On Thursday 20th July 2017, the world of music had to say goodbye to a rock icon. Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, lost his battle with depression and committed suicide. A year on, I would like to share my own tribute with a review I wrote of Linkin Park’s memorable performance at the O2 Arena in London back in 2014:
Sunday evening became rock and rave night when the alternative metal & hip hop Californian crew of Linkin Park landed at the O2 arena on November 23rd.
Chester Bennington and co brought a spectacular display of heavy rock, rap and strip-back melodies that got the crowd jumping, head-banging and singing their hearts out.
With the release of The Hunting Party album earlier this summer and the tour titled the same name, the band thought it was appropriate to open the show with the first single off the new record, Guilty All the Same.
People say men can’t multi-task but that was proven wrong when multi-musician Mike Shinado, at times, managed to operate guitar, keyboard & rapping in one go, now that’s talent!
What made this show unique was the audience being constantly excited, surprised, in suspense and sometimes in frustration over what occurred next on stage. Due to the mass amount of artwork Linkin Park holds, their set-list had to be carefully structured. Therefore sometimes during the performance, the boys would do a melody of various songs. The sections of Shadow of the Day and Iridescent blended well together but for some people, they felt cheated because the full tracks weren’t played in their entirety.
In the End received the best reception among the crowd with thousands bellowing out ‘hard’ and ‘far’ throughout the arena.
The closing was most definitely a highlight with a roaring extravaganza of Bleed it Out. Rob Bourdon got first-class attention when powering up his super-speed drum solo (so fast it sounded like he had extra arms). He later spread the love with a shower of drumsticks to the mosh-pit below.
Chester and Mike were also feeling the love from their fans. There were many selfies among the front rowers and even a bit of a kissy bromance between Chester and one lucky fella.
In all, the American rockers delivered a multi-genre performance of old, new and different. Despite their age and length of time in the spotlight, they’ve proven their careers still have a long way to go yet.
Additionally, the set designs and lighting deserve a shout-out, especially for their artistic creativity at the climax of the show where the red and green lights gave a hint of the upcoming festive spirit.
RIP Chester Bennington. You may be gone but your music will live on forever! ❤️🎶🎵❤️
