By Cheryl Curry
On Thursday, February 21st, Linkin Park and guests put on a show at Madison Square Garden that was enjoyed by a diverse audience, which was half the fun. Chiodos, a band from Michael Moore’s hometown of Flint, Michigan, kicked off the evening early. With long song titles and a barefoot guitarist, Chiodos had fun onstage, and thanked the crowd for listening to them so often that their music became enjoyable by default. Though they played for under an hour, their sound was interesting, and all six members danced energetically to their own music in an endearing manner that proved to be a nice opening to the show.
When Coheed and Cambria came on, the tone shifted. A large percentage of the audience was clearly there for them alone, and screamed for them as if they were headlining the evening. Lead singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez, whose hair qualifies as another member entirely, was extremely animated and thrilled the teenagers by playing solos with his bright red guitar over his back or behind his head. He marked the most difficult songs by pulling his mass of curls into a vague bun. Though Sanchez’s voice is high-pitched, it was surprising that they had two female backup singers to fill out the sound. While their voices could never clearly be heard, as the only women who appeared on stage all night, decked out in low-cut, black shirts and moving in time with the music, their presence was noticeable. Coheed’s portion of the show was high energy, with few calm moments. Fortunately for their fans, they played a full set with “A Favor House Atlantic” providing everyone with a chance to dance in their seats. They ended with the favorite “Welcome Home” as even some older members of the crowd, who seemed to have resisted Coheed’s charms until then, were seen bopping along to the beat. At the end, a group of men from the mosh pit were hugging and shaking hands-clearly they felt closer after bonding through Coheed.
Following Coheed, some of the crowd seemed noticeably disinterested in who was going on next, and some people flat-out left. But the vast majority was just as passionate, if not more so, about Linkin Park. But first, they had to wait for the stage to be completely restructured.
By the time Linkin Park opened with “Wake,” however, the wait proved worthwhile. With seemingly unstoppable force from Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, audience members of all ages were captivated by the power the band conveyed.
Shinoda and Bennington, probably the most popular members of the band, both spent entire songs in the midst of the crowd, shaking hands and sharing the microphone with their fans. Thanks to the stage design, Bennington also focused many verses directly toward those sitting behind the stage-an act which clearly thrilled them.
Lead guitarist Brad Denson was a noticeable talent and dressed the part in a vest, hair that rivaled that of Claudio Sanchez and big headphones on top of his hair. He performed his numerous solos in a laid-back manner, always leaving the crowd anxious for more. Joe Hahn, at the turntable, didn’t get much recognition but the fans were clearly glad for his moments of providing the band with its signature sound.
The nicely planned set included songs from throughout their career, and seemed to hit all the favorites. A piano performance of “My December” calmed everyone down for a moment, and the large space of the Garden was beautifully flooded with the flicker of lighters and cell phones. “Shadow of the Day” produced a similar energy and featured a nice use of the video screens, one which complemented the lighting.
After closing with an excellent “One Step Closer,” the band came out for two encores, the first of which closed with “What I’ve Done,” the song Linkin Park did for “Transformers.” It gave Linkin Park a chance to remind fans of their cause of choice, Music for Relief, an environmentally-conscious program which aids the rebuilding process in the numerous areas affected by hurricanes Katrinia and Rita. During this song, the video screens showed images of atomic bombs, newborn babies, Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, giving a belated, but appreciated, political touch to the show. To the delight and shock of their fans, Linkin Park performed a second encore with surprise guest Jay-Z, featuring songs from their collaboration. Officially closing the night with “Bleed It Out,” Linkin Park ended an impressive evening, and the band members finally fulfilled their age-old promise, as Bennington shared, to play at Madison Square Garden.
Linkin Park, along with Coheed and Cambria and Chiodos, played Madison Square Garden Thursday night. The concert included a surprise appearance by hip hop superstar Jay-Z (usaweekend.com)