5-06-07 Bamboozle

[Geki]

So this was the very first Linkin Park show that I ever went to. I didn't know what to expect, all I knew is that it would be fucking awesome. And it was. Me and my best friend were going together and my Mom was driving us down.

 

We left on May 4th, so we could be there for both two days of the festival. Minutes To Midnight had just leaked like a day or two before we left, so luckily, we had that to listen to the entire ride, and it was awesome. We got lost a few times on the ride down and I remember some funny antics of the ride, like my Mom getting annoyed at my friend for drumming on the side of the car, etc. Was funny at the time. It took us about 3 and a half hours or so to get there. We stayed at some crappy Red Roof Inn. It's funny why we stayed there actually. Back in 2007, for the promo run, the band had this thing where you could ''talk to the band''. You'd send them a text and sometimes they would reply back. I was 16, naive and stupid, so I asked where the band would be staying for Bamboozle, like what hotel. Brad replied and said Red Roof Inn. LOL. So I wanted to stay at the Red Roof Inn, naturally, being 16 and naive and stupid. For some reason, we never saw Linkin Park there, I can't imagine why. Haha. Anyways, we got to the Red Roof Inn on May 4th, like I said. We got there at about 6 or 7 PM. We relaxed for a bit, etc. I remember at like 10 PM, me and my friend were hungry. There was a Wendy's like next door to the hotel, so we literally walked over and tried to walk through the drive thru. I was a stupid kid back then, I was a typical 16 year old punk teenager, etc. I think we did get the food, though. We then just hung out at the hotel and I remember that we walked around the hotel and met some guy who was like 40, this black dude, but he was cool. He invited us into his room to listen to ''his music'', which he showed us through a nice pair of headphones. I realize now that we shouldn't have just went into some guy's hotel room that we didn't know, but like I said, I was young and naive back then. After that, we went back to the room and crashed.

 

The next day was awesome. Day 1 of Bamboozle. My best friend's Dad and his little sister were also going to the show and they got there that day, so we met up with them, etc. We waited forever to get let in, I remember that. Not sure why we waited since LP wasn't playing that day and we could have just walked in when the gates opened, but we were excited. I remember wearing my LPU 2 beanie, which I have since lost. Sucks. We watched a shit ton of bands and artists that day. It was basically a huge festival of emo and alternative bands. I remember seeing bands like Relient-K and a shit ton of others. MC Hammer also played, as strange as that was, and we watched him. It was actually kind of awesome. LOL. My friend's girlfriend at the time and her friend also drove down for the show and they were there, too. By the end of the night, it was time for My Chemical Romance, and we watched their entire set. It was awesome. I really liked The Black Parade at that point in time, I had bought it back in November of 2006 when Bamboozle was announced because I knew Linkin Park would be headlining with them. They put on a great show, they played the entire album in full and then played some older hits after the album was done. Really epic set. We also watched Muse and shit before them, I think, or at least my friend did, who loved them. After My Chemical Romance was done, we headed back to the hotel and crashed. Exhausting day, even though it was epic.

 

We woke up the next day and got prepared for the main event, Linkin Park. I honestly think that we waited to get let in once again, even though the entire event is GA (it was in the middle of one big parking lot) and LP didn't play until last, which was about 9:30 PM. Anyways, we waited and got let in, and I remember there being some Linkin Park merch. They had a hoodie, a hat and a shirt, all with the new logos and stuff on them. Epic. I bought them all and have since lost the hat and shirt, but I still have that hoodie. Even though it was like 70 degrees that day, I threw on the hoodie, because I thought it was extremely badass and I wanted to represent some new LP merch. I remember bringing my iPod Mini and some headphones to listen to throughout the day, because I couldn't get enough of the Minutes To Midnight leak yet. Funny. Some girl asked me what I was listening to at one point and I told her and she wanted to hear. I showed her In Between and she didn't believe me that it was LP. HAHA. I played that one purposely. We watched a shit ton of bands that day as well. I remember specifically watching The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Taking Back Sunday during different parts of the day. There were so many bands and stages that I watched so many bands, I can't remember all of them, and a lot of them, I didn't even know the name of the band at the time. It was similar to how Warped Tour operates with all the different stages at once and like 100 bands. It came a point in the day where it was time for the Meet & Greet that I had won the day before. My friend was super bummed because he didn't win. I felt kind of guilty to go alone but there was no way in hell I was missing the opportunity. It took forever to find out where the hell the Meet & Greet actually took place. Keep in mind, this was before Smart Phones and shit, and I don't even know who ran the LPU in early 2007. We eventually found the line luckily, after searching forever and getting lost in the process. One of the venue workers actually was nice enough to drive us around on one of those little go-kart type things that they use. Haha. Once we did find the line, though, the anticipation was killing me. I saw Sal (legendary LP fan) waiting in line. Eventually, a white van pulled up and all the members of LP got out and went to sit at the table they were using for the Meet & Greet. I was literally exploding by this moment. I brought my LPU1 re-issue of Hybrid Theory EP to get signed, that I had found in a used bin at Amoeba Music in LA earlier in the year. Keep in mind, this was before the LPU re-sold early LPU CD's and albums in 2009 or 2010 or whenever it was, so it was rare as hell at the time, even the re-issue. First up was Mr. Hahn, I believe, who was cool. Next was Phoenix. I didn't talk much to either of them, it was moving fast. Chester was next and he was so fucking nice. I told him that I was freaking out because he had been my hero for so long, etc. He said no worries man, got up and gave me a hug, and he let me get a picture with him. My Mom was let in the Meet & Greet with me somehow, I think they said you could bring an adult if you were under 18, which I was only 16 at the time. So she took the picture for me and it's the greatest picture of all time. Next was Brad, who was cool, but I didn't talk much to him, I was kind of nervous still. Next up was Mike who I loved second to Chester. He was also super cool and he said ''wow, the Hybrid Theory EP'' and signed it, and he also let me take a picture with him. Also a great photo. Last was Rob and I didn't talk to much to him, although I did tell him that I hope they play No More Sorrow that night, which they did (it was in the set but I was dumb at the time). After the Meet & Greet was over, I was still freaking out. Like I had just met fucking Linkin Park. The excitement didn't fade for the rest of the night. After the Meet & Greet, we headed back to the area where LP was gonna play. We watched some more bands and finally it was time for LP. Holy fuck, what a special show. The gunshot intro for OSC echoed throughout the crowd and once the song kicked in, I remember literally falling down from the crowd around me exploding. This was the only Linkin Park show that this ever happened to me at and it was insane. The crowd was rowdy as FUCK. They only payed 3 songs from MTM but they were epic ones, Given Up, NMS and WID. The rest was HT and Meteora songs, who the hell can complain??? Not many people knew GU or NMS, I was like the only one around me singing those. It was awesome when Chester said that it was his son Tyler's first concert ever and he was gonna bring him out. He had fallen asleep by the time he wanted to and the crowd booed. Chester said ''you can't boo a fucking baby, you bastards!!''. That was funny as hell. Runaway was played at this show for the only time in 2007. That was cool to see. The entire set was just one big amount of awesome. I can't pick a favorite part because it was so surreal to me. Faint closed out the show with that epic as fuck outro they did in 2007. Chester went crazy. It's my favorite Faint outro from 2007 next to Rock AM Ring's. I wish it was released in a DSP quality. I also lost one of my shoes at one point in the show, because the crowd was so rowdy, something that once again, only ever happened at this show. The crazy part is that after searching for it once the crowd cleared out, my Mom fucking found it. Lol. There were tons of shoes around, too. It was weird .After that, we decided to get some food (I think we actually got food at one of those food things at Bamboozle) and headed back to the hotel and CRASHED. Dead tired.

 

The next morning, we slept in a little bit, and checked out of the hotel. We headed home after that. Definitely a memorable moment in my life that I will never forget.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[Papelbon]

Great review bro!!

[Geki]

Great review bro!!

Thanks man.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[Papelbon]

Nice pics too!! Was it cold out that day??

Edited December 1, 2008 by eng42ine

[LPPRJKT4]

Nice I wanted to go to this show so badly, but I cudnt get tics. =( It's cool that u drove over here all the way from Massachusets just to see this show too, it wudve been like a 20min drive for me lol. Actually I passed the venue on the first night on the way to the Continental Arena to watch the NJ Devils lol. I think Taking Back Sunday was on stage I can't remember.

Edited December 1, 2008 by LPPRJKT4

[Geki]

Nice pics too!! Was it cold out that day??

 

Thank you! It was around 70 degrees I'd say. The band thought it was cold. They made some joke about it at the Meet & Greet saying that it's cold for them since they're from California.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[chazmike]

Nice review and nice pircutes!!!

 

Bamboozle is also my first LP show.

 

Couple of my friends drove from DC at 5 am that day.

 

Your review just brought me back to that day.

 

I remember Chester said you can't boo baby bastard or something like that. haha

 

Really nice show. They are just amazing.

[Geki]

Nice review and nice pircutes!!!

 

Bamboozle is also my first LP show.

 

Couple of my friends drove from DC at 5 am that day.

 

Your review just brought me back to that day.

 

I remember Chester said you can't boo baby bastard or something like that. haha

 

Really nice show. They are just amazing.

He said ''you can't boo a fucking baby you bastards!''. Definitely was a great show.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[LPxDC]

nice review man.

i was going to actually go to this show but my dad didnt want to drive to NJ for LP. =[

but there were other bands on the bill that were good and worth seeing but blahh =[

[linkinmetalfanatic]

nice review mate

[DecanoLP]

nice review... ;-)

do you have the dsp? :-)

[Geki]

nice review... ;-)

do you have the dsp? :-)

Unfortunately, there wasn't a DSP for this show... it was before they started doing DSP's. They didn't start doing DSP's until Auburn, the first show of PR07, which started on July 25th, 2007.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[DecanoLP]

Alright, thanks :-)

[linkinmetalfanatic]

they didnt have DSP for myh show either i was pissed off

[Geki]

they didnt have DSP for myh show either i was pissed off

Yeah, it really sucks. Bamboozle was a great show and a DSP would have done it great justice. Might even be considered a fan favorite show if there were one.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[letdownagain]

Here's my review, hope you all enjoy:

 

Seeing LP play Bamboozle was a strange experience, although an amazing one that set up the year to

come. My decision to go to Bamboozle was thought out for a while. I was on the fence about going to

a festival show again, but with an amazing bunch of bands playing and LP revealed as a headliner

for their first US show back, I happily said goodbye to a large sum of money.

 

This was my second show. My first had been in 2004 at Jones Beach, but I was much younger then.

There was a long break in between the two shows and in that time my feelings on LP had been mixed

up and I was really nervous about the album.

 

Shortly before the date came, I learned that my girlfriend, another friend and I had all been

selected for the LPU Meet and Greet and we were all incredibly excited.

 

Omitting a bit of details in between, I finally found myself waiting near a gate in heat and

knowing LP weren’t far off. A small group of LPU members were led back behind the gate and

eventually a white van showed up and LP jumped out. The whole thing seems really blurry and

happened very fast, but the guys were really nice and signed my copy of Meteora and Chester even

posed for photos with us! Mike broke the rules a bit, sneaking stuff over and through the gate and

signing it for non-LPU members!

 

Now I was insanely excited about the show and we rushed up toward the stage and got fairly close.

It seemed like forever standing there, waiting for the band to come out. Finally, the intro of OSC

started and the place broke out into pits instantly. I was in shock to hear LP OPEN with this, but

it was an amazing curveball. There was the crunch of empty water bottles every other step and a

mass of people just going insane. Mike got the crowed fired up with “Lying From You” and then

finally they gave us the new stuff. The pounding, militant sounding new songs (“No More Sorrow” and

“Given Up”) sent everyone even crazier than before, which seemed unbelievable. Everything finally

came to a head during “Papercut”. The excitement was high as the band revisited Hybrid Theory, but

I’ll admit that being so close to the pit and the throwing bottles became more than we could

handle, so we fell back.

 

The rest of the show felt like re-grouping and is blurry, but when the encore hit all my energy

went full force into the show and I think my neck suffered permanent damage during the end of

“Faint” due to head banging. Hearing these old songs all over again and getting a look at what the

band was doing with the new songs sent my excitement sky-high about the band again.

 

Here's some of the better pictures taken during the M&G:

 

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/004_23.jpg - waiting in line

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/005_22.jpg - brad appears in shock

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/005_22.jpg - phoenix talking with fans

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/005_22.jpg - joe avoiding eye contact

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/011_16.jpg - chester and brad

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/013_14.jpg - me + chester

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/014_13.jpg - mike, brad and chester

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/xerolp/015_12.jpg - rob and mike

Edited January 10, 2010 by letdownagain

[LPPRJKT4]

omg this review makes me even more pissed that I decided not to go!!!!

[letdownagain]

omg this review makes me even more pissed that I decided not to go!!!!

Sorry! I know that feeling though. I didn't go to Roseland Ballroom on the LPU tour when it was free! I was in a really bad place then, but I heard stories from people who went about how great it was and I wish I would have put together plans to go.

[LPxDC]

i like your review. did you meet sal? and it looks you got mark fiore in the one of you and chester

[letdownagain]

i like your review. did you meet sal? and it looks you got mark fiore in the one of you and chester

Thanks! I keep noticing little spelling errors in it though! I did meet Sal for a few. My friend has one LP tattoo and she started talking to him. It took me a minute to realize it was him, but I knew I'd seen him before. I think his leg or something was messed up that day.

 

That's the one picture I didn't take, so I didn't notice Mark so much. Too busy paying attention to the other guy, lol.

 

That show we only had a disposable camera, so the only good pictures came from the M&G. I'm not complaining about that, but the show pics you can only see the ferris wheel, lol.

Edited December 29, 2008 by letdownagain

[Geki]

i like your review. did you meet sal? and it looks you got mark fiore in the one of you and chester

I didn't get to meet Sal but he was there and I saw him in line at the Meet & Greet. Looked like a cool guy.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Geki

[gloryforixseal]

im gonna be trying to go to the bamboozle road show. we the kings, nevershoutnever, forever the sickest kids and mercy mercedes. itll be hotttt and theyre coming to bmore so definitely trying to go to that. ive never been to the one in jersey and prob wont make it this year.