Linkin Park, Dead LetterCircus @ Rod Laver Arena,Melbourne (13/12/2010)

Wed 15th Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Rod Laver arena is impressively close to capacity when local support act Dead Letter Circus take the stage. Announcing that they are here to warm the crowd up for Linkin Park, they do just that, receiving a strong response from the audience. Stewart Hill’s subsonic Bass is more often than not at the forefront of the mix, driving the band’s typically Australian blend of progressive heavy rock. Songs like Reaction get the crowd going, with the highlight the catchy refrain in Cage. Vocalist Kim Benzie seems to be having trouble with foldback, occasionally losing his place or timing in songs but nonetheless manages to hold it together and his vocals on the whole still impress. The band may not be as ambitious or adventurous musically as peers like Cog and Karnivool, but they are solid musically and not at all unappealing; case in point the hard hitting drumming of Luke Williams. Benzie perhaps misreads the enthusiasm of the crowd with several failed attempts on his part to coax the beginnings of a mosh pit out of them. Finally, they briefly comply in the acts closing number Next in Line. In all, Linkin Park couldn’t have received a better, more appropriate local support.

Taking the stage to the dour new album opener The Requiem, Linkin Park quickly shifts into gear with what has to be a standout from said new album, Wretches and Kings, reminding of the band’s early success in its blend of electronica, rock, and the dynamic interplay between the rapping of Mike Shinoda and sung refrains of Chester Bennington. The band is arranged on a series of platforms that initially work well visually, giving the eyes hierarchies to look through.

Lying From You off Meteora keeps the tempo up with Joseph Hahn’s pitched cuts and scratches. When they push into newer material, however, like Given Up and What I’ve Done, it becomes apparent how the band’s attempts to keep themselves fresh has made their sound duller and less edgy than on the first two albums. The crowd remains largely entranced in the My Chemical Romance aping No More Sorrow, but it is at this point that I notice just how many under-12s are sitting around me. Waiting for the End seems particularly lame and would be more than at home alongside Kate Perry and other top 40 pop. By this point, it is telling that both guitarist Brad Delson and Bassist David Pharrell are looking particularly bored, with each only playing the occasional two or so bars. Pharrell will remain stationary for nearly the entire concert, whilst Delson seems to constantly walk up and down the on stage staircase, one would guess to stop his legs from going to sleep.

The backdrop visuals are fairly uninspiring too, with bland depthless grey imagery making up the majority of it. Blackout sees Bennington try his hand at rapping, which honestly doesn’t come across as his strongest suit, before a welcome return to early material in Numb, which sees the impressive sight of a packed stadium singing along word for word. There is far too much bleeding heart balladry in songs like Burning in the Skies and Shadow of the Day, while The Catalyst is a poor rehash of The Requiem. They’re not above rock star cliches either, with Shinoda wearing sunglasses for most of the pitch black show. In the End is still fairly glorious, and the band do a good job of making Bleed it Out sound okay for a closer.

The encore, like the main set, includes the average (_When They Come for Me_, New Divide) and the excellent (_Faint_ and finally One Step Closer). It’s telling that, after over ten years together, Linkin Park are still closing with their very first single.

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