After almost a decade of waiting, Linkin Park finally came back to Manila to conquer the Arena wherein thousands and thousands of manic LP fans screamed, jumped and rocked their souls with the band. Considered as one of the highlights of the Philippine concert scene this year, the show proved to be a riotous success as the Arena burst with multitudes of people from the moshpit up to the upper boxes. Without a shadow of doubt, the evening turned out to be one of the most unforgettable concerts that Manila had ever experienced.

Local band Urbandub was both thrilled and honored to open for LP. The Cebuano band performed “Soul Searching”, “The Fight Is Over” along with tracks off their new album “Esoteric”. Their last song for their set was “First of Summer” which had the excited crowd more psyched up.

The moment that the lights dimmed and the animated clay-like figures of the band members were shown, the mania was instantaneous, like wildfire spreading across the crowds of thousands in the moshpit up to the upper areas. Everyone was ablaze with a ferocious energy as the band made their way to the stage. The first riffs and beats that echoed across was from the Hybrid Theory track “A Place for My Head”, followed by “Papercut”. The audience was unfailingly screaming out the words to the songs. It was insane how every person in that crowd seemed like they were possessed. They were loud as loud can be and surprisingly despite their apparent frenzy, their singing was perfectly in tune with the songs.

Linkin Park returned the crowd’s fervor by putting on one epic show. Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon, Phoenix Farrell and Brad Delson – the same guys from the beginning of Hybrid Theory – were everything (if not better than) we imagined them to be onstage. Chester’s vocals were unfaltering as he screamed and leaped across the stage for the entire set. Mike’s rapping was also impeccable. The dynamics of the band was in perfect synchronicity as they played through the songs. They had the crowd roaring from beginning until the end.

The stage was huge, set up with a gigantic screen at the back while a whole host of lights were lined across the borders. There were camera s revolving around the venue which featured live clips of the band and the audience meshed with the characteristic customized animated clips the band had been known to use throughout the years.

LP’s setlist was one hell of a blast too. It took the audience back to the respective eras of the band’s music at the perfect intervals. It included Hybrid Theory’s “With You”, “Points of Authority” and the immortal ”In the End”, Meteora’s “Somewhere I Belong” and “Numb”, Minutes to Midnight’s “What I’ve Done” and “Bleed It Out”, A Thousand Sun’s “Iridescent” and “Waiting for the End” and of course, Living Things’ “Lies Greed Misery” and “Castle of Glass”. It was upliftingly nostalgic to hear the band perform those songs, an experience further amplified by the singing along of the horde of equally frantic fans for a straight hour and a half. As Chester had confirmed, Manila has been the best f—— crowd in the tour so far.

Needless to say, it was a great concert, one of the best Manila has seen, really. The stunning props aside, Linkin Park was able to own the crowd, first and foremost, with their music – the same music that a generation has grown up to, songs that became our voices, our soundtracks at certain points of our existence. As we watched their music videos and listened to their albums on loop when we were younger, we could have only dreamed of being part of Linkin Park’s concert. That night, that dream became reality in our very own country. We waited for it to happen for more than a decade and it was well worth the wait. Even now, days after the concert, those who were present at the concert are still suffering the post-concert blues, still lost in the echo of the music of Linkin Park.

Written by: Sandra Mae Laureano
Photos by: Glenn Michael Tan

Special Thanks to Scala Events

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