Exploring Life - A Whirlwind Inside of My Head
I still can’t find the right words for an introduction that defined the greatest night I’ve had in this lifetime. Alright, cut the crap! Whhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
LINKIN PARK LIVE IN MANILA – LIVING THINGS WORLD TOUR 2013
The band who managed to squeeze inside the limited space of my heart, had finally made me the happiest living thing in the universe, even for just one night. The jam-packed arena witnessed the most technically advanced set-up and most electrifying rock concert ever held in Manila. I’ve waited for 9 long years just to see them perform live, and hell yeah they did not fail me.
I went alone. I’ve done this before when Foster The People came here last October 2012. I had a great time ‘coz of the pumped up crowd and it was one of the happiest concerts I’ve ever been to. But this time, I really intended to go solo, I wanted to consume all my energy just for the band, or let the band devour my strength and every bit of my soul up to the last strand of my existence. And they were extremely triumphant in doing so. Up until now, I can still hear Chester Bennington’s reverberating screams and Mike Shinoda’s fist-pumping rap beats, Rob Bourdon’s indefatigable drum banging skills, Phoenix Farrell & Brad Delson’s deadly combination on the strings and Joe Hahn’s genius & sick scratching.
A couple of hours have passed since I entered the venue when Urbandub took the stage & performed as the front act for the show. Gabby Alipe assured the crowd that they will finish their set as quickly as possible to stop prolonging our agony. They played a six-song-set including their hits and songs from their new album. We were boost up as they capped off their set with their last song, First of Summer. Soon as they left the stage, LP crew began to set-up their gizmos and everything. Lights off.
And now… The setlist that left me gasping for air, even made my hoarse voice more annoying and eventually losing it in the process. I will try to relive the moments when I’m about to lose myself and sink into the abysmal euphoria brought by the band:
1 A place for my head
2 Papercut
3 Given up
4 New Divide
5 With you
6 Somewhere I belong
7 Lies Greed Misery
8 Points of Authority
9 Waiting for the end
10 Breaking the habit
11 Castle of glass
12 Leave out all the rest/Shadow of the day/Iridescent
13 Lost in the echo
14 Numb
15 What I’ve done
16 Burn it down
17 In the end
18 Bleed it out
Encore:
Tinfoil
19 Faint
20 Lying from you
21 One step closer
A place for my head. A familiar sound engulfed my auditory nerve. Joe Hahn & Rob Bourdon’s ultrasound-like features were revealed in the LCD screen. Fans started screaming like pigs being slaughtered (yeah, we were crazy). There was silence for a millisecond. Then Mike started rapping: “I watch how the moon, sits in the sky in the dark night”, OH MY GOD!!! My adrenaline rush skyrocketed and I felt like I was stupefied for a split second. I began mumbling the lyrics right after. It was so surreal. And as the song drew closer to my favorite part, my eyes were fixed at Chester, waiting for the lines “You.. try to take the best of me.. GO AWAY!”. This is really happening! I finally heard Chester Bennington’s priceless SCREAM!!! (LP fans are always wondering if his voice is as powerful as what we’ve heard in the records) And the answer is a resounding YES! Chester Bennington is the real deal! His intense voice and omnipotent scream dropped me to my knees.
Papercut. We went wild further as the insane intro of the song surrounded the whole arena. The blending of Mike and Chester’s voices were remarkable. Chazzy chaz jumps, swirls & screams (in no particular order). I recorded this but the video was like horror-movie-inspired, the unwanted screams, shaky monitor and busted audio were the highlights. Due to my involuntary body movements and uncontrolled behavior, I accidentally pressed something in my camera settings which affected the audio quality of the video records. I don’t have time to reset the sh*t so I just ignored it. “Beneath my skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnn!!!”
The audience kept on shouting with their tongues out. I also did. And it felt great. You should try it too. “Put me out of my f*ck*ng miserrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy!!!”. When they played theTransformers theme – New Divide, we sang along and waited for Megatron or Optimus to show up. Unfortunately, they didn’t.
Mr. Hahn’s turntables ate us alive. The awesome Phoenix used his mangled bass guitar which sounded even better and more badass! Brad’s simplicity on the strings brings balance to the force while pretty boy Rob shakes me by his drum patterns. I’m still singing along. I know all the lyrics. Forgive me.
Somewhere I belong. A meteora hit! We’re still full of energy. Though I cannot hear myself anymore. “I wanna heal, I wanna feel”…
Lies Greed Misery. At last! I’ve been waiting for this one. From their newest album, Living Things, this is my instant fave track. The people in the lower box area became soundless (‘cept for the inevitable “wooooo!” in between), ‘coz I can already hear my voice shouting the lyrics of the new song. I don’t know if the people around me were annoyed when I rap along or they appreciated what I did so as to keep them on the loop. “You did it to yourseeeeeeeeeeellllffffffffffffffff!!!”
Points of Authority. The crowd went wild once more! This song almost broke my neck 11 years ago. I headbanged and dislocated a joint or something. I will never forget this song. “Forfeit the game!”
I switched my cam to record mode once again when they started playing Waiting for the end. The “mellow” sound of this track was never a hindrance for Mike and Chester’s intense and dominating tones. “Holding on to what I haven’t gooooooooooooooottttttttttt!!!”. I was astounded when they performed medley of Leave out all the rest/Shadow of the day/Iridescent. We sang in unison on the latter part. It gave me the chills, thrills and frills! We all know that these are not the signature Linkin Park sound that we adored back in their early days, but I’m very proud of these guys who stretched out their musicality on a whole new different level. They’ve gained new followers but some old fans became skeptical. The thing is, if they did not undertake the risk of changing their trademark tune, they will be branded as monotonous and underdeveloped band. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. F*ck them all. I still love Linkin Park to death!
WATCH VIDEO HERE
When the crowd heard the well-known piano riff of In The End, everybody jumped and screamed and set their fighting stance like gladiators preparing for battle. The video I recorded was hazy. It looked like I’m in the middle of a mosh pit in Woodstock festival or so I thought. Mike Shinoda went down the stage and sang along with the crowd: “I’ve put my trust! In you!” and as the song came to an end, the band continued to play their closing track - Bleed it out, an allegory to what we currently feel knowing that the show’s about to end.
WATCH VIDEO HERE
As the band left the stage, we started shouting: WE WANT MORE! / LINKIN PARK! / URBANDUB! I’m not sure if I heard it right because my hearing ability at that moment seems unreliable having all that screams and larger than life sound system. I think it’s a mashup of those three. At last! They’ve heard our plea. They started their encore with Tinfoil, a full instrumental track from Living Things. Soon as I heard the intro for Faint, I started jumping once again like a lunatic. Chester was having trouble with his mic in the mid-part (but I wasn’t aware of it during the concert, I just saw it when I watched the clips from the net).
One step closer. We’re near the end. But as the finale began to materialize, our energy was multiplied and our forces were unstoppable! I screamed my lungs out causing my diaphragm to eject, that’s gross. Yeah, it felt like that. I thought my voicebox was mutilated. I jumped, sang, screamed and let the night take me away. With their very first single as their final song, I literally felt ONE STEP CLOSER to the greatest night of my life. I shouted the immortal lines, “SHUT UP WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU! SHUT UP!!!” like there’s no tomorrow. The best part of the night was when Chester went crowd surfing and shouted at those lucky bastards! Hahahaha!
WATCH VIDEO HERE
It was a hell-meets-heaven experience. That concert was one for the books. Amen!
(Special thanks to Scala Events for bringing them back, and I do hope you’ll bring them back over and over and over again…)
