22nd November
Phones4U Arena
8/10
Generation Y headbangers unite. Californian natives Linkin Park deliver an immense live performance, showing this side of the Atlantic how to melt faces in true nu-metal style.
Their latest release The Hunting Party is a departure from the electronic and progressive sound they experimented with on their previous albums and a throwback to the heavy rock sound we became accustomed to on their debut Hybrid Theory. The set is more extravagant, the lights a little brighter, the anticipation is a bit tentative; unsure what to expect from the gig, the band roll out to a short mashup of flickering noises spanning across their six albums, before getting into a few tracks from the new record.
Songs such as ‘Guilty All The Same’ and ‘Wastelands’ are played back-to-back with songs from their previous five albums, including ‘Blackout’ and ‘Runaway’, and whilst the tour is naturally a promotion of The Hunting Party album, the setlist is scattered with a heavy dosage of familiar material. Material from Hybrid Theory including ‘Points of Authority,’ ‘Papercut’ and ‘One Step Closer’, which are greeted with huge approval from the thousands in the Manchester Arena.
Each member of the band holds their own: turntablist and sampler Joe Hahn gets some limelight in a five-minute solo, scratching and stomping his way through a visually spectacular and sonically impressive performance. The two main vocalists, singer Chester Bennington and the ever-talented rapper/all-round instrumentalist and awesome guy Mike Shinoda are equally as superb. Bennington’s voice is exceptional; his ability to scream his anger through one track then delicately layer his voice on the next is astounding. I’ve waited the best part of seven or eight years to hear his vocals live and his energy is just as infectious as I anticipated.
The set gets a little monotonous if you’re not up-to-date with the new stuff, which takes up a large chunk of the latter half of the show. However Bennington and co. bring back the energy towards the end, dropping some of their biggest hits including ‘In The End’, ‘What I’ve Done’ and the highlight for me, which temporarily rejuvenated my rebellious punk adolescence; the monumental ‘Faint’.
Even though I’m not a rebellious and anger-filled teen any more, witnessing the band live reignited a spark in me that, for a night, took me back to the spotty schoolkid I thought I’d left behind in Year 8, so thanks for that Linkin Park.
