Fan Review: Pinkpop Festival (27/05/2012), Landgraaf/Netherlands by Kelly Gios

After weeks of anticipation, finally the day had arrived that a friend and I went to the Netherlands to see Linkin Park at Pinkpop festival. It was going to be the first time, and I was really looking forward to it. In the last few weeks I made friends with Kealyn and Vera at the LPU website. We decided to meet up at the festival.
I was at the parking lot when I saw another girl with an LPU shirt. But I was so nervous I totally didn’t recognise Vera! Kealyn was waiting for us at the entrance. As we got to know each other better, we felt connected to each other because we share the same passion: Linkin Park. We got along great and bonds for life were being made at Pinkpop. This is a perfect example of how LPU can bring true LP fans together!

We also met the Linkin Park Belgium team. And An Van Oppens, who is the LP ambassador for Belgium. It was really nice to meet all these people.
All 3 of us had a meet & greet before the show. I was so nervous! But it only lasted up to the moment I was standing right in front of them. They were all so nice and friendly. I felt relaxed and had a great time. Joe didn’t say much. Rob said: Enjoy the show tonight. I said to Chester: It’s very nice to meet you, and he said: It’s nice to meet YOU. He looked straight at me and smiled. Up next was Mike. I gave him a drawing my 11-year old son had made for him. Mike said: Oh, that is SO sweet of him, tell him thank you from me, thank you very much. I forgot Brad doesn’t like to shake hands so I held my hand up. Phoenix saw it and immediately said: Come over here. He shook hands with me. I already thought this day couldn’t get more perfect.
But it still did.

The meet & greet was followed by an amazing show. A lot of the older songs were being played. Mike played his guitar a lot. It was fantastic! The playlist was the same as the one from Lisbon the day before. The new song “Lies Greed Misery” is going to be one of my favourites from the new album for sure. We also got a mix of “Bleed it out” and the Beastie boys’ “Sabotage”. I will never ever forget standing in the middle of the crowd together with my new friends and enjoying every minute of the show. I can’t wait for the next one!

SETLIST:
1. A place for my head
2. Given up
3. Faint
4. With you
5. Runaway
6. From the inside
7. Somewhere I belong
8. Numb
9. Lies greed misery
10. Points of authority
11. Waiting for the end
12. Breaking the habit
13. Leave out all the rest/Shadow of the day/Iridescent medley (LOATR piano version!)
14. The catalyst
15. Burn it down
16. What I’ve done
17. Crawling
18. New divide
19. In the end
20. Bleed it out/ Sabotage (Beastie Boys)
21. Papercut
22. One step closer

Adie: Thank so much to Kelly for sharing her experience at the Pinkpop Festival with us! Also big thanks to her friends Kealyn and Vera who helped out with pictures, since Kelly’s camera unfortunately broke before the show.