As we enter the final hours of 2017, it's perhaps the best time to reflect on everything that's come in the last year. We all lost a lot this year, but we learned and grew a lot, too. Here's a look back at 2017 in the wold of Linkin Park Live.
Linkin Park began the year by finishing up One More Light. After brilliantly teasing the lead single, the band dropped 'Heavy' on February 16, throwing everyone for a loop. Even I remember hearing the song for the first time in school, not realizing the person singing the first verse was Chester and sort of being thrown off by Kiiara in the second verse. We've all understood Linkin Park as the band without a true one sound. They've changed in virtually every album they've released; long-gone are the nu-metal days of Hybrid Theory, as in this decade alone we've gotten the nuclear concept album A Thousand Suns and the heavy, riff-driven The Hunting Party. That being said, Linkin Park went "full pop," as it were, on this record, and a lot of people seemed to not be ready for that. Regardless, the world responded pretty negatively to 'Heavy' despite it becoming one of radio's biggest hits this year. In the community, you were on one side or the other: you hated it or you loved it. There was no in between.
Flash forward a few months, and we started hearing some more songs. The jagged intro (which had not yet felt the wrath of Mr. Hahn) of 'Battle Symphony' was met with the same reaction as 'Heavy,' while the synth intro of 'Invisible' was received with a bit more positivity. 'Good Goodbye' wasn't very warmly recieved either, however, mostly as a product of Stormzy (who, hey, just isn't for everyone). The band played a private show in March for Warner Bros. Records, where we first heard snippets of 'Talking To Myself' and 'One More Light,' and even though they were just one-minute samples of an acoustic performance, the entire fanbase warmed up these songs and couldn't wait for them. The band had performed 'Heavy' for the first time as a full band (with Kiiara joining them) at the end of February at The Late Late Show With James Corden, though Mike, Chester, Brad, and Kiiara had already performed a special stripped-down session earlier in the month where they played the piano version of 'Crawling' and 'Heavy' for the first time. Mike also debuted his awesome sung version of his verse in 'Burn It Down,' as well. In March, Mike and Chester made appearances throughout Canada and Europe, doing Q&A sessions and performing some piano versions of songs like 'Battle Symphony' and 'What I've Done.' These appearances led up to another big, full band performance of 'Heavy' at the ECHO 2017 awards in Berlin.
In May, the band returned to the stage for the first time since November 2015, and with a livestream loaded, to say we were all excited is an understatement. Those euphoric chills as Linkin Park opened up their show at the Maximus Festival in Argentina in May with the haunting 'Fallout' and 'Roads Untraveled' mashup before the drama of the band's first full performance of 'The Catalyst' since January 2014 began was definitely a moment where we realized that 2017 was going to be a whole different game for the band's live shows. Also at the show, we heard the worldwide premiere of 'Talking To Myself,' the live version of 'Good Goodbye,' the new ending to the Experience Version of 'Castle Of Glass,' and, most unforgettably, the 2017 Version of 'Leave Out All The Rest.' Fast forward to the band's first headlining show back in Chile, a new intro to 'Waiting For The End' appeared, as well as the live debut of 'One More Light,' giving fans the first full listen to the song, and the public debut of 'Invisible.' 'Talking To Myself' opened the show with an unforgettable crowd reaction, while 'Breaking The Habit' also returned. The setlist continued to morph, foreshadowing the tour to come, as Mike began rapping the first verse of 'A Place For My Head' over the end of 'Castle Of Glass' at the band's first show ever in Peru, before the band wrapped up the tour in Brazil.
May is where tragedy began. One of Chester's closest friends, the lead singer of the legendary Soundgarden and Audioslave, Chris Cornell died of suicide while on tour. Undoubtedly heartbroken, the band delivered one of the most emotional performances of their career at their set for Jimmy Kimmel Live with 'One More Light,' boldly choosing to air the emotional tribute to Chris Cornell on live TV instead of 'Heavy.' Before tragedy had struck, however, the band was still doing some awesome stuff. For Good Morning America, the band took to the New York City underground and performed their first ever acoustic set in Grand Central Station - a show I was lucky enough to attend, and I got to meet the band for the first after the show! One More Light was released on May 19, and immediately earned the band another #1. Though being poorly received by critics, the music of the album had grown on a lot of us and we started seeing some truly amazing songs come to life like 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Sorry For Now.' Those able to look beyond the new sound were able to find the sadness and the pain that the record is truly about. Just like any Linkin Park record, One More Light had a powerful message behind it, and one that would prove more important later on.
After spending some time celebrating the release of the new record, it was time for the band to hit the road again. The One More Light European Tour proved to be one of the band's best tours in years, complete with everything from setlist variation to energy. No one show was the same; the band rotated a "heavy" slot in the setlist, initially consisting of 'Somewhere I Belong' and 'Points Of Authority,' and later included our favorite 'A Place For My Head' as well as 'From The Inside' after Mike held a poll on Twitter asking fans what song they should start playing. Every show was different from the other, whether it was Mike rapping a different verse over 'Castle Of Glass' ('A Place For My Head' and 'It's Goin' Down' where the common few, but Mike also went with 'A Light That Never Comes' and 'Petrified' at certain shows) or the band dropping various songs to fit in with various festivals. Headlining shows starting in Berlin saw the live debut of 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Sharp Edges,' with the first show in Berlin also seeing a special intro featuring an acapella of 'One More Light.' Christian Lindskog of Blindside joined the band at the Bråvalla Festival in Sweden (the band's first Swedish festival performance after the previous two were cancelled) for a flashback to the nu-metal days. The band played a hard show at the Hellfest in France, but made the best of it even though some people were not as welcoming to them. The band even began changing up the closing song of the shows; for the first time in what feels like ages, not every show closed with 'Bleed It Out' Instead, we had 'Faint' taking out some shows. All in all, every show had it's own special moment, and for us live enthusiasts, it was everything we've ever wanted.
The tour came to an end in England. After tragedy struck the Manchester Arena earlier in the year, the final show of the tour was cancelled. The band, however, made sure these nights were unforgettable. The band extended their setlist, adding in an extra slot (which was where an additional song from the "heavy" rotations was added) to make these shows the longest they've ever played. Stormzy joined the band for their two performances in London, a large-scale O2 Arena show and a smaller, intimate show at the Brixton Academy. At the O2 Arena, Mike rapped a verse of 'Hands Held High' by request for the first time since 2009 (though it was the first time since June 2014 since the song was featured in a Linkin Park set). For the second show, Jon Green, an in-studio collaborator, also came out to perform on 'Nobody Can Save Me.' The tour came a somber but powerful ending in Birmingham, Chester making sure to let Manchester fans know that they were in their hearts. The band ended this tour on July 6 and headed home, and unbeknownst to everyone, this would be their last time onstage as the six-piece that made us who we are today.
July began with promise. Linkin Park had filmed a Carpool Karaoke segment, and at the end of the month the band would embark on their first proper North American Tour since 2014 (being that the 2015 tour was cancelled). Perhaps anecdotally, July began painfully for me. Without getting into too many details, my girlfriend of 2 years left me for someone else just two weeks before I was going to go see her again (we were long distance), and then an old friend died in a plane crash just a week later. When my whole world felt like it was falling apart, I could still find comfort in Linkin Park's music. Just as it always had, music helped calm my pain and make me feel okay. I appreciated Chester's voice so much more now having really felt it, and it became sort of a life line for me.
It was July 20 when our world fell apart. The world changed that day, and everyone could feel it. There was sadness, there was anger, there was fear, there was pain, there were tears. Most of all, there was a void. Chester Bennington died of suicide that morning, and in the grueling hours just after the news broke, we tried to convince ourselves it was just another hoax. But when Mike confirmed the news, those last threads keeping out hearts together snapped. It was official: our hero was gone. He had escaped his demons once and for all, but it bred a new one in our hearts. There was little to say, and the only thing that could really speak to us were the tears.
Going through heartbreak twice in quick succession is not healthy. I will be honest - when I woke up the next day, July 21, I really thought about following in Chester's footsteps. I thought, if even he couldn't escape his demons, what hope was there for me? I, of course, didn't follow up on that, thanks to my friends and family, but we realized that in the days coming that not everyone had that liberty. Mark (Hahninator) and I set out on an impossible journey to help everyone; we opened LPLive's DMs and spent our entire nights and days responding to people who had no one else to talk to. The last thing anyone needed in these fragile times was loneliness. We were at it for a few days before it was draining us. There were too many people for just the two of us to handle. So, from there, I built the LPLive Help Line Discord chat. With a team all around the world, who are now moderators of the forums, we helped all the broken people heal together. We still keep it going today, and there's still a lot of healing to be done. We were tasked with one important thing: to keep this fanbase alive and hopeful. Millions of people depended on us to keep them afloat, and we're still doing the best we know how to.
We spent a lot of time mourning, and all the same we spent time healing. Linkin Park shared heartbreaking messages in the weeks following. The band's tweet they posted on the day Chester died that featured an unforgettable picture of Chester performing this summer has become one of the most liked tweets of all time. They shared their official statements throughout the summer. "You touched so many lives, maybe even more than you realized," they wrote. "Talking with you about the years ahead together, your excitement was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that can never be filled—a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing. We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display, and in doing so, brought us together and taught us to be more human. You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve." In September, the band announced that they would be performing a special show in Los Angeles with special guests in celebration of Chester's life. We were uncertain of how it would go down, but we waited anxiously for it.
The wait felt like forever, but it soon came. The day of the show came, and many of us were at the Hollywood Bowl, anxious yet excited. I flew out to both visit UCLA (I had the added stress of colleges to deal with, woe it me) and see the show, finally getting to meet some familiar faces amongst the crowd. Nick (SasstielExperience), Astat, Legend, and more were friends I had known for a long time but only got to meet for the first time there. I got to see Mark, Jonas, and Sanjay (lakersfan13) again - the first time Mark and I did was hug it out. It'd been a long time coming, but we were finally there, ready to be a fanbase again.
The show started after an awesome set by DJ Z-Trip. There are few words to describe the show. Brilliant in execution and powerful in meaning, it was an emotional ride from start to finish. We braced ourselves as the beautiful 'Robot Boy/Iridescent/The Messenger' mashup opened the set and our defenses took a hit when the spotlight shown on an unmanned micstand during the instrumental version of 'Numb.' The night was as fully of surprises as it was emotion; the beautiful mashup of 'Shadow Of The Day' and U2's 'With Or Without You' with Yellowcard's Ryan Key to the heartwrenching three-way harmony between Mike Shinoda, Jon Green, and The Civil Twilight's Stephen McKellar to introduce 'Nobody Can Save Me' were only some of the unforgettable moments of the show. The show shifted from a mourning section, ending with a Mike-led version of 'One More Light' and a brand new song called 'Looking For An Answer,' and transitioned into the celebratory part of the set with an epic version of 'Waiting For The End,' introduced with a piano intro before Mike boisterously claimed "shake that shit off" and burst powerfully into the classic Apaches Intro with 'Until It Breaks.' Linkin Park showcased a career of success, from emo anthem 'Crawling' to their newest alternative rock anthems in songs like 'Talking To Myself.' We were reminded of all the amazing moments of the bands career when they launched into songs like 'Rebellion' with half of System Of A Down joining them and into 'The Catalyst' with members of Sum 41 with them. Steve Aoki and Bebe Rexha made 'A Light That Never Comes' loads of fun, while M. Shadows really threw us for a loop when he sang 'Burn It Down.' When all of the guests joined the band onstage for 'Bleed It Out,' we let go of all of our sorrows and let loose for one final song, and as the band brought 'The Messenger' back out for an extended ending to 'Bleed It Out,' we remembered Chester's warm smile and sang "When life leave us blind, love keeps us kind" with the band one last time.
At the start of the show, there felt like something was certainly missing. Chester's presence was gone, and the show began with that feeling of emptiness. But, watching Mike, Brad, Dave, Joe, and Rob stand on that catwalk as confetti fell and take one final bow together, you could feel that Linkin Park, while broken and still healing, is still alive. For me, I was able to keep myself together for a lot of the show; I didn't get emotional at the traditionally "sad" parts of the show, but the two that did it for me were 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Looking For An Answer.' I didn't "get" 'Nobody Can Save Me' until the song was over, and it has become one of my favorite songs by the band. The show was a celebration. Sure, not every artist who performed was perfect, but this wasn't an attempt to find a replacement. This was a show to celebrate the lives he changed and inspired, and to remember the man he was. It was the perfect tribute, and without a doubt it will go down as the greatest show I have ever attended.
The rest of the year felt slow. Life stopped for no one, and so as we continued to heal we had to learn how to live again, with this new emptiness. The band released One More Light Live just a few weeks ago, giving us a chance to remember how amazing of a performer Chester was. In these final hours of 2017, it's easy to be upset that Chester won't be seeing this new year, or any new year ahead. But if we've learned anything from One More Light or Chester or Linkin Park this year, it's that it's okay to not be okay. To take an excerpt from my own personal message about 2017: we'll never learn happiness if we don't feel pain and sadness first. We can never truly know what it feels like to be at the top if we've never been at the bottom. So let's hold on to what we don't have and hold on to the dreams we hold dear. We're here, breathing and living on. LPLive is here to stay, and there's a lot to look forward to in 2018: new music from our other favorite bands, the good moments we'll remember forever, 'Looking For An Answer,' and more. The light at the end of the tunnel is ahead, we just have to keep moving forward until we get there.
No matter what the future holds, thank you for being a part of my present. Thank you for being part of this community, and thank you for being you. We've never been a bigger family, and we'll never grow apart. Happy new year, and I hope all your dreams for the new year come true. Good luck and don't forget to smile. Let's make Chester proud.
My problems are mostly just myself and the people around me, but I can say that 2017 was the worst year of my life, too, and it was even before Chester's death, which made it even worse.
