October 19, 2007
Pubs And Clubs

This year has already proven to be a hectic one for the Californian rockers, Linkin Park, following a sensational set at the Live Earth in Tokyo, a European tour and North American dates of the 2007 Projekt Revolution tour. Labelled as one of the biggest post-grunge rock bands in the world, Linkin Park proved why they have become so successful when they stormed the stage recently in Melbourne.

Excited fans were entertained by support act – the ever-talented Chris Cornell, the founding member and vocalist of influential 90’s grunge act Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman, whose music was mellower than the headline act but he delivered magic songs and a great voice. 

From the moment Linkin Park made their grand entrance with the white draped cloth exposing the stage, the atmosphere was amped, stage lights were constantly flashing and the crowd was hyped. Their delivery of a flood of hits from their three albums, ‘Hybrid Theory’, ‘Meteora’ and ‘Minutes To Midnight’ was outstanding, to say the least … although they threw in a few ballads the crowd still remained enthusiastic, showing their appreciation by chanting ‘Linkin Park’ for the majority of the set. It says a lot when the whole audience can sing the lyrics of not one but most of the songs in the set back to the band.

Chester Bennington may offer the ability to scream in tune but he confirmed to the crowd his concealed talents of soulful harmonies when he performed Shadow Of The Day – long and in tune … his voice was superb and is very durable. As the intensity of the show continued, all around the venue every fist was punching the air and every voice was screaming out; the frantic pace of numbers including Faint, Crawling and Papercut had the boys pacing themselves confidently.

All good concerts must come to an end, and with a blasting encore combining more flashing lights, Linkin Park bowed out of their outstanding Melbourne show with old hits One Step Closer, In The End and the party anthem Bleed It Out – their show was definitely a feet-stomping, heads-banging and bodies-rocking affair.

FYI: Chester Bennington had an awkward fall during the final Melbourne show and performed the following night's show in Adelaide nursing a broken wrist - having an arm in plaster and sling didn't deter him from bouncing about the stage and giving the S.A. fans a great show too!