Linkin Park
Linkin Park- “A Thousand Suns” North American Tour
1/20/2011
Event Rating: ★★★★☆
Venue: Bank Atlantic Center (Sunrise, FL)
Presented by: Live Nation
With anything from blue hair to black lipstick, fans decked out in LP t-shirts arrived in droves at the Bank Atlantic Center as rock band Linkin Park kicked off its “A Thousand Suns” North American tour in Sunrise, Florida.
The audience was pumped well before the show began. Pumped enough to urinate on themselves? Yes. Alarming, but yes.
An excited and apparently wet man was escorted out of his seat section before Linkin Park even appeared on stage. His exit was followed by a “bio hazard” clean-up crew of two staff members with spray bottles and paper towels.
The attention was quickly focused elsewhere as the second opening act, Pendulum, closed and Linkin Park prepared to take the stage. Excited tension filled the air as the crowd internalized their high expectations, releasing them as screams when the arena went dark and the foreboding stage lights cased the stage.
The almost packed audience was barely visible except for dancing camera flashes and swaying cell phone lights moving through the various sections. Waving arms, collective screams and a joint freaking out moment welcomed the band members to the stage. And so began the “A Thousand Suns” North American tour.
Linkin Park responded with even more energy, feeding off momentum from the crowd like a parasitic relationship. The crowd gave and LP took. Linkin Park threw back and the fans roared.
The playlist featured rhythmic spats from Mike Shinoda and created a steady hip-hop undertone, a perfect compliment to the dominant rock beats LP is so famous for. The band featured several tracks from its most recent album, “Thousand Suns (2010),” including “Waiting for the End,” “The Radiance,” and “Iridescent.”
The crowd went wild during the opening notes of “Numb” (2003), “In the End “(2000), and “What I’ve Done” (2007). A nostalgic audience reacted to the remembrances of LP’s previous albums, “Hybrid Theory” (2000), “Meteora” (2003) and “Minutes to Midnight” (2007). At this point fans were taking the head banging to a whole other level.
The rock surge was specked with a few interesting harmonies which coupled with some of the moving and dramatic lyrics, brought a welcomed gravity to the performance.
Not all of it was raging. Lead singer Chester Bennington finished “Breaking the Habit (2003) with an acapella refrain. After Bennington’s voice echoed the line “I’m breaking the habit” three times, he left it to the audience to finish the last word. The crowd responded with a unified “tonight!”
The band really displayed how multifaceted it is. LP transverses musical tastes because of its many layers and multiple dimensions. Fans left the concert wired and satisfied, a promising start to Linkin Park’s 24 city North American tour.
Reviewed by: Alex Roland
Tags: a thousand suns north american tour, a thousand suns tour, Alternative Rock, Bank Atlantic Center, breaking the habit, chester bennington, Does it Offend You Yeah?, hybrid theory, in the end, iridescent, linkin park, live nation, LP, meteora, mike shinoda, minutes to midnight, new rock, numb, pendulum, rap rock, ROCK, the radiance, thousand suns, waiting for the end, what i've done
