Since July 20, the Linkin Park family had been coping with the death of Chester Bennington and lifting the band up through messages, photos, drawings, tattoos, vigils and songs. On Friday, October 27 at the Hollywood Bowl, for the first time since his passing, the family came together, in person, to represent the millions of fans around the world. Linkin Park had been there for our most difficult moments, it was now time to be there for the band. It was now time for our strength to be felt as they took the stage without Bennington, as Mike stepped up without his co-vocalist, collaborator, and friend.
The show opened with a video of the band speaking about Chester over a collage of footage, ‘Tonight is about remembering our friend, and his powerful voice, and his generous spirit, and how he inspired all of us.’
On the dimly lit stage, Mike appeared alone, behind the keyboard and began Robot Boy. With keys laid bare, he called the congregation to order. The remaining band members, Rob, Brad, Joe, and Dave joined onstage harmonizing together, adding to the spiritual atmosphere.
Rob broke through the somber start with an electric riff from The Messenger. Once sung a cappella by Chester, now led by Mike, ‘When you feel you're alone, cut off from this cruel world, your instincts telling you to run. Listen to your heart, those angel voices, they'll see you, they'll be your guide back home. When life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind.’
The rest of the band and audience joined for the hopeful, anthemic chorus. An unforgettable night was well underway. From The Messenger, they transitioned to Iridescent, ‘When you were standing in the wake of devastation, when you were waiting on the edge of the unknown, and with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now, you were there impossibly alone,’ Mike called out to the crowd to help him out, ‘Do you feel cold and lost in desperation? You build up hope but failure's all you've known. Remember all the sadness and frustration, And let it go….let it go.’
In the final part of the four-song opening, Mike played a stripped-down rendition of Roads Untraveled, ‘Weep not for roads untraveled. Weep not for paths left alone. ‘Cause beyond every bend is a long blinding end. It’s the worst kind of pain I’ve known. Give up your heart left broken, and let that mistake pass on, 'Cause the love that you lost wasn't worth what it cost, and in time you'll be glad it's gone.’
The LP fam was there, the faithful, to gather together and raise our voices as Mike struggled to get through the last lines of the song, ‘Weep not for roads untraveled, weep not for sights left unseen. May your love never end, and if you need a friend, there’s a seat here alongside me.’
Concert goers wiped tears away as the band exited and the instrumental for Numb began. A single spotlight illuminated an empty mic stand draped in garland at centerstage. The crowd filled in for Chester, ‘I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, become so tired, so much more aware, by becoming this all I want to do, is be more like me and be less like you. And I know I may end up failing too, but I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you.’
The crowd followed Numb by chanting, ‘Chester! Chester! Chester!’
When the band returned, Mike finally addressed the crowd, ‘Los Angeles, I don’t have the words. I don’t think any of us do, to thank you guys enough for coming, thank you guys enough for the support you’ve given this band in the past few months. It’s been incredible...we really appreciate it.' His voice cracked and he pulled away.
He steeled himself and continued, ‘Doing this show is one of the hardest things, I think, we’ve ever decided to do, and I think you’re a part of the only reason we are able to even stand up here and do this. We want to say thank you to you, thank you to our families, and thank you to our friends for their unending love and support.’
THERE’S A SEAT HERE ALONGSIDE ME
From there, Mike took the role of MC, introducing each guest throughout the night. The first performers included Ryan Key of Yellowcard, Taka of One OK Rock, and Stephen McKellar of Civil Twilight. Mike broke the rotation of guests with an a cappella intro to, Leave Out All the Rest, ‘When my time comes, forget the wrong that I’ve done, help me leave behind some reasons to be missed. And don’t resent me when you’re feeling empty, keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest.’
Video footage between performances showed glimpses of Chester’s pre-show warm-up routines including a Freddie Mercury impression, and a song about unicorns and lollipops, to which much of the crowd sang along. Mike returned to the stage bewildered, ‘Let me ask you a question real quick, were you guys really just singing along to a YouTube clip?’ he was genuinely laughing at the crowd, ‘I don’t even know why we’re up here if that’s what we’re going to do.’
Battle Symphony had a rough start to which Mike stopped, ‘Whoa. Hold up, hold up. Hold up. Hold up. We’re not start off this shit all fucked up. That’s not happening. That’s not happening. If I have to pull a couple of Adel’s tonight, I’m going to do it. We are not starting…Chester would not have this shit.’
LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER
Halfway through the set, Mike went behind his keyboard to play One More Light. Again, a song once led by Chester, Mike took it head-on, discarding the higher, signature Chester notes. The stillness between the keys, exposed the pain in his words. But the night wasn’t about perfection, it was about showing up.
Afterwards, Mike shared a story, ‘There were some fans that we met outside last night, we were rehearsing really late, and they were here the whole time, most of the day and into the night. And they gave me hugs, they gave me reassurance and they told us that it’s going to be okay.’
The crowd echoed the sentiment with cheers. Mike kept his eyes closed and smiled in acknowledgment, ‘And it’s not one emotion that we’re feeling, I have to imagine you guys feeling the same. It’s a roller coaster of everything, one after the other, and you can’t predict when it’s going to go left on you. And the thing that helps us get through it is each other, and I’m very grateful for that, so thank you.’
He continued his story, ‘I was at a photo thing when I found out about Chester, and for hours I was in disbelief, I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t believe what anybody had to say about anything, and fast forward you go through a roller coaster of things. Eventually I realized that one of the things that always helps me get through something is actually not only listening to music but actually playing music. And I sat down–I don’t think at the time when I did this, I don’t think I even had the courage to listen to our music yet, I hadn’t listened to one of our songs yet. But I sat down in my studio and I wrote something. It was about 8 days after. And I want to share it with you guys tonight if that’s okay.’
With only a spotlight on Mike at his keyboard, he introduced Looking for an Answer. It was easily the most vulnerable, grace-filled moment of the night.
‘There’s an emptiness tonight, a hole that wasn’t there before.
And I keep reaching for the light, but I can’t find it anymore.
There’s an emptiness tonight, a heavy hand that pulls me down.
They say its gonna be alright, can’t begin to tell me how.’
With his voice cracking and a key clunk, the crowd was ready to lift him up at every turn, offering him the silence to get through it.
‘Is there sunshine where you are? The way there was when you were here.
I’m just sitting in the dark, disbelief that this is real, disbelief that this is real.
Have I been lost all along? Was there something I could say or something I should not have done?
Was I lost all along? Was I looking for an answer when there never really was one?
Was I looking for an answer when there never really was one?’
With just a few stark keys and his weary voice, Mike transitioned to the chorus of Waiting for the End, the fans immediately joined in to help him out, ‘Waiting for the end to come, wishing I had strength to stand. This is not what I had planned, it’s out of my control. Flying at the speed of light, thoughts were spinning in my head, so many things were left unsaid, it’s hard to let you go…I know what it takes to move on, I know how it feels to lie, all I want to do is break this life for something new, holding onto what I haven’t got…’
As a burst of confetti and streamers exploded, the band joined in, immediately lifting spirits, and dialing the track to it’s original, uplifting power. ‘Alright guys, shake that shit off,’ Mike said as he shook off the heavy and came out from behind the keyboards. He joined his band mates, flexing his MC skills, lowering his cap and rapping the rest of the song.
MUSICAL WHIPLASH
After that series of gut wrenching songs, Mike welcomed artist after artist onto the stage for some of the best performances of the night. Machine Gun Kelly lit up with infectious energy singing the Hybrid Theory anthem, Papercut. Chester and Mike often finished Papercut with arms wrapped around one another. We all felt an incredible amount of love for MGK as he finished the song right at Mike’s side. A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon represented hard taking on the heavy vocals of A Place for My Head, freeing up Mike a moment of pure MC'ing fun. After Jeremy hugged the guys and went offstage, Mike noted, ‘I feel like we’re giving you guys musical whiplash.’
With a big smile on his face coming off the raucous rendition of Rebellion, featuring System of a Down, Mike asked the crowd, ‘You having fun? That’s a weird thing to say. Cause it comes out of my mouth I go like, are we supposed to have fun? But I think we are supposed to have fucking fun. That’s I think. I think about Chester, and I think that guy would want us to have fun. That is what he would want.’
Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley took the stage next. And with only 24 hours notice, he came out and absolutely crushed The Catalyst. With band mate Frank Zummo on drums, Deryck did the heavy vocal lifting on the song, but was aware of Mike at all times, taking cues from him, making sure he was rising when he needed to rise and stepping back when the fans needed Mike to lead. Deryck’s performance was awe-inspiring, empathetic, and powerful.
OUR VERY FAVORITE GUESTS
After Blink 182 wrapped their songs, Mike endearingly addressed the crowd, ‘Our special guest on this one, is our favorite special guest of the whole night. Our very, very favorite. And that’s a fucked up to say because there was all these great people who have come out and if I say that, then it makes them look bad, but I do mean, that it’s our favorite guests. It’s you guys.’
Together, the band launched into the opening notes of In The End. Mike led the MC’ing and the crowd took on Chester’s vocals. We sang at our loudest so the band knew we weren’t going anywhere. When we got to the chorus, Mike held his heart feeling the full force of love from the LP family, ‘I tried so hard and got so far, in the end it doesn’t even matter, I had to fall to lose it all, in the end it doesn’t even matter.’
IN HIS OWN WORDS
After Chester’s wife, Talinda, took a moment to thank all who have supported her, her family and the band through these devastating months, the video screens took over once again.
At his final concert in Birmingham England on July 6, Chester spoke on recent tragedies, ‘I’m gonna keep these (Manchester Bee earrings) in until this nonsense stops and we can start loving each other, we can stop hurting each other because we believe in something different than the person standing next to us. The one thing that can’t be defeated is love, right?’ He then instructed the audience, ‘Look at the person next to you and tell them you love them and that you’re happy that they’re here with you tonight, having a good time, listening to music, celebrating life. We don’t care what you look like, where you come from, or what you believe in, we love every single one of you out there, and nothing will ever change that.’
ENCORE
To carry the crowd out of the Birmingham clip that left most in tears, Linkin Park returned for an encore with Iridescent, inspiring the crowd to triumphantly sing along, ‘Do you feel cold and lost in desperation, you build up hope but failure’s all you’ve known, remember all the sadness and frustration…Let it go! Let it go! Let it go!!’ The LP congregation was in full force.
Footage from the Linkin Park September 15, 2014 show at the Hollywood Bowl appeared on all the screens. For a brief, miraculous moment, Chester sang back to us. His angelic voice carried New Divide across the six surrounding screens. With the band members performing on-stage below, we sang along as Chester gestured to us, as if he was still with us today.
As the opening notes to the final song, Bleed It Out, played in the background, Mike shared these parting words for the audience, ‘You guys, we don’t know where we’re going from here. But we just appreciate your support as we get there. Most importantly, keep Chester in your hearts and Make Chester Proud.’
All performers throughout the evening came out to join the band in singing Bleed It Out, ‘Fuck this hurts, I won’t lie. Doesn’t matter how hard I try, Half the words don’t mean a thing, And I know that I won’t be satisfied.’ Before closing out the song, the band circled back to chorus of The Messenger, repeating, ‘When life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind.’ The crowd emphatically sang along with all that was left in them.
As the performers took their bows, Mike called out to the audience, ‘Thank you LP fans, Make Chester Proud.’ The artists slowly dispersed leaving the five remaining Linkin Park band mates center-stage to have their last moment with their fans and take their final bows. The crowd roared louder than we had all night. While I'm so grateful for all the generous performers who came out to support the band, the most powerful moments were of the band and their fans–the union and intimacy of the LP family was palpable.
After the show, while some headed for the exits, many of us simply sat back down taking in those final moments. Maybe it was saying goodbye to Linkin Park as we know it, or saying goodbye to Chester, maybe it was emotional exhaustion, or simply savoring the last of a magical night. We sat speechless, in awe, until finally ushered out by security.
The three-hour event, with a 32-song set-list, including over 30 guest performers and 18,000 fans in attendance made for an unforgettable, magical, and emotional night. On this devastating journey over the past three months, Mike and company have led by example, teaching us all how to grieve, and more importantly, after taking the stage without their frontman, how to move on.
