No, I have NOT forgotten about my blog. I just haven't had much going on in my music world since the move (well, there's something, but that will be for another day). But finally, my first concert of the year!! I highly doubt that I will be able to go to even half as many as I made it to last year given my new location and lack of funding, but hopefully, this at least won't be the only one I get to...
First off, as usual, I was solo at this one. Once the music starts, I don't care. But when no one's on the stage, and you're just sitting there waiting for the next band...really boring by yourself. And the ride home? With no one to jabber on about the concert with? Lame... Plus, do you have ANY IDEA how good Waffle Houses look that late when you've just spent all your energy rocking out?
My seat was okay. One row up from the bottom of the arena, pretty far back. The arena wasn't all that big though, so there really wasn't a bad seat there. I felt that I could see just fine. Granted, I would have loved to have been front row in the pit (dammit, I'm spoiled now), but that just wasn't in the cards this time.
I'll start with the opening bands. Before I drove down, I honestly had no idea who all would be opening up for LP. The first band was Does It Offend You, Yeah? I had heard of them, but never actually listened to them. I really liked them! The little tiny female bass player? Totally adorable! Their genre is sort of a techno-rock thing (as I've said before, genre can be a pretty slippery subject these days). THIS is the kind of stuff I would rather here in clubs, personally.
Second opening band was even better. Pendulum is also a techno-rock band, but I felt that their sound was a little more polished, with each song being a little more unique. I really, really, really want an album by these guys. If I had had some moolah to spend at the concert, I definitely would have picked it up, but alas, it'll have to wait. These guys were awesome in my book.
Now for Linkin Park...
Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I really liked the stage setup (see pic below). They played songs from all four albums, which I thought was great because I love all four albums. They even included several of the interludes from their latest, A Thousand Suns. I feel those interludes really unify the album, so it was nice to see them incorporated into the setlist. There were some songs that I wasn't fully convinced would work live, but I was definitely won over. The slower songs like "Shadow of the Day" and "Irridescent" actually had a lot of power live. I was very impressed.
I tried to grab a video of "Wretches and Kings," but my camera ran out of juice as soon as I started filming. It was incredible to see hands waving all around the arena (especially the sea of hands in the pit) during "front to the back, and the side to side, if you're feeling what I'm feeling, put'em up real high."
"When They Come for Me" was friggin' awesome. I had never truly paid attention to this little fact while listening to it (which I must admit, it's a little odd for me to not notice something like this), but there's absolutely no guitar in that song. Tom toms were brought out for Brad and Chester while the rest of the band did their thing. On a side note, I really wish I could have snapped a picture of "MOTHER FUCKER" emblazoned on the screens behind the band. Just seems like it would have made a nice picture.
They played many of the old favorites of course. Man oh man, I wish I had been in the pit for "One Step Closer!" It was the closer for the main setlist, and you could see the entire arena going nuts. I was pretty sure my head was going to snap off and go flying the air. Needless to say, my neck was a little sore the next day from all my head-slinging.
My voice was utterly wrecked after the show. With it being so loud and so many other people trying to do the same thing, I screamed along with Chester. Haha. Even after "Faint," which was pretty early in the setlist, I thought was voice was going to give out. But come on? Who hasn't wanted to scream out lines like, "YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN TO ME, LIKE IT OR NOT, RIGHT NOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!! Don't deny it...
I was pleasantly surprised with how long the encore was. When they left the stage after the main setlist, I thought to myself "Ok, they still haven't played 'In the End,' 'What I've Done,' or 'The Catalyst.'" Those are the biggest songs, so I knew that they wouldn't omit those. So imagine my surprise when, in addition to those three, they also played "The Messenger" (which is a gorgeous acoustic song, if you don't know it) and a special extended version of "Bleed It Out."
I was surprised they chose "Bleed It Out" for the show closer. I've always really liked it, but I just didn't think it was strong enough to be a closer. BUT, they threw some surprises in there. After they played through the song, they kept the guitar part going, and Mike began singing the chorus to "Burning Through the Skies." I was like, "Whoa! Friggin' awesome!" And then he started rapping (the "Bleed It Out chords still going, mind you). The rap was really familiar, but my mind wasn't quite able to place it until Chester starts sayind, "You try to take the best of me. Go away..." and at that point, my mind was blown. "OHHHH SNAP!!" So we had "Bleed It Out" with the chorus of "Burning Through the Skies" followed by a verse and the screaming bridge of "A Place for My Head." DAMN I WANT A BOOTLEG OF THAT!! It would have been great enough as a standard medley, but the way they melded it all into "Bleed It Out" (which they closed out with after "APfMH") was just....fucking awesome. No other way to put it.
So that was the concert! On a side note, I would like to mention that after seeing them live and hearing all of those opposing sounds from their albums come together, I really appreciated more than ever just how versatile LP really is. Before I go, here a the only decent pics I got before my camera pooped out.
First off, as usual, I was solo at this one. Once the music starts, I don't care. But when no one's on the stage, and you're just sitting there waiting for the next band...really boring by yourself. And the ride home? With no one to jabber on about the concert with? Lame... Plus, do you have ANY IDEA how good Waffle Houses look that late when you've just spent all your energy rocking out?
My seat was okay. One row up from the bottom of the arena, pretty far back. The arena wasn't all that big though, so there really wasn't a bad seat there. I felt that I could see just fine. Granted, I would have loved to have been front row in the pit (dammit, I'm spoiled now), but that just wasn't in the cards this time.
I'll start with the opening bands. Before I drove down, I honestly had no idea who all would be opening up for LP. The first band was Does It Offend You, Yeah? I had heard of them, but never actually listened to them. I really liked them! The little tiny female bass player? Totally adorable! Their genre is sort of a techno-rock thing (as I've said before, genre can be a pretty slippery subject these days). THIS is the kind of stuff I would rather here in clubs, personally.
Second opening band was even better. Pendulum is also a techno-rock band, but I felt that their sound was a little more polished, with each song being a little more unique. I really, really, really want an album by these guys. If I had had some moolah to spend at the concert, I definitely would have picked it up, but alas, it'll have to wait. These guys were awesome in my book.
Now for Linkin Park...
Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I really liked the stage setup (see pic below). They played songs from all four albums, which I thought was great because I love all four albums. They even included several of the interludes from their latest, A Thousand Suns. I feel those interludes really unify the album, so it was nice to see them incorporated into the setlist. There were some songs that I wasn't fully convinced would work live, but I was definitely won over. The slower songs like "Shadow of the Day" and "Irridescent" actually had a lot of power live. I was very impressed.
I tried to grab a video of "Wretches and Kings," but my camera ran out of juice as soon as I started filming. It was incredible to see hands waving all around the arena (especially the sea of hands in the pit) during "front to the back, and the side to side, if you're feeling what I'm feeling, put'em up real high."
"When They Come for Me" was friggin' awesome. I had never truly paid attention to this little fact while listening to it (which I must admit, it's a little odd for me to not notice something like this), but there's absolutely no guitar in that song. Tom toms were brought out for Brad and Chester while the rest of the band did their thing. On a side note, I really wish I could have snapped a picture of "MOTHER FUCKER" emblazoned on the screens behind the band. Just seems like it would have made a nice picture.
They played many of the old favorites of course. Man oh man, I wish I had been in the pit for "One Step Closer!" It was the closer for the main setlist, and you could see the entire arena going nuts. I was pretty sure my head was going to snap off and go flying the air. Needless to say, my neck was a little sore the next day from all my head-slinging.
My voice was utterly wrecked after the show. With it being so loud and so many other people trying to do the same thing, I screamed along with Chester. Haha. Even after "Faint," which was pretty early in the setlist, I thought was voice was going to give out. But come on? Who hasn't wanted to scream out lines like, "YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN TO ME, LIKE IT OR NOT, RIGHT NOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!! Don't deny it...
I was pleasantly surprised with how long the encore was. When they left the stage after the main setlist, I thought to myself "Ok, they still haven't played 'In the End,' 'What I've Done,' or 'The Catalyst.'" Those are the biggest songs, so I knew that they wouldn't omit those. So imagine my surprise when, in addition to those three, they also played "The Messenger" (which is a gorgeous acoustic song, if you don't know it) and a special extended version of "Bleed It Out."
I was surprised they chose "Bleed It Out" for the show closer. I've always really liked it, but I just didn't think it was strong enough to be a closer. BUT, they threw some surprises in there. After they played through the song, they kept the guitar part going, and Mike began singing the chorus to "Burning Through the Skies." I was like, "Whoa! Friggin' awesome!" And then he started rapping (the "Bleed It Out chords still going, mind you). The rap was really familiar, but my mind wasn't quite able to place it until Chester starts sayind, "You try to take the best of me. Go away..." and at that point, my mind was blown. "OHHHH SNAP!!" So we had "Bleed It Out" with the chorus of "Burning Through the Skies" followed by a verse and the screaming bridge of "A Place for My Head." DAMN I WANT A BOOTLEG OF THAT!! It would have been great enough as a standard medley, but the way they melded it all into "Bleed It Out" (which they closed out with after "APfMH") was just....fucking awesome. No other way to put it.
So that was the concert! On a side note, I would like to mention that after seeing them live and hearing all of those opposing sounds from their albums come together, I really appreciated more than ever just how versatile LP really is. Before I go, here a the only decent pics I got before my camera pooped out.
EDIT: Correction, the pictures are going to be the first thing you see at the top of the blog (obviously). I really don't understand why half the time blogger will let me move my pictures and half the time it won't. Is it really that inconsistent or am I just clicking something wrong half the time?? *angry face*
