I arrived about noon for the Alpine Valley show on the 16th. We got to chat with a few LP fans, including a super hot chick! Afterwords me and pops went to get something to drink, but I really didn't want any beer so I got one of those slushies mixed with stuff, I think it had Marguerita mixed in. Much better tasting.
I watched a few of the Rev stage bands, but didn't really hear anything that caught my interest. So I chilled in the refreshment area with a bunch of other people. Around 4:30 they opened the pit up, and I secured a spot at the barricade a bit left of the center stage. My pops was a tad late so he had to chill behind me, and occasionally watch my spot while I went to the bathroom. Street Drum Corp. came on, they were pretty interesting, using stuff like sanders on the drums lmao then Ashes Divide came on, they were decent I thought. Bravery was alright as well. But the show really took off once Chris Cornell and the gang took the stage. Of all the non-Linkin Park sets at the concert, they were the best, no contest. I didn't know any of the words to anything other than Black Hole Sun (which everyone at the concert was singing to) but I really enjoyed everything I heard. Chester came out for Hunger Strike which was cool. Also, just before the Bravery was done with their set, I saw Mike standing off stage checking them out.
Then, we have Linkin Park's set. A bit different than the Chicago setlist, in my opinion it was more optimal although I did want to hear Don't Stay and Little Things Give You Away, but they dropped From The Inside and played the regular Pushing Me Away and Leave Out All The Rest. I was one of the very few people who knew the words to Petrified and There They Go, and I was also one of the few rapping to Hands Held High. Also, apparently people stopped hating on Shadow of the Day, which EVERYONE sang to, but didn't hear anyone singing to Leave Out All The Rest (I think that was the one song that no one sang to, kinda odd since it's a single, and everyone sang to the other MTM songs which weren't singles). Chris Cornell peaked his head out from the side of the stage (really funny) and did the 2nd verse of Crawling and the chorus together with Chaz. Later on, after the brief break, Mr. Hahn lit it up with Cure For The Itch, doing some crazy scratches. Brad tore it up with Faint at the end, that solo keeps getting more and more crazy each year eh? Bleed It Out was the highlight of the concert, with an extremely rare performance of SCOM complete with rocker wigs. Street Drum Corp. did a nice job complementing the songs with their own style of tribal drums.
After the show was over, I really had to go pee and started heading over to pops. I glanced over and saw Mike looking like dead straight at me, so I threw up my hands and was all like "Yeah, Mike!!!" or something to that effect. Suddenly, I saw him toss something up in the air towards me. I didn't even know what it was when he threw it, but I didn't care, I was like "MINE!!!" My adrenaline kicked in and with one hand I snatched a black Monster Energy hand towel and quickly protected it in my chest. It was possibly the greatest moment in my life, and I was screaming like crazy "I fucking caught it!!!" Some chick tried to trade me for her hat, and I was like "Mike Shinoda didn't wear that hat lolz" then I ran off to show pops.
That's the most that I remember off the top of my head. Great night, it was my first LP concert and one that I will not soon forget.
