Asiaone
Just found these two not so great reviews about Linkin Park’s show in Thailand, which was delayed due to heavy rain and had bassist Dave Farrell too sick to play the show, and their concert at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore:.
Edit: Totally forgot to add that you should definitely stay tuned for some fan reviews from those shows, cause they will be quite different! 😉
WHAT: Linkin Park Live
VENUE: 2011 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, Padang stage
ATTENDANCE: 50,000
WHEN: Sunday night
Hate to say it, but Linkin Park might do well with a reboot in the concert department.
Honestly, Sunday’s show made one feel as though the American rock band could put on a full show in their sleep – and this isn’t necessarily a good thing. Since they first gained international success in 2000 with debut album Hybrid Theory, the Grammy-winning sextet have toured heavily, most recently in support of their album A Thousand Suns (2010).
And, perhaps, life on the road has worn them out just a tad. Don’t get me wrong – the 90-minute concert, which marked the end of this year’s Formula One festivities, had all the trappings of a Linkin Park gig.
High-octane rap-rock numbers were delivered with effortless panache, and screamo choruses inspired some serious moshing from fans.
The diverse crowd numbered a whopping 50,000, although that figure included those on their way out of the race venue.
Lead singer Chester Bennington, as always, held court as the band tore through crowd favourites, kicking off with New Divide, off the Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen soundtrack (2009) around 10.40pm.
Switching from melodic vocals to his trademark growl, the 35-year-old’s voice grew hoarser the harder he pushed it, especially on songs like From The Inside.
But at times, it felt like he was simply going through the motions. One couldn’t help but wish he’d shaken things up a bit, perhaps by throwing in his recent rendition of British singer Adele’s Rolling In The Deep.
Meanwhile, rapper-guitarist Mike Shinoda, 34, attempted half-heartedly to hype up his ardent following, imploring them to “pump your fists”. Surely, Shinoda could do better than that.
The band first played at the Padang in 2004, and the Singapore Indoor Stadium three years after that, and so this round of Linkin Park felt like a case of “been there, done that”.
So, while hardcore fans lapped it all up, others, like this reporter, were left wishing these stars had tried harder to up their game.
Despite being one of the biggest bands in the world, Linkin Park would really like it if everyone believe that they’re still the same men who keep their fans close and non-fans even closer.
Friday was the third time LP played a packed-out outdoor show in Bangkok, but organisational problems and extreme tardiness might have left a bitter taste in a lot of mouths _ especially those who had camped-out since noon, waiting patiently under the drizzling rain.
Linkin Park finally hit the stage almost two hours later than expected. There was some sort of miscommunication, as punters weren’t exactly informed about the time slot and schedule, and by god, they let themselves be heard at the concert, and afterwards in cyberspace. The continuous rain added salt to their injuries, dampening spirits and underwear.
The provision of an adequate number of raincoats would have been nice.
It was, however, some sort of a miracle resembling a made-for-TV drama when the cruel rain suddenly decided to halt when Linkin Park came on stage with The Requiem, followed by Papercut and Lying From You.Bangkok Post
Surprisingly, the band didn’t lean heavily towards new material, even thought the entire tour was designed to support their latest album, A Thousand Suns. Being the stadium band that they are, they probably know that they need to balance out the set list, which they did so quite wonderfully.
Big hits like Numb, Faint, Breaking the Habit, One Step Closer, Crawling, In the End and many more got the crowd moving and singing for the entire show. Still, they allowed a little breathing room in the mid-section with slower, less-excitable numbers.
Now that LP has been gradually moving away from nu-metal, they have embraced electronic sounds in their albums as well as live shows. That much was obvious when guitar lines were simple, bordering on juvenile, but still the clear mixing and phasing saved the day. Rob Bourdon’s drum sounds became too flat. Electronic outtakes were in form of samples, and the sounds chosen could use a little updating _ but this is Linkin Park we’re talking about here, so the last thing they would want to do is to alienate their loyal fans with awkward experimentation.
Bassist Phoenix Farrell never made it on stage. He suddenly fell sick, and couldn’t perform at all.
Linkin Park, as a collective, looked exhausted, and the blood-boiling energy that Thai fans are now accustomed to didn’t appear. It was just six men going through the motions. It was still very much a Linkin Park playground with some members running around, but the heartfelt talk was somehow muted, possibly due to tiredness and advanced age.
Despite the lack of usual spice, Chester Bennington could not have sung better. Possibly with only one note slightly off, the singer continued to wow throughout the two hours. Bennington’s voice was bright, pitch-perfect and obviously well taken care of, enabling him to deliver powerful vocal work.
Mike Shinoda still oozed a lovable personality with added age lines, but his signature rapping skills remained intact, and his flow just seemed so effortless.
Instead of blowing your ears out, Linkin Park opted for quieter, cleaner sounds which proved to be troublesome for those standing way in the back. For the front-section punters, it wasn’t that much of a fuss, but I felt that it could have used a bit more volume, even though I did appreciate the clear, well-manipulated sounds. It was very hard to fathom what people in the back heard.
More disturbing must have been the lack of visuals, as there were only two screens flanking the centre and behind the band. There was no way that far-away revellers could have seen anything. They would have had to squint just to see the screens.
With an outdoor concert of this magnitude and scale, and the band’s popularity, it would have been advisable to install an extra sound system. I suspect we’d rather go deaf than not hear the full potential of the band on stage. So, the next time Linkin Park comes around this part of the world, will I be tempted to see them again? I’ll say ‘no’ for now. But hey, that remains to be seen.
No Replies to "Linkin Park Get Bad Reviews For Bangkok & Singapore"