October 19, 2007
The Sunday Times

Make no mistake about it, Linkin Park can be the next U2. ourne 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!

The very scale on which they work is awe inspiring, for this is a band that had no trouble connecting with those at the back of a 10,000 or so strong crowd. You could put another zero at the end of that figure and there’s little doubt they’d be reaching the hearts of those at the back of that sized crowd too. This was as good as stadium rock gets.

The Californian six piece band was dwarfed by the 8-metre-high video screen behind them. Mostly it flashed colours and striking designs, including the band’s logo, and only occasionally, video footage. Even more rarely did it show the band. When it did, it was in the form of massive silhouettes. In Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda they have two engaging front men, but they did not feature on the screens. With all this new technology, there were no cameras. They weren’t missed.

In an age where we are soaked with celebrity to saturation point, the very fact that their faces weren’t being shoved in ours was a welcome revelation. At the back we might not have been able to see the contortions of Bennington’s face as he sang, or the six pack of what looked like a very tidy physique, but it didn’t matter. Somehow they have made rock music for the masses without selling themselves as pop stars.

Like U2 they are building a set of anthems to be sung full voiced by the faithful and to be in the middle of this communal singing and such was the fervour it felt like being in the middle of political rally, Whether offering tracks from their latest album "Minutes To Midnight" or going back to their diamond certified debut "Hybrid Theory", the crowd lapped up and shared every word in full voice.

The show was magnificently paced, they squeezed in as many of their singles as they could in 90 minutes with each one being received even more rapturously than the last but the high point came with the first song of their encore. The Little Things Give You Away is their reaction to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A heart wrenching song and classic in he making, the band’s tightness was impressive as it matched the ghost-like images of the people caught up in devastation of that catastrophe. It was touching, overpowering and yet subtle. Something U2 rarely manage.

During a generous one hour set former Soundgarden and Audio Slave front man Chris Cornell looked for all the world like a man whom the world has passed by. The gruff blues rock edge of the grunge pioneer was intact, as he and his four piece band invoked the days when UK bands like Led Zeppelin and Free ruled the world. Cornell was something of a personality free zone, but it was great to hear Black Hole Sun, Rusty Cage and Jesus Christ Pose once again in at least some of their glory.