It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen Linkin Park live here in the States. In 2012, they embarked on the Honda Civic Tour with Incubus. However, after that, the band took a break when singer Chester Bennington became Scott Weiland’s replacement in Stone Temple Pilots. This past weekend, they performed a special trilogy of three shows one of which for the launch of Harman’s Infinity One speaker for this year’s Consumer Electronics show. In Los Angeles, they held a charity event for Philippines Typhoon Relief. In between these two major events, the band found time to perform to packed house at the Hard Rock Hotel’s oversold venue, “The Joint” on Friday, January 10th, 2014.
Opening with the instrumental, “Wake”, the band began to take the stage. The venue erupted with screams of anticipation when lead singer Chester Bennington came out to the stage screaming in a much different way – performing their explosive hit “Given Up”, with his voice stronger than ever. The song set the vibe for the entire night, as the band delivered a completely high voltage show. Onstage, it was clear the band was happy to be back in front of the fans – especially with the permanent smile plastered on Mike Shinoda’s face as he performed.
Songs performed from their latest release, LIVING THINGS included “Lies, Greed, Misery”, “Lost in the Echo”, and “Castle of Glass”, which seemed to resonate much better with the crowd than the album’s predecessor, A Thousand Suns. Naturally, their hit singles caused the most reaction – especially when Jay-Z’s verse in “Numb/Encore” was teased as part of the outro.
During songs such as “What I’ve Done”, “In The End” and “Bleed It Out”, a chilling chorus of singing fans overpowered the vocals of the band. When it came down to the encore – which consisted of “Faint” and “One Step Closer”, every person in the venue from floor to balcony was on their feet. After a show like this, we can only hope Linkin Park will be back with new music to take on the road to continue melting our faces.
Just before the new year, Linkin Park have released a single with popular EDM DJ, Steve Aoki, called “A Light That Never Comes”. This single is available now on iTunes.
For more information on Linkin Park’s Music For Relief fund for Typhoon Haiyan victims, please visit http://www.musicforrelief.org.
