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WARNING: This journal is very long and may contain very tedious details. Read only if you wish.

Since I’m very unoriginal and can’t think of a witty way to say this, simply put, the Linkin Park concert that took place at Madison Square Garden in NYC on February 21, 2008 was AMAZING. This show was part of Linkin Park’s US Arena Tour and sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Post-hardcore band Chiodos as well as progressive Coheed and Cambria were the show openers. Even if you were or weren’t aware of all of that information, I’m pretty sure you want me to get to the good stuff. Here we go then!

Negotiations and business
Technically, this all started after my fandom for Linkin Park strangely peaked its way to the top. Linkin Park always had a special place in my heart, but shortly disappeared as they set on their “hiatus” for side projects and MTM production. I think it happened when Minutes to Midnight came out and basically all my friends complained at how LP changed their sound and they hate the album. I decided to see for myself and downloaded the album shortly after. Of course, I wasn’t satisfied at first, finding refuge in the previous albums. Going to Philippines changed my opinions on MTM after seeing a montage of advertisements everywhere I went, songs playing at random places, and listening to the album as I traveled. In other words, I fell in love with LP again for the same reason I started listening to them in the first place back in 2001. After missing out of Projekt Revolution ’07 that summer, I was determined to see Linkin Park live once and for all. After heavy negotiations with my parents, membership into the LPU, and pre-sale tickets bought, I was ready to go. No matter how I seemed to be screwed with landing section 311 seats, I was dang happy to have them.

The Secret Show
I was surprised that my Mom was the one who mentioned this to me: 2 months passed and New York’s hit music station Z100, held something they called a “Linkin Park Weekend”. Warner sponsored the contest, where each hour the 100th caller would win tickets to the show, a Meet and Greet pass, and invitation to an “intimate performance” from Linkin Park. If you were a ZVIP member, you’d get the chance to meet the band privately as well. Being as I am, I tried the whole entire weekend, but the closest I got was being the 32nd caller. I accepted defeat, but weeks later, Mike mentioned the “secret show” on his own blog, saying it was in partnership with Apple. That certainly rang a bell in my head, obviously being the performance mentioned earlier on the radio, and seeing as it was with Apple, what better place to perform it other than the Apple store in SoHo, NYC? Occurring at 12AM on the day of the actual concert…and I was right. I felt envious, seeing as I go there all the time.

Pre-show ambition
Getting ready around 3PM, leaving around 5PM, we picked up my cousin and met my uncle at the corner of 34th and 7th avenue. He was wearing yellow, so it wasn’t particularly hard to spot him in the storm of walking trench coats, hoodies, and briefcases. We finished off the McDonalds fries he held in his hand and ran into Madison Square Garden, otherwise known as the, “World’s Most Famous Arena”. Getting through the storm of concert goers going up at the same time as us, we managed to get up a series of escalators in Tower B. Looking around: the crowd was predominately older than me, probably in their 20s. That was no surprise seeing as Linkin Park came out in 2000, back when I was 7 years old, the older crowd probably in their teens back then. However, there were also the typical teeny-boppers, fan girls, fan boys, and parents chaperoning them. At the same time, I honestly felt like a newbie as the previous concerts I’ve been to were hip-hop acts and everybody had a tour t-shirt on. I decided to buy my own Linkin Park hoodie, being the one I’ve been looking at for quite some time on BandMerch. We quickly entered the seating area, where we were met with a group of semi-drunk men, but polite throughout the show nonetheless. The guy sitting next to me started talking to me, basically getting my name, where I’m from, and if I was there for LP or the openers. Coincidentally, his name was Mike and I didn’t believe him until one of his pals called him over. After watching the reactions to projected text messages from the audience, I put on my new hoodie and waited for the opening bands to come one. Also, was it really worth it to project that many marriage proposals up there? I also really got a kick out of the ones that said, I like birds one and I wish I could read backwards. (more or less from someone sitting behind the stage)

Opening Acts: Chiodos/Coheed and Cambria
Chiodos…was a bunch of noise. I couldn’t understand one word they were saying and I couldn't tell when the songs started or ended. No one in the audience or pit was moving either, except for this little corner that pumped their fists every now and then. Coheed and Cambria came out and they were slightly better. I give big props to their guitar skills, but I still can’t appreciate Claudio’s voice entirely. I only knew one song by them anyways, which was The Running Free. Around 9:30PM, LP were about to come on…also right around the time my water hit me, and I needed to go the bathroom badly.

What we’ve been waiting for!!
At this time, I was kind of tense as they were setting up. I watched as they took out Mike’s keyboard and squealed on the inside. A chant started from the back portion of the audience, and minutes later, the arena darkened and erupted with people’s cheers as Wake started to play in the background. The band slowly emerged out of the lower level starting the clapping intro to Given Up and a series of songs from Hybrid Theory, Meteora, and Minutes to Midnight. Although I was in a sitting area, I stood up the whole time, bobbing my head up down, cheering, screaming, singing, dancing, and feeling an undeniable energy fill that filled the arena.

Songs usually had a smooth transition after each other without stopping, but Chester stopped and talked for a few seconds. It was about how he was talking to his sister backstage, about the promise he made to bring his siblings to Madison Square Garden one day himself, making it very special that it happened to be their own concert that she was in attendance. It was sweet of him as a brother and he thanked everybody for making it possible. Of course, there were the cute Bennoda moments when Mike and Chester were standing quite close to each other. Sadly to my knowledge, no dialogue or interaction happened between them during the show. (other than the partner bow at the end) XD

We want an encore…and surprise, surprise!!
After the band finished with One Step Closer, Chester yelled Thank You! and I was denial that there wasn’t going to be more. My uncle managed to get his jacket on by then, but I hesitated as I watched the rest of the crowd chanting for an encore. The arena wasn’t completely lit, which gave it away a bit. A lot of people left from the seating area, but I felt really sorry for them when Mike and Chester came on stage to perform In Between and later the band for What I’ve Done in the first encore. After that song was finished, they exited once again and the crowd cheered again. I still felt incomplete without the presence of Faint in the set, but a few minutes later, Mt. Hahn rose up again and we met Chester and Mike standing at the front of the stage. Immediately after, Jay-Z comes out and the synthesizer portion of Numb/Encore by Joe starts up. I go crazy at this point, literally screaming and cursing at the site…hah. Nicely, Faint/Jigga What starts after and it was performed. As soon as that concluded, Jay-Z left the stage and Bleed It Out ended the concert once and for all. At the end, Rob’s drumsticks, towels, guitar picks, water bottles, and other random items were thrown by the band as they rotated the stage waving to every section of the arena individually. In the end, it really did matter.

Complete set list:
Set list paper
01. Wake
02. Given Up
03. Lying From You
04. Somewhere I Belong
05. No More Sorrow
06. Don't Stay
07. Points Of Authority
08. In Pieces
09. Numb
10. From The Inside
11. Breaking The Habit
12. Shadow Of The Day
13. Crawling
14. In The End
15. A Place For My Head
16. One Step Closer
---ENCORE 1---
17. In Between
18. What I've Done
---ENCORE 2---
19. Numb/Encore*
20. Jigga What/Faint*
21. Bleed It Out

-* Jay-Z appeared on stage to perform with LP
-Bloc Party was over Points of Authority
-Basically it’s the same set list they used at the show in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, but with the songs switched up from the appearance by Jay-Z.

Other things
I may have not gotten in to a meet and greet, but I think the concert was more than satisfying. It was a little shocking after I managed to have a déjà vu moment during the concert, as I had a dream exactly like it before. Someone also managed to spill their drink, which drenched my coat …Hahah, someone was smoking weed in the audience and everybody could smell it. Sorry to say, we didn’t see Phoenix from where we sat and it was strange. It’s a harsh reality I have to accept, but I really cannot sing for my life. xD My uncle and cousin had their own positive reviews about their concert too.

Uncle’s response
“The opening bands were…meh. Linkin Park were great just by themselves.”
“You know, I really like their ballads a lot.”
“I was really surprised that everybody was standing the whole time.”
“I didn’t expect Jay-Z to come on stage, but it makes sense because he lives here, and it was really amazing.”
“I think the drummer is the cutest of them all, also the rapper…”
_{*winkwink to Rob and Mike ;DD* (THIS IS WHY I LOVE MY UNCLE! …I saw him smiling whenever Rob came onto the screen XD)}

Cousin’s response
”THE LINKIN PARK CONCERT WAS AWESOME!”
“I love Linkin Park…”
“I think I like Chester now…”
“Chester’s so funny.”
“Carla…look it’s Mike, Mike, Mike…! *pokes me repeatedly*
“EYO! Brad and his fro!!”
“I like how Joe was just standing there.”

Pictures
Mine:
[link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

From Mike’s blog:
[link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]


Videos
A little Bennoda moment? (I wish!)
[link]
Chester: “Fucking love you, dude.”
Although, it didn't involve Mike whatsoever and it was really directed to the people in the pit, it'd be cute to imagine.

Chester’s promise to his siblings
[link]
I think I missed a little chunk of the beginning, but what he said in the video was sweet enough.

My December
[link]
Beautiful…I envy Mike’s piano skills ;o;

Breaking the Habit (very ending)
[link]
I’m sorry that I only caught the ending of it, but the visualizations made it cool and for once, I actually got a good shot of that screen.

No More Sorrow (bridge)
[link]
Amazing.

Jay-Z segment (Numb/Encore; Faint/Jigga What)
[link]
Even more amazing, I’m actually curious of how close this person was.

It was an AMAZING concert.

-chihiro923