Live review: Enter Shikari & Linkin Park . Graz, Austria, 18.6.2008

Support act: Enter Shikari

After a lovely chat with Chris earlier for the interview (you can check it out here) I was really looking forward to seeing Enter Shikari perform on stage. I was lucky to be able to stay backstage after the interview and got to see the guys getting ready for the show and then just giving their best on stage. They have such an amazing energy that combined with their very unique sound just keeps you on your feet even if the music maybe isn´t totally your taste. Good stuff.

Main act: Linkin Park

As soon as Enter Shikari were finished everyone except the crew had to leave backstage area to make room for Linkin Park. I didn’t really mind, after all I had a fantastic time until then already with doing the interview and just enjoying the whole experience even if I was there by myself. I went out, to the right side of the stage. The hall is pretty big so I was pretty far from the stage and again too near to the speakers. But lousy sound didn’t bother me at all – it was Linkin Park, finally! I was waiting for a chance to see them after I was totally hooked on Hybrid Theory (2000) and again on Meteora (2003) but always missed them. And then it took them ages to make Minutes to Midnight (2007) and the festival in Venice last year where I was finally gonna see them was chased away by hail storm. But good things come to those who wait and a year later it was finally my turn and it was worth to wait. They were as brilliant as I imagined they would be. Because of the poor sound on my side it was a bit hard to recognize each song when it started but you could hear soon enough if it was one of their bigger hits by the reaction of the crowd. Their latest album isn´t my favorite one but songs like Shadow Of The Day or What I´ve Done definitely deserve their place on the setlist. Still I think no Minutes To Midnight song beats the classics like Breaking the Habit, Points of Authority, In The End or one of my all time favorites Numb. I was just standing there, singing along, grinning. Just brilliant.

Verdict: I could just say there´s another major band checked off on my ´bands to see´ list but they are so much more. I don’t know what is it about Linkin Park, but they are just the right combination of everything to work and live they work even more. And Enter Shikari were a very nice choice for an opening band. I loved the combination and I really totally enjoyed myself that day.

Romana