Warner Bros., Faint Music Video Director Mark Romanek
I took this photo of the Twin Towers over Labor Day weekend before September 11, 2001. I was returning home from one of my long treks through Manhattan. It was sunny and beautiful along the Brooklyn Bridge, I was caught up in one of those moments when New York absolutely enthralls, when every single person around seems to be thinking the same thing, when New York leaves one at a complete loss for words. So instead, I captured it with my camera.
Just over a week later, the Twin Towers, those two brothers, collapsed from the sky. Again, I found myself at a complete loss for words. Once we’d gotten over the immediate violence and terror, once we made our way across town to a safe place, and once we finally returned home 24 hours later, the new reality of our world revealed itself. There was a new vernacular, at its center, Ground Zero, and a new Threat Level System of codes Red, Orange and Yellow. My roommate insisted on watching the news every night, replaying the horror we had witnessed firsthand. With the news escalating in the living room, I’d retreat into the kitchen and pour liquor into a coffee mug to quietly numb.
In the new reality, to get to work in Manhattan, we had to go through a Police Checkpoint. We’d silently sit in my roommate’s car, waiting for the all-clear to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. As the line of cars inched forward, I realized that one by one, we were accepting our fate, driving into the line of fire, not away from it. Every morning, driving toward that cloud of smoke and ash that refused to settle. And every morning, accepting something we once knew to be so true was most certainly not.
Once we got the all-clear, we’d race toward Manhattan and scream at the tops of lungs like warriors heading into battle. Our tires crossed each seam of concrete on the Brooklyn Bridge, growing louder as if warning us of impending danger. We’d scream toward uncertainty, we’d scream for the city we loved, and most days, we’d scream along with Chester Bennington. In The End by Linkin Park was our anthem. The first keys of that track had the ability to turn the exposure of day into the safety of night, and turn every ounce of fear into hurling fists of fight. We took to the streets of New York as if it were our sole mission, refusing to be defeated.
It's that kind of strength and fight that is Chester Bennington. And it’s what finally made me a New Yorker. His unmerciful growl is what led us through the new reality. The ability to scream through the heartbreak and relentless pain is a gift I won’t soon forget. I’m sorry all the damages and traumas he carried throughout his life finally pulled him under. I’m sorry that for every single day he resisted and fought, for just one day, he lost. I wish that wherever he is, he can see the impact he had on us fighters everywhere, and that he can finally feel at peace. To us, he will always be a hero, a survivor.
Because they were absolute beasts of live performances, here's a few Linkin Park concert tracks for those like me who need to dig in:
ONE STEP CLOSER Rock am Ring 2004 – Milton Keynes 2008 – Monterrey 2012 – ROXY 2004
FAINT Rock am Ring 2004 – Japan 2007
CRAWLING Milton Keynes 2008
NUMB Rock am Ring 2004 – Milton Keynes 2008
BLEED IT OUT Monterrey 2012
WHAT I'VE DONE Milton Keynes 2008 – Monterrey 2012
PAPERCUT Milton Keynes 2008 – Belgium 2017
GIVEN UP Milton Keynes 2008
WAITING FOR THE END Rock im Park 2012 – Camden 2014
BREAKING THE HABIT Smokeout 2003 – Camden 2004 – Rock am Ring 2004 – Japan 2006
SHADOW OF THE DAY Milton Keynes 2008
FROM THE INSIDE Rock im Park 2012
PUSHING ME AWAY Projekt Revolution 2008
LOST IN THE ECHO Summer Sonic 2013 – Birmingham 2017
FORGOTTEN Roxy 2000 Festival 2014
BY MYSELF TX 2003 – MTV Milan 2001
SOMEWHERE I BELONG Monterrey 2012
CASTLE OF GLASS Camden 2014 – Spike 2012
IN MY REMAINS Sao Paulo 2012
ONE MORE LIGHT Kimmel 2017
For those who need more, you're in good company. Full Linkin Park concert links can be found here:
Hollywood Palladium 2001 – Rock am Ring 2004 – Milton Keynes 2008 – Monterrey 2012 – Camden 2014 – Southside Festival 2017 – Birmingham 2017
In his own words: Musik – KIIS and Dr. Drew at minute 40
In a November 2 interview, Mike Shinoda shared this reflection on Chester:
I know he worked really hard to do what he did. He woke up in the morning and spent time with his family. He worked out for two hours. He went to AA meetings, or therapy, or whatever worked that part of his brain. He warmed up his voice. He did all of those things just to exist in everyday life… I know he worked so hard to be the guy that everybody saw. It didn’t come easily for him at all.