INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Projekt Revolution Tour
Linkin ParkVerizon Wireless Music Center
Friday, Aug. 31, 12:45 p.m., $30.50-$70.50, all-ages
For the past three years, Linkin Park was basically out of the spotlight as a four-year gap developed between studio albums from the chart-topping group.
But it wasn’t just the band that went missing once touring behind the 2003 CD, Meteora, was finished. The group’s ambitious festival tour, Projekt Revolution, also went on hold.
Now that Linkin Park is back with a new CD, Minutes to Midnight, so is Projekt Revolution. And while the lineup for the tour is impressive as usual, Projekt Revolution has a notably different musical mix than it had in its first three incarnations.
On the previous outings, the tour was as notable for its hip-hop flavor as for its rock, as prominent acts such as Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill and Xhibit were featured.
But this year, rock rules the tour, with Linkin Park joining My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, HIM and Placebo as the featured attractions on the main stage.
Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington is well aware that hip-hop is taking a back seat on Projekt Revolution. He suggests mixing hard rock and hip-hop might not have been the best approach to building the festival bill in prior years.
“I think as a whole, we kind of just decided that these were the bands we wanted to go out with,” Bennington says. “It’s tough to have a really kicking rock band come out and then have [a hip-hop group like] the Roots come out on stage afterwards. It can flow if they’re the right mix, but I think through trial and error we’ve realized that we want to put on a really energetic show, and sometimes people don’t really want to have to think too much when they go to a concert.”
My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro and Taking Back Sunday bassist Matt Rubano both say they were pleased to be on the Projekt Revolution tour, particularly because of the opportunity to tour with Linkin Park.
“I’ve always respected not only the music [of Linkin Park], but just the work ethic and how much effort each of those guys puts in to every aspect of the band,” Toro says. “To me, it’s really inspiring and encouraging that people care so much about their art.”