After nearly a decade of anticipation, Linkin Park chose Malaysia as the final stop for their Living Things World Tour on 19 August. Braving the rain that lasted through the whole night, diehard fans of all ages camped out at the entrance gates as early as 4pm in hopes of getting as close to the stage as possible.
Tying up with the event, Ford Malaysia’s recent campaign ‘Join the All-New Fiesta Movement’ had five lucky winners experiencing the red carpet treatment prior to the show.
Dubbed as ‘agents-in- training’ of their winning categories, Adora Chloe George (Car Freak), Ng Lay Wee (Fashionista), Mohd Afiq Ashraf (Tech Geek), as well as Chai Jin Chern and Jacob Hii (Action Addict) received priority access into the stadium’s VIP zone and the ultimate honour of meeting the band right before the start of the show.
The winners were all smiles as Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, and Joe Hahn took turns saying their hellos and giving signatures. Adora presented Chester with a hand drawn portrait of the band, receiving gracious thanks from the vocalist.
Soon after the Meet & Greet sessions, the winners were then escorted to the VIP zone, where they await the show to begin.
Promptly at 8.30pm, the stage went pitch black and ‘Tinfoil’, an instrumental track from Living Things began playing, which drew ear-deafening cheers from the excited crowd. With the six-piece outfit took the stage, they wasted no time getting the crowd into a headbanging frenzy with fan favourites ‘Faint’ and ‘Papercut’.
With more than a decade of experience, the band managed to juggle songs from all five records by balancing out the heavier materials with their mellower hits without jeopardising the crowd’s energy level. In fact, songs like ‘Leave Out All the Rest’ allow headbangers some rest time before going at it again with the fervent ‘With You’ and ‘Points of Authority’.
Personally having never seen them live before, this writer wasn’t expecting much as she was rather discouraged by the band’s new direction in terms of sound and genre.
Needless to say, she was blown away as the feeling of nostalgia of her angst-filled teenage years returned with every delivery of Chester’s animalistic screams and heartfelt vocals complemented by the band’s mind-blowing stage presence.
Mike Shinoda was a man of many talents, alternating between keyboards, guitars and vocals without missing a single beat. Rob (drummer), Brad (guitarist), Dave (bassists) and Joe (turntablist) performed every song with absolute precision and in sync with each other, cementing Linkin Park’s position as one of the most tightknit bands out there (we’re frankly tired of the recent disbanding of countless rock bands).
With their surreal videography and iconic stage show, the crowds were treated to a visual presence that befits the power of Linkin Park’s innovative and diverse music styles. The concert came to a spectacular end with their final song ‘Bleed it Out’, though ‘In The End’ undoubtedly had the most sing-alongs with Mike unexpectedly jumping into the crowd.
All in all, it was an unforgettable show and Mike’s thank you speech to the fans who have been supporting their music since Hybrid Theory has definitely made this writer fallen in love with Linkin Park all over again.
Organised by The WonderLand+, Linkin Park ‘Living Things’ World Tour was held on Monday 19 August at Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil.
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