Chester Bennington
Linkin Park Live In Kuala Lumpur
By Lennat Mak
October 15, 2003
Stadium Merdeka
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Anticipation was the keyword of the day for the Linkin Park gig in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Being their first gig in Southeast Asia aside, the strict "rules and regulations" decreed by the Malaysian government made everyone wonder what a Linkin Park gig would be like under such restrictions. But the truth? Nothing, and we mean absolutely nothing, could stop the boys of Linkin Park from tearing the place down at Stadium Merdeka, which hosted an army of more than 28,000 fans on Wednesday night.
Although the gates were scheduled to open at 6:30 pm, the die-hard fans queued up as early as the night before to secure their place at the front of the mosh pit. At 8:30 pm, opening act Too Phat took to the stage only to be greeted by a stream of jeers and boos from the crowd. The Malaysian hip hop duo actually won some of the crowd over with their older as well as current hits like "Nasty Girl" and "Just A Lil' Bit." Still, the crowd were clearly not there for Too Phat who did their best to entertain the crowd with their short half hour set.
Getting restless after waiting for another hour, sections of the crowd actually started chanting "Why are we waiting?" But the opening notes of "Foreword" quickly silenced the restlessness. Members of Linkin Park made their way one by one and launched into the first song of the night, "Don't Stay."
And this was where the live prowress of Linkin Park came into play. Along with his bandmates Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, and Phoenix, Chester Bennington screamed his way throughout the gig, never once faltering on a note. They delivered the hits -- "Somewhere I Belong," "Faint," "Numb," "Crawling," "Points Of Authority" -- from their two albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora, as well two tracks -- "P5hng Me A*wy" and "Wth>You" -- in "Reanimation style" as described by Mike Shinoda. It was clear though that the hits were the songs that went down best with the crowd.
The thing about a great rock concert is that the audience must give back as much as the performer on stage give to the crowd. So when Chester shouted "Malaysia boleh!" (translation: Malaysia can do it!), it was more than just a politically correct statement. Just imagine a sea of enthusiastic fans covering three-quarters of the stadium's field, singing along to every song with their hands in the air all the time when the band was on stage! There was definitely an adrenaline rush for both the band and the fans, upon hearing the massive sing-alongs.
The climax of the night came with the encore of "In The End" and "One Step Closer," the earlier hits of Linkin Park. As Chester shouted the last line, "And I'm about to break," their 90-minute set ended with a rousing finale.
"This is the best day of my life!" said a fan from Singapore. Forget about the nu-metal meltdown. The Linkin Park lads are definitely in a league of their own.
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