Give Me an Encore!

Wow, what a night! On Friday, I finally got the chance to see one of my favorite bands, Linkin Park, perform live at Madison Square Garden as part of their "A Thousand Suns World Tour". I was one of the fortunate people who were able to buy these sold-out tickets off of people who didn't want their tickets anymore, but unfortunately isolated from my friends who had VIP tickets and stood in the pit. For those who hardly know anything about Linkin Park, let me tell you something about them: They're one of the first rock bands I've ever listened to (if you consider Simple Plan and Good Charlotte rock bands, the 'Punk-era'), way before my teenage years and their music is a great mixture of metal, alternative and rap. Mike Shinoda, who is a one-man Swiss Army in the band, is a total inspiration. During Linkin Park's break from 2005-2006, Shinoda started working on his own music project, as most of you remember, Fort Minor. While the Fort Minor tour was on, they lost a lot of money because sales weren't great, and Shinoda had to pay everything out of his own pocket because all he wanted to do was to play his music. Sounds harsh, but true. People like him, who don't give up, inspire me.

As far as the concert went, it was amazing and truly one of the best experiences of my life. It was a bit awkward, solely singing and rocking out, but doesn't matter as long as you're in the moment. These guys did not take a break at all throughout the two hours of the concert. Chester Bennington was literally screaming his lungs out and I, myself lost my voice by the end of the night. I think just about everyone in the audience had fun because it was so loud, I couldn't even hear my own voice! It'll probably be a couple of more years until they come back and play in New York again, but anyone who were able to grab the tickets for this tour should be grateful because these are very hard to buy tickets and you will have a great time, guaranteed. They've been touring around the world for four months now and still have six months to go; much respect to these guys!