November 29, 2007
Shanghai Daily

Before a packed stadium Linkin Park demostrated why they are platinum selling artists, writes Min-G Yao.

LINKIN Park gave the 25,000 Hongkou Stadium crowd a white hot blast of American nu-metal on what was an otherwise a chilly November night.

For LP fans, it was a dream coming true, for others, it was a rare opportunity to feel LP's power and charm. For ticket scalpers it was a golden opportunity. Hours before the show began, thousands of people were roaming around the stadium.

Mostly scalpers weren't selling, only buying.

The few scalpers selling jacked their prices, selling for double the tickets' face value and with two seats together going for even more than that.

Once inside any little movement on the dark stage produced excited shrieks from the audience but the shadows were just crew.

Eventually lights up but the disappointment continued, it was the warm-up band Thin Man. LP really didn't need any warm-up.

The excited audience was polite enough to cheer the band's lack luster performance but Thin Man would hardly have set alight a local live bar.

The real show started just after nine with the familiar yet volatile prelude of "One Step Closer."

The wait had been worth it and there was a palpable sense of relief as the fans started singing along with lead singer Chester Bennington.

The stage was simply decorated with a huge white cloth, one huge screen at the back and two small screen either side.

The videos accompanying the songs were unremarkable but they didn't detract from the power of the band.

At the press conference a few hours earlier, the six members looked tired as they posed for pictures and answered questions.

On the stage however there were no traces of any fatigue as Bennington and Mike Shinoda leaped around for most of the 90-minute show.

The audience screamed along with the familiar tracks and their enthusiasm dimmed only slightly on the more recent tracks from the latest album "Minutes to Midnight."

Not for Linkin Park the token ni hao or xie xie, the half-Japanese-half-American Shinoda read a long paragraph in flawless Chinese expressing the band's excitement about performing in China and their appreciation to everyone attending.

The last note of "Don't Stay" marked the conclusion of the concert, although many hung on willing an encore until the organizers turned the lights back on.

The show demonstrated the band's mastery of the live performance, with their explosive and electrifying energy fully appreciated by one of the biggest rock audiences the country has ever seen.