (who had put on more than a few pounds since he appeared at the MTV Asia Awards in Singa-pore in February) took his place on the raised DJ console.
Phoenix, Bourdon and lead guitarist Brad Delson were also on stage, all ready to rock. As the music for their opening number Don’t Stay started, vocalists Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda came out from under the banner, getting the crowd even more excited than they already were.
One hour before the show, the band was just lounging around in the highly air-conditioned tent, eating and drinking.
“There’s a lot of smacking each other on the face, wedgies, that kind of stuff. You can’t have enough wedgies to psyche yourself up before a show! It warms up your biceps you know, when you pick someone up by their underwear,” joked Bourdon. Bennington, on the other hand, walked around in the hot and humid weather outside (with his batik shirt-wearing bodyguard in tow) talking to a colleague, trying to calm down.
On stage, Bennington’s vocal antics proved to be the best part of the show. His wailings earned squeals of delight from the audience, while his sincere (though corny) banter and his “Malaysia Boleh” stunt brought him and the band nearer and dearer to most of the crowd. The singer’s voice faltered occasionally but he managed to pick himself up each time. It’s just amazing how this young father of one can transform from a mild-mannered man to a rip-roaring vocal beast on stage.
The other band mates, especially Shinoda, also tried to interact with the audience, who returned in kind with rousing applauses. Though cameras were not allowed into the stadium, some still managed to sneak them in (a few of these were those pesky camera phones). Guests seated at the lighting and sound stage in the middle of the field were especially rude and annoying, taking photographs of the band and of themselves every other minute. Luckily for the band, however, the flash lights from these unwanted cameras did not disrupt their playing in the incident-free concert.
“We’re really fortunate that there haven’t really been a lot of incidents while we’re out there playing. Sometimes you do get hit with a water bottle or something like that, but I wouldn’t really chalk that up to an ‘incident’ level. I kind of like it when I get hit with a bottle on stage, I honestly don’t know why! I guess it’s the thrill of having to dodge things while I’m playing my guitar, that’s quite hard to do,” said Phoenix.
The band played 16 songs altogether, many of which were taken from its best-selling debut album, Hybrid Theory. Almost all the songs from this album were crowd favourites, while the remixed versions of With You and Push Me Away from the Reanimation album didn’t generate as much excitement. Hefty hits from the band’s current album Meteora were also the big attractions to the highly effective setlist.
Some of the songs to resonate with the “sing-every-verse crowd” were Somewhere I Belong, Lying From You, Papercut, Points of Authority, Faint, By Myself, Numb, A Place for My Head and the ever-popular Crawling, In the End and One Step Closer. When the band did its sound-checking in the evening; the thousands of eager fans waiting in line outside the stadium were treated to a “free show” when the band played Faint. Sweet.
According to Phoenix, the band is not deterred by the rules and regulations thrown at them by the government as conditions to perform in KL. “I think the fans know what to expect from us. We know that we have to follow those guidelines, but basically, they don’t stop us from trying to put up a great show for our fans. That’s what’s important, we don’t let a set of rules affect the way we play,” said the bassist.
The band left the country yesterday, to continue the Asian leg of its tour in Japan, and then in South Korea. Overall, the band stayed in KL for four days, which managed to give them a better understanding of the country and its culture. Said Phoenix, “I didn’t know much about the country before we came here, but I did know a few things about KL. One thing I was very surprised about was how good the food is here! Before we came here we were in Melbourne, and I was contemplating on stocking up on granola bars or something like that. Sometimes when you go to a country you don’t know much about, you’re just not able to find food that you like or are able to eat, so I wanted to prepare myself. I had no idea.”
Phoenix went on to list the many “Malaysian” dishes he had tried and said that he particularly took a liking to satay. “I love those things. They served them on the plane on our way here, so by then I knew things would be all right, food-wise,” he continued.
While on stage, one rarely notices Phoenix, let alone Bourdon. Bennington, Shinoda and Hahn are the most-loved ones, while Delson, with those big headphones of his, is so out there you have to be blind not to see him. Still, Phoenix and Bourdon do get their fair share of the limelight during songs like Faint, One Step Closer and Numb, where their skills outshine the others’.
“You get tired with doing the same thing over and over again, but the best part of it all is still that hour or hour and a half when you’re out there playing. That’s what it is all about,” said Phoenix, while Bourdon nodded in agreement.
It was the perfect setting. Surrounded by the views of the Petronas Twin Towers and other magnificent skyscrapers, Stadium Merdeka was definitely the only place to be on Wednesday night. The sounds of Linkin Park’s music and the roaring cheers of the audience brought the stadium alive again, after being left idle (save for a few football matches) for so long.
The crowd too had a lot of things to shout about. The fact that a rock band as huge as Linkin Park chose to play in Malaysia instead of any other country in South-East Asia has brought hope that other bands will make the same choice in the future.
For that, and of course, for the great performance too, we all thank the nice boys that is Linkin Park.