Well Mark (Hahninator) asked me a while back to do this review but Ive actually been so flat out with work (last minute rush for drum kits and boss guitar gear getting out before Christmas) and of course Christmas came so to make my 1000th post on this wonderful site a good one Ill finally post the full coverage of my 2nd Linkin Park on stage experience + LPU Summit.
We’ll my brother and I rocked up at Acer Arena at about 4pm for the LPU summit. There was a fair few people there. Even a few people came up to me who saw me play at the Newcastle show and congratulated me on my performance. Some even some saying “are you going to do it tonight” I basically said once is enough but I would never turn it down if offered. So once the line got going and our names were checked off by Cory who is such a great person. While waiting in the line I finally got the chance to meet Mark Fiore. I asked if he got any footage from the Newcastle show and he said he was still in LA at the time. I had a good chat to him about LPTV and all his work and thanked him for giving me something interesting to watch for once. We both had a good laugh. So as we all settled in the Grand Ballroom which is one of Acer Arena’s function rooms we giving an Introduction and a quick ‘low down’ on how the day was going to unfold. Not long after that we were taken into the main arena for the on stage photo with the guys gear. I was in the last group of people (so had to wait a fair bit due to groups had 10 mins on the stage). Eventually it was our turn. I was like a little kid in a candy store. It was heaven! Got to see come stuff I’ve never seen before and is never visible in photos. Also noticed Chester’s trigger pads (What he uses on W&K) is running by a Roland TMC-6which was kind of a happy moment for me seeing Ive worked for Roland Music Corp Australia for about 2 years now.
Also Getting to sit at robs kit was pretty crazy. He has such a big set-up now. Going behind Mikes keyboard was crazy. I had to be a real cool dude and throw the left hand up to the Theremin like I was controlling the filters like on New Divide. This is where I also first got the see the setlist for tonight. As soon as I saw the word “Blackout” I got so happy! I love the song. Then I got to see Kirk (Mike Guitar tech) and Sean (Brads Guitar Tech). Kirk clearly remembered me by yelling out “PEZZZZ”. I had a quick chat with him while playing Mike LP guitar. Kirk also asked If I would get back up on stage with them. I said its up to the guys. I wouldn’t turn down the offer. He said I should go for it and he would talk to people about it. I thanked him. I was also talking very Techy with Sean about Brads gear on this tour. I also spoke about the Red PRS which he went and got for me.
It was quite overwhelming seeing that PRS up so close. Something I dreamed of touching. Sean said “this is one of the only PRS guitars ever that doesn’t have the PRS name on the headstock. After we wrapped on stage we got ushered back into the Ballroom. We were all sat down. Got to speak to a few people sitting next to me. Cory then came in and started to draw the Raffle. This took a while. I only had the 1 ticket I received at the door. I decided not to buy any because really I don’t want to take chances away from anyone else. I’ve already had quite an experience. The raffle finished and some of the LP crew started to roll in (Pooch, Jim Digby, Hugo, Kirk etc) and Cory sorted us into groups. My group would have been the smallest. We were led by both Hugo and Jim. When they first spoke to us they gave us a brief introduction of what they do. Hugo then asked me to step forward and both Jim and Hugo talked about the Newcastle thing. They basically gave me a quick ‘Interview’ in front of my group. Hugo also gave a quick low down about MFR which he asked me to talk about to after I did volunteer. After that quite funny experience they guys then took us backstage. The guys took us room by room. Some of the rooms include Dead Letter Circus’s room, Corys room, The Production Office (where Jim lives) catering and of course LPs dressing room.
We were then taken to the stage again. The guys explained each part of the stage including monitoring, bass gear, guitar gear, video production, the generators/power and where the guys sit during the brief break at encore.
The guys then took us to FOH where the band’s Light tech (Name has slipped my mind) was rehearsing his light patches for the show. He basically had a DSP of From The Inside running and he was hitting the cues which triggered the lights. It was pretty cool seeing it like that. Then once again we were taken back threw backstage. This is where we saw Joe and his girlfriend walking to Catering. Hugo was trying to distract us by pointing to the pic on the wall. Quite funny actually. They also allowed us to go get some merch before without having to deal with the crowds. I got to see a few mates who were attending the show. We were taken back to the Ballroom again where I chatted with some of the crew for a bit. I got photos with some of the guys. I also had a chat with Tim Solar who saw me onstage at Newcastle. He said he wasn’t able to get any photos then but he’ll be walking around with his camera today to get some snaps. I had a nice chat to him.
Myself and Jim
Hugo, Myself and Maurice.
We then all lined up getting ready for the meet and greet, I got as far back in the line as I could. I had to be in front of the Photo opportunity people tho and a couple of other special winners. All the guys came in minus Dave. He was five minutes late for some reason. Anyway on went the M&G. As I got to the front of the line Fiore saw the LP flag. He turned on the camera and asked me to talk about what I had put on there. Basically stated that I put The band on there along with my name as well as a
two fan sites I follow (LPLive and Phoenix-Farrell). I also decked out the Southern Cross Stars with the LP logo.
Well yeh it came to my time at the table. Joe remembered me straight away by going “Oh no, not you again”. I asked him “ah well am I that much of a bad influence”. He laughed and signed my Setlist. Next in Line were Dave and Mike. Dave remembered me as well. He said “hey man I saw you in the crowd at the first show” I was like yeh I noticed. I gave Dave my flag and said “I don’t know if you guys got any of these this tour but I thought it’s the left I could do after letting me up on stage.
I Also introduced me to my brother who was standing next to me. I explained that he played bass as well. Dave said “Can he play like you” I stated yeh he is in the cover band I play in as well. That’s when Mike caught on. I said, “Well seeing its LPU summit and all, you should make it special. How about take Brad up to play? Or have the first brothers onstage. Mike was like “I dunno man, Like you should leave it open to other fans too” I stated yeh I understand. Its up to you guys. Its your show.
But I thanked them for letting me up in Newcastle. I moved on to Chester who remembered me as well. He said he wanted me to come back up. He said “You were fucking awesome!”. I said its up to you guys. I moved on to Brad and Rob and said high to them. Brad was Bowing to everyone. So I Decided to bow first. He laughed. I then proceeded to the back for the photo. I was talking to a few people. One asked “So are you getting back up” I said “I dunno, we’ll see”. Tim Solar then came and said “PEZZZ what are you doing at the back. Your short! We need to see you for the group photo.” He took me to the front where I caught up with my Brother again. Mike the saw me as I was being shuffled into the 2nd row for the photo. I believe Narc (Michael_ was the next in line for his stuff to get signed. He said “Dude, I wasn’t to sure about it but Dave gave it the go ahead and Chester wanted it to happen. So were going to have you and your brother up on Faint tonight” I thanked them and he said “You better not disappoint!”. I promised I wouldn’t. This is also where I meet kurtis912. He was already on his Phone posting that me and my bro were going to get up on Faint. I couldn’t help but laugh. Also one of the girls I meet at the Newcastle LPU M&G greet stated “You’re getting a once in a lifetime opiunity….twice.So as they took the photos with the photo with the band winners, We all posed for our group shot.
The band then asked us all to move forward and sit down. We had a quick Q&A session. Favourite would have to be Chester’s ‘Hand-in-mouth Incident’ at his DBS performance on Jimmy Kimmel. Then Both Mike and Chester sat down and Played TLTGYA. When that finished The guys were looking for Brad to play Messenger but he had left with the other guys. Someone said “ask Pez” and I laughed. Chester then played Messenger Which is even better stripped back to just an Acoustic. Both Mike and Chester then bid their farewells and thanked everyone for being a part of the LPU and this event. They went and got ready for the show. Then All the side of stage winners and Photo taker winners and my brother and I were asked to hang while the others were taken into the arena for the show. I spoke with Narc (Michael) and his buddy Mason briefly before we were all taken backstage. Kirk then saw me as I sat on the road cases “PEZ your back!” I said. “Yeh but this times its me on guitar and Brad on Bass”. I also asked If I can watch what he does thought out the show and he said sure. Maurice then came and got us and took us over to Dave’s side of stage. We then left Brad so he could get ready as I walked back with Maurice to ‘Guitar World’. Kirk then set me up with Mike’s LP PRS. 2nd last song came and once again I was up there sharing the stage with the guys and my brother. The feeling being up there is amazing. Ill let the video do the rest of the talking.
So as we walk off Both Sean and Kirk are standing there congratulating me. Its funny how much that song flies by when you’re up there. After OSC the guys started leaving the stage. Joe have me the devil horns. Brad saw me and pointed once again. This time he came over. He said “Thank you for playing with us tonight, you were awesome” I was lost for words. One of my Guitar Idols was thanking me for being on stage with him. I said “Thank you guys, I could of only dreamed of that moment” He then shook my hand and said “One day that will be your band up there and I’ll be watching” He then left. I After My brother soon comes back over my side. Apparently he was giving the royal treatment over the other side getting a towel and water when I wasn’t giving it either time I played haha. I said goodbye to the crew and thanked them for everything. I said I’ll be seeing them soon. I walked over the Pooch at FOH. He couldn’t believe that was me up on stage again haha. Had a good chat to him and he kindly posed for a photo.
I thanked him for all he had done for me over that good two weeks of that tour. Chatting to each other on Facebook. I said Ill see them sometime soon. I want to take a holiday and catch the guys somewhere else in the world. But we would have to wait and see. I left the venue being stopped numerous times by people saying "Congrats" or "you guys rocked!" I turned my phone back on to have numerous messages from people I didn't know that were at the show. While reading these I bumped into 3 old High school friends who taught me how to running the sound system at the school (which I did up until my graduation) They couldn’t believe it was me and said I had come a long way musically since they first met me. I also saw my two friends who I saw earlier. One was in tears of joy which I couldn’t help but laugh at. She would stop hugging me. We all laughed when we had a few random fans come up and ask for a photo with us. 15 minutes of fame for sure. We then went to the local McDonalds (where most of the crowd from the show was) where were prised and everything. Then home after another crazy Linkin Park filled day/night.
Next day the news spread fast at work. Tim Solar emailed me the photos which can be seen Here. I also got a few calls from Radio stations (Nova, Triple M) where I was interviewed and asked about it all. The local paper also found out and interviewed me which was featured in the next paper. It wasn’t as quite as my first time.
Lastly I would like to thank everyone on this site for all the support and everything. Like the reception I got here was amazing. I meet a few of you guys at the summit and shows and it was such an amazing experience which I’m happy to share with you. Im proud to be a member of this site and I hope I can be a part of it when it becomes something bigger then it already is. And there it is. My long awaited 1000th post. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks again!
EDIT: Well lastly again! If anyone of the guys like Mike reads this or anyone from the crew reads this, I can't tha k you enough for what you have done fo him. The day alone was amazing and being on stage was the icing on the cake. Im glad there is a band out there that gives back so much to their fans. To be a part of the best covert I have been too is an honor. So tha k you guys for making something on could only dream about come true. Hands down moment of my life.
Jay 'Pez' Peryman
