Buenos Aires, Argentina - October 7th - Review

[Dexter]

Yesterday was absolutely amazing.

 

It was a cold, cloudy Sunday morning when I woke up and went to my laptop to check some news. I remember that at the time, I was incredibly excited. I couldn’t believe it.

The rumors for both Brazil and Chile had been confirmed, and they were going to have a show. We also knew that 5 shows were scheduled for South America. Anyway, I remember checking LP.com to see if anything knew had popped up. Holy shit, I never thought this would happen. A post by Rob announced a BUENOS AIRES SHOW IN ARGENTINA!

I exploded. I was happier than ever.

 

Time came and went and no news about tickets were available. I began to despair. However, on an 8th/9th of August, AGAIN rumors became reality and TopShow began to advertise the show. Through the pre-sell, I acquired my oh-so-wanted tickets. I bought two, for a friend and for me. And that was 400 hundred pesos, which was 100 bucks overall.

 

About a week before we got to hear The Catalyst in its full-studio version. I still say that its ending surpasses even Little Things’ one. But that’s a whole different story.

More time came and went, and the leak was here. A Thousand Suns could finally be heard everywhere. I withheld, though, since we had been waiting the album for so long waiting one more week until the release date wouldn’t have hurt me at all.

 

And DAMN. I believe that both in theory (ideas throughout the album) and practice A Thousand Suns is an extremely well-crafted masterpiece. I remember not wanting to hear any clips from When They Come For Me, since with ana’s review I had been looking forward to this one. And I was not disappointed at all. Instead, I was thrilled with how it sounded, and the fakeout ending when heard for the first time at 5AM caught me by surprise. So that’s what they meant with middle-eastern music! And… well, the album review is a whole different story too, so let’s get on with the show review.

 

EVEN MORE time came and went, and without me even realizing what was happening, the week of the show was here. In the end, my friend bailed out, and left me with an extra ticket. He still has to pay me the money for it. What an opportunity he missed, because this show was outstanding. It had it faults, too, but that didn’t make it any less better.

 

So getting back on track, I was desperate to sell this damn ticket but nothing worked. I asked friends but none of them were interested in seeing LP. Some though “advertised” the fact that I was selling a ticket but to no avail. I said “fuck it”, and kept it for myself. I still have it in front of me, in the desk of my computer, to remind me what an awesome day it was.

 

Then ANOTHER set of friends and the father of one of them who I would’ve gone with BAILED OUT ON ME (FUCK!), and “refused” to take me to the concert. I knew then that it was up to me now. I phoned my uncle who drives a taxi, and asked him if he would take me to the concert and then pick me up. He gladly accepted, and told me that this experience would be unforgettable.

 

It was the day of the concert. Oh yes. I didn’t go to college yesterday, and neither would I today, since I knew I would be incredibly tired. I woke up and opened up LPLive to see if there were any news regarding the concert. Then I checked linkinparkarg.com, which is Argentina’s main fan page. And people were going insane. They, as me, were absolutely excited, some had even been waiting for October 7th for 10 years! So I waited. I felt chills going through my body at the time, because I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

 

I arranged with my uncle to have him pick me up at 15:10, but he didn’t arrive until 15:25. Still, we got there quite quickly, as we went there through the highway. I remember that on the LPArg forums there were talks of rows of people as long as 3 streets. I didn’t believe them, until I saw them. Holy-ape-shit. I had never been to a concert before but this was incredible. Most of them, save for a few ones, were wearing black LP T-Shirts. The one that caught my attention the most had printed on the back all dates from the tour, and the new logo. If I had caught a T-Shirt seller (there were at least 20 going back and forth in the rows) with that one, I would’ve bought it instantly.

 

Anyway, I got on the line. I was 3 blocks away from the main doors, and I waited around 2 hours and 20 minutes until we could enter. You can imagine that my adrenaline levels were over the top. I can assure you that I INGESTED more smoke from cigarettes that day than ever before in my entire life. I had a group of 5 or 6 guys in front of me drinking and drinking beer constantly. I didn’t see them again until the end of the concert, and about 4 of them had taken their shirts off. I suspect they instigated most of the moshpits.

 

The row had little advancements every now and then, but at 5:48 exactly, we began to move at a fast pace. We were heading INTO the stadium. It was FILLED with cops doing searches. It was simple, we put our arms up, they touched us a bit, and then told us to keep moving. We were then told to grab our tickets. I must’ve checked the fact that I had them around 50 to 60 times while I was on the row. I touched the raspy side of it every minute and a half more or less.

 

So I ran. I ran, ran and ran some more. I wanted to be in the first rows. And luckily I made it. I was in the fifth row, directly in front of the stage. I noticed that the stadium was getting filled with people who had been waiting on the line. And oh God. Moshpits.

 

Motherfucking moshpits. They were soundchecking (not any actual band, just the people who controlled the sounds) and they played 99 Problems (Jay-Z), White Wedding (Billy Idol) and some rap song, which I thought was by GBC, but I’m not sure. The moment they stopped playing music, the moshpits began. I don’t know about other countries’ moshpits, but Argentinian ones are INSANE. They move you from one side of the stadium to the other in seconds. Thank God I missed college, because I wouldn’t have had the strength to withstand the first one. Yes, the first one, because we had around 25 to 30 waves of moshpits. And they expanded all over the stadium. I almost even fell twice, but I managed to hold on to someone both times.

 

Damn. People began to get impatient and they wanted the first support band (OJAS) to start playing. When they finally took the stage at around 7:00, they were well received. However, the second they played a note they were boo’d by at least a hundred or two hundred people. I had two guys right behind me screaming and swearing at them because of the music they played. I wasn’t really much into this band, nor was I into the next one. I was just glad they played the song I heard yesterday on YouTube (Servidor del Rock/Rock’s Servant) but after a 6 or 7 song set, they left the stage. Next up at 7:45 more or less was Ataque 77, a well known Argentinian band. I didn’t move at all with these bands because I wanted to keep my energy for LP. Not that I enjoyed them anyway.

 

They must’ve played around 10 to 11 songs, and then left at around 20:45.

Next part coming in a bit.

[1996_LP]

Sounds unforgettable so far dude! I can't beleive some people though, 'bailing' out a for concert like this. crazy!

 

Can't wait to read part 2!

[annare]

Awesome review so far, looking forward to read part 2!

[Capricorn]

Great review, I was in the show too and I feel every word Dexter said as mine. This was my first concert and honestly, I can't believe what I saw. I feel like I am inside a dream

 

Offtopic: Yesterday I found out that my ticket has the lost numbers on it, lol

[MONDREUS240]

I am eagerly awaiting part 2!!!

[tschenneck]

god I really can't wait for part 2!

[maxstar]

So detailed Keep going, waiting for part 2

[tschenneck]

so what about part 2?!

[Dexter]

We were left waiting after Ataque left the stage. The crowd was clapping and chanting for LP to take the stage. It was amazing. Everyone was pumped now. So we waited. I checked my cellphone everytime I could in between the “little breaks” we had when everybody was relatively quiet. As I said before, I didn’t really move around with the support bands because I wanted to burst into flames with LP. Every now and then the people started screaming and a jumped to see if the band had taken the stage but it wasn’t until 21:30, that they did.

 

When I heard the ambient noises in The Requiem my blood levels shot through the fucking roof. I was EXCITED TO THE MAX YEAH BITCHES!!! I couldn’t actually see if any band member had taken the stage because it was all black. There were no lights. But then the screens became dark blue, and you can guess how crazily I was jumping and screaming right now. Yes, finally, after a long 4 year wait, Linkin Park was here. I couldn’t believe it.

Linkin Park was performing in Argentina. Damn.

 

So The Requiem ended and basing myself off the NYC concert setlist I suspected The Radiance was next, and I was almost right. Almost, because I could hear the heartbeat of The Radiance, only to be greeted by Mario Savio’s speech! I was going APESHIT INSANE. Everyone that surrounded me started to jump, and when they began to “actually play” Wretches & Kings a huge fucking moshpit drew me to the center of the stage and then back to where I was. DAMN. Everyone sang the first line (To save face!”) and then it got quiet again. I was rapping everything to the letter because this wasn’t going to be repeated anytime soon, of course. Chester’s voice on Wretches was a delight and he nailed it. The scratched solo and 2nd speech part was excellent. Holy shit, W&K is a great opener.

 

And next up was Papercut, completely unexpected. I was disappointed there was no “This one’s for the hardcore/old school fans” or “Pick them up” line though. Nevertheless listening to this song live is thrilling. The “Sun goes down” was mind-numbing. Well, nothing much to say about this one, I enjoyed it a lot.

 

Given Up. Never in my whole life either did I scream this much. Choruses left me with no energy at all. Chester once again sang it perfectly. The angst was there. Everyone was raging hard. More moshpits. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t do the full scream, but it didn’t matter to me. Maybe next time they come if they play it he’ll do it.

 

And then New Divide. When it really started everyone was jumping. Linkin Park!, many chanted. This one, despite not being in any album, was one of the songs that everyone wanted to hear. It was easy to distinguish now, that in spite of all the crap, everyone was here because they wanted to see their favourite band. We were all here for the same purpose. Another song that left me breathless. I craved the choruses.

 

And Oh My God. THIS, together with The Catalyst, was the song I was waiting for. This moment right here. Those violins… I exploded with this one. I couldn’t believe it, but in the blink of an eye I was rocking out to Faint, rapping the verses and screaming Chester’s part. Everyone was moving hectically now. This was the moment. If you weren’t here now, then you had just missed the opportunity of your life. That’s how I felt during Faint.

 

I reckon at least 15 minutes must’ve passed since LP took the stage and I was already feeling extremely tired. But it was worth it.

 

And fuck yeah. Empty Spaces. Empty, motherfucking, Spaces. And we all knew what that led to. When They Come For Me, my favorite song off A Thousand Suns. Noone in the crowd was moving, nor singing. Now you could notice the difference between the people who had heard the album and the ones who just wanted to hear the hits. I rapped every single word. Those drum beats were amazing. I chanted the chorus. I rapped the verses. I chanted the chorus again! I just couldn’t get enough of this song. “Oh, when they come for me…” while banging on those big drums, Chester sang. Damn. This is a crowd song, and unfortunately we weren’t able to get the most out of it. 11/10 performance.

 

Next part in a bit. I've been busy with school.

[Anality]

Yesterday was absolutely amazing.

 

I exploded.

This was all I read

[LinkinMark]

How many people were there?

[Dexter]

How many people were there?

I couldn't tell, but around 20,000 people at least. The exit out of the stadium was fucking insane.

[XeroSoldier]

35,000 people in attendance.

[Mau]

LOL, he got banned

[HybridT]

He got banned! xD. I wanted the next part.