LESTAT

I recently talked with a member of the band Chindo Squad named Chris Braegger and, according to him, Chindo Squad also played a show with Grey Daze in Castles N' Coasters once. "I don't remember much about it at all, other than it was sponsored by a radio station who was broadcasting from the venue at certain points. Grey Daze wanted to play before us for some reason, which was odd since they generally had bigger crowds that we (Chindo Squad) did. We played with them on several occasions and got to know some of the band pretty well. I remember that show being outside and pretty hot, so it was some time around summer." Castles N' Coasters shows are confusing, but, thanks to a person named Jason Williams, one of the dates is now known: 1997.08.15 Phoenix, AZ, Castles N' Coasters On July 22nd, Jason has made a post on his Facebook about Chester and recalled seeing him at some Battle Of The Bands show and at Castles N' Coasters on the birthday of Jason's childhood friend Judd who also tragically passed away some time ago. I asked him about the date of his birthday and, according to him and some of his friends, that day was August 15th, but he wasn't totally sure about the year. He then said: "I was 12 at the time, so it was 21 years ago on the 15th of August, I believe. I saw Grey Daze play at Electric Ballroom with Chronic Future a few months before that show". The Chronic Future show happened on February 1st, 1997, so this Castles N' Coasters show was also in 1997. Jason doesn't remember other bands playing that day, so it is unclear if this show is one of the four we know about or if all of them are really the same exact show.

Some of the stuff I knew for some time, but didn't post yet. Lyrics posted by Sean Dowdell on his Facebook: "I was going through a bunch of stuff at the house and came across some of our first record deal contracts and publishing deals, but one of the cooler items was a bunch of lyrics to our songs that Chester had written down for one of our production sessions in the studio. This particular song was called #whatsintheeye and was quite popular with our fans" "Going through some stuff today and found a book of lyrics chester had written down durin a pre production studio session we had" Chris Goad of Sean Dowdell & His Friends? commented: "Starting to Fly and Wake Me. I remember doing those with SD and his Friends" We knew about the "Wake Me" being a SDAHF song originally, but the same about "Starting To Fly" is a new info for us. ****************************************************************************************************************** Sean Spurr of Genocide (the band Chris Goad and Jason Cekoric were in at the same time with SDAHF) paying his tribute to Chester and telling his own take on the story of his bandmates playing for two bands at the same time: "R.I.P. Chester.. heres my story: I'm guessing the year was 1991-2? My band at the time genocide went to audition Sean Dowdell for our open drummer spot. We ran through some covers, I can remember suicidal and Alice In Chains but I think there was more. Well all the sudden 1/2 my band quit to join him Jason Cekoric Chris Goad.. this band would become sd and his friends... not gonna lie, I was pretty fucking pissed about the whole situation, especially when i heard they had a 14 year old singer... a couple months later they moved into the rehearsal studio next door as I had regrouped and was forming what would later be the band structure. I heard Chester for the first time and immediately got it. This kid made me look like a bad drunk karaoke singer. He was so good at like 14. I said that guys gonna make it, and of course he did.. very sad situation , I don't really understand what could have drove him to this.. the only times I ever feel low always have to do tight financial situation which obviously were not his problem... fly with the angels brother, I don't get it, bit then again I've never walked a mile in your shoes". Someone corrected him in the comments, because he was confused about the year it happened - 1991 or 1992: "It was '92 Sean"

Chester joining Adema during Projekt Revolution 2002 to perform "Giving In" confirmed by Adema vocalist/guitarist Tim Fluckey: "I’m sure he did a few times. I don’t know f there’s any video of it around though.. no smartphones back then"

Posted by someone from Dallas, TX on 12:36 AM, April 18th, 2015 on Facebook: I'm currently watching Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington soundcheck right now. What is life. Added to the first post: 2015.04.17 Dallas, TX, House Of Blues Soundcheck setlist: Unknown

Posted by Sean Dowdell a few days ago: "This pic was posted by a fan yesterday. It reminds me of good times. Also in this pic is a man named Jacob Dowdell who passed away on this day Dec 22, a few years ago. I miss several people in this picture @therealgreydaze when we played a show at Castles and Coasters with @jimmyeatworld #greydaze #greydazereunion #greydazetour #ripchester #ripjacob #ripbobby #ripjosh" I have this show in the first post. The date is still unknown, but, I think, it's from 1997.

Morei Sky Walking In Circles Waiting For The End Given Up Out Of Time

It's actually a friend of Chester named Mandel. He posted that photo on his Facebook in June, 2010 saying: "That's when we wrote that song we were gonna do at the talent show in 94, but we pulled out of it cause Mr. Akers pissed me off over you girls and your slutty dance routine! haha- we should have still did the song though. It was called 'Fade Away', I still remember it." Also, a better copy of the pic:

Just randomly stumbled upon a comment made by Elias Andra on Linkin Park's Guestbook in November of 2000: Not a big deal, but pretty cool. We also didn't know Psycho Plague were the opening band for that show.

Yep, I can confirm that photo was on julienk.com around 2006 along with a few similar ones and photos from the actual React Now! performance. Chester had a broken arm. They weren't downloadable, but I remember screening them. Doesn't look like I still have them though.

The Farmclub thing is resolved. According to this, Farmclub recorded the band performing "One Step Closer" during their show in The Palace on October 31, 2000. Removed it from the first post, but it's nice to know we still have an unreleased proshot recording of at least one song from 2000. Contacted him to ask about it.

Not exactly guest appearances in a usual sense, but anyway... Chester performing with an Indonesian cover band and a Linkin Park roadie in a nightclub around June 13th, 2004 in Jakarta. Rob Lowe (former LP roadie): "So all us roadies we were at the night club inside of our hotel having some drinks. Chester came out with us as well (he was the only member of the band that I ever saw drink) and we were hanging out chatting and watching an Indonesian band perform. All of a sudden they started covering Linkin Park songs (ballsy move!). They walked right up to Chester and he took the mic and started rapping Mike Shinoda's lines while the lead singer of the cover band sang Chester's lines. It was badass. Later on the band broke out into some more American songs and they broke out Ice Ice Baby. I mean, it was 2004. Ice Ice Baby was still hot! (some bands still cover Ice Ice Baby. And they are, obviously, awesome for doing it). Anyway, I got up and joined the band on stage and laid down a verse or two. At the end of the night Chester toasted me and gave me props for knowing my Vanilla Ice". Source: https://www.facebook.com/LobRowe/posts/10101708175624198 Chester joining a backstage acoustic jam with members of Hed Pe and Apex Theory sometime during the Countdown To Revolution Tour in 2001 Some person posted the following on Facebook: "So sad to hear about the death of Chester from linkin park, met those guys several times over the years one of my best times was singing acoustic sublime songs with him and the guys in hed pe". Source: https://www.facebook.com/hana.jourdanboccella/posts/1377434285627026 Posted by Zac Polk: "I got to be around Chester a couple times. Several years back, my boys from hed pe were touring with Linkin Park. Before the show we were all sitting backstage and one of the guys from one of the other bands (possibly Apex Theory?) Picked up an acoustic and starting playing a bunch of random covers, blues songs, etc. Chester was in the room and sat down and started singing and everyone just stopped what they were doing to listen. The dude was a true talent. I haven't kept up or listened to them in a while, but Hybrid Theory had a big influence on me". Source: https://www.facebook.com/zacpolk/posts/10212030685355372 That first person is from Iowa, so it's possible it happened on the day of their November 30, 2001 show in Cedar Rapids, IA. EDIT: Another appearance with Disturbed during Ozzfest 2001 From the comments to Disturbed's July 21st, 2017 Facebook post with a link to the recording of Disturbed performing "Walk" with Chester in Wantagh, 2001: The exact show was not specified in the band's post, so these persons think it's actually a recording of Chester joining Disturbed from the show they saw: 2001.07.21 Camden, NJ, Tweeter Center at the Waterfront

I can't seem to find the source now, but I remember Chester saying his album is ready around late 2005. He said something to the effect that it's finally 100% recorded, done and just waits for the right time. Of course, some time after that he decided to redo it for whatever reason. So that's what I personally would love to hear - his very first version of the album recorded in the time period around late 2004 - late 2005. It's probably raw and not properly mixed and was recorded by just Chester, Ryan and Amir, but it would be very interesting to hear how did it sound like originally. So the bottom line is that there's a whole other recording of the songs out there somewhere in a listenable form.

It doesn't sound like him just using a minor backing track and it being too audible on the webcast to me, it seems like he sings along to the pre-recorded chorus to lipsync it. I guess an audience video would solve it. EDIT: https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t50.2886-16/22859009_532997617052534_3718490003777519616_n.mp4 His actual vocals when he jumps to the crowd were much less audible in person as well.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=6642 https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=6718

What's up with Oliver Sykes lipsyncing "Crawling"? I liked Jon Green's and Ilsey Juber's performances the most.

Once we'll release everything we have, I'm hoping to host all of the original files on LPLive. That's three more shows.

I just posted this through Grey Daze's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realgreydaze/posts/2014130058818699 It's not likely we'll ever be able to find out the exact date, so we'll add it to the guide as: 1996.xx.xx Tempe, AZ, Electric Ballroom, Warner Bros Private Showcase My personal guess is that it was sometime in December of 1996, because during the show Chester mentions that their new album is going to be released sometime in January and, as far as we know, the band started working on it around December 3rd, 1996.

The band was asked if it's Chester singing that line in the remix on JK.com forums and Brandon himself posted "Maybe:)". Could be them not wanting to ruin a cool rumor, though.

The following photo was posted on Grey Daze's Facebook. The pages are compilation of Grey Daze clippings from local magazines. One of the clippings advertises the band's show with Lemon Krayola on November 10th. The year is not specified, but the following 1995 clipping confirms that Lemona Krayola played the Ballroom on this date in 1995: 1995.11.10 Tempe, AZ, Electric Ballroom (Opening for Lemon Krayola) Some person commented on the photo: "Good times back then Sean, glad I was able to be there in person for most. One of my all time favorite nights was when Grey Daze opened for sevendust, hed-pe and snot!" That's not the first time I'm hearing about the show, because right after Chester's death, Hed PE's former member Mark Young posted the following message as a tribute: "I think many of us have some fond memories and anecdotes of Chester Bennington to share. Mine goes all the way back to 1998 before Linkin Park came to be, when Hed PE was on tour with Snot. Hed PE was opening for this legendary band and we were playing one night at an outdoor venue in Tempe called Boston's, which is long since gone. During the Snot set, fueled by a few beers, I thought it would be a great idea to stage dive during the show. For a couple minutes it was awesome, getting passed around the crowd while Snot rocked the stage, untl I reached the back of the crowd and was dropped from 6 feet in the air straight onto my head. I was a little dazed and bleeding when a young lad in the audience and his lady came up to help me. He had dreadlocks and an infectious smile, and they half-carried me out to our bus. He got me home safely, commented on what a great show it was, said goodnight and I never saw him again. Then in 2000, when Linkin Park opened up for Hed PE for a few brief moments before they went off to the moon, a shaven-head young lad with that same infectious smile came up to me at the start of tour - now the singer of Linkin Park - and recounted the story from Boston's of how he and his wife Samantha had picked me up and helped me out to our bus. Such a sweet soul, he will be dearly missed." Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=520433954955054&id=100009653621671 The date that Snot, Hed PE and Sevendust played Boston's is 1998.01.31: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/snot/1998/bostons-tempe-az-7bcdf6c4.html 1998.01.31 Tempe, AZ, Boston's (Opening for Snot) We have a different show on this date in our guide, but it isn't really a contradiction, because it wasn't unusual for local bands to play two and even three shows in a day. We already have such shows for both SDAHF and Grey Daze in the guide. Also, new full video recording of a 1996 Grey Daze show coming soon.

For what it's worth, it doesn't look like Chester joined them in Paris judging by the reviews you posted and: http://foutraque.com/chronique_concert.php?id=559 http://www.lasteve.fr/?p=8280 http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Discussions/Musique/concert-linkin-bercy-sujet_12785_4.htm http://www.concertandco.com/critique/concert-adema-alien-ant-farm-staind-linkin-park/po-bercy-paris/6332.htm http://www.concertandco.com/critique/concert-linkin-park-ademan-alien-ant-farm-staind/po-bercy-paris/6331.htm

Great find! Also found this: https://youtu.be/2D659aMEmys?t=1435 @ 24:55: "He sang it with us a few times". Also, check this video's description: "Here's Chester in our DVD #BUSted. He would come out to sing with us on "Attitude" when we were on tour." The live footage on that video is members of AAF and Staind joining LP on stage in 2003.

Would love to see your list!

The photos that were posted by various different people over the last two months (both before and after Chester's death). The only known photos of Jason Barnes and Mace Beyers both being in the band: Chester circa 1993: Chester around 1995-1996: Wake Me and a demo tape marked June '94. The name of the studio is partially erased. I used this website to figure out the missing letters: http://www.crosswordsolver.org/solve/--ething "Teething Studios". That's the studio Nihil's debut album Drown was recorded at, aka Scott Crowley's apartment studio, so the tape is Scott Crowley Sessions. Now we know the exact month it was recorded, although my guess was pretty accurate anyway: Chester with an unidentified person. Perhaps, his friend Jason that he played with before SDAHF?:

Part of the footage recorded at that above-mentioned Club Sex show. Warsaw's (aka Warsaw Poland Bros) song called "Magic Flower": The caption during the video that says "February 14, 1994" and the video's title are wrong. That's actually 1995.02.14. The venue didn't exist in February, 1994, as the exact date that Electric Ballroom has first opened its doors is September 30th, 1994. Proof:

The person who told me about that Club Sex show Grey Daze played (she commented about getting her first tattoo at the event and remembered Grey Daze being one of the bands playing that night and how it was filmed by Mace's friend) posted a beautiful tribute for Chester and, in it, she tells the show took place on her birthday aka Valentines Day, so it means that was actually one of the shows we can see on the picture: 1995.02.14 Tempe, AZ, Electric Ballroom, Club Sex (with Warsaw, Chalk Farm and Curious Walk) Check out Michelle's tribute in it's entirity: https://perasperaadastra214.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/for-chester-for-me-for-you/