Concert Review: Linkin Park & My Chemical Romance at Projekt Revolution Jones Beach

by lostofficehero on Aug.16, 2007, under music

Linkin Park Opener

Linkin Park – “Wake” at Jones Beach August 15, 2007

Yesterday was the first Projekt Revolution at Jones Beach since 2004. Linkin Park put on a fantastic show and My Chemical Romance lit up the air with their pyrotechnic stage shows. All in all, it was a fun night. Here’s a review with pictures and some video.

We arrived at Jones beach around 5:30pm for a daylong festival that was supposed to have started at noon. With a group of 4 dudes, it took some time to get everyone ready to roll, because, you know, we had to get dolled up for the show. There wasn’t much going on when we did get there. None of us had any interest in seeing Taking Back Sunday, so we hung around outside and checked out the various kiosks. By this time, the 2nd stage had closed, so we missed out on bands like HIM, Saosin, Placebo and Mindless Self-Indulgence.

Around 7:15, we decided to get to our seats and sit around for a bit just to make sure we were rested up for the final two acts of the night – My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park. Between sets, text messages from fans were being posted on the screens in the venue. I snapped some pics of some of the better ones. On a side note, there were a lot of Mets fans in attendance and they were trying to break out in Jose Jose Jose chants. It didn’t work. Finally, My Chemical Romance came on stage at 7:45.

When they did come on, they didn’t sound all that great. Nowhere near as good as they sounded when I went to see them on The Black Parade tour in Nassau coliseum. This may have been because Mikey Way was not playing guitar last night, and they also had a sub on the keys – a guy from Reggie and the Full Effect. Gerard did have some witty remarks and he did his usual theatrics, like bashing the people in the crowd that were taking pictures by saying “I thought you guys were fans, I didn’t know you were photographers.” He also yelled at his mom, who was apparently backstage, before performing “Mama.” Gotta love the Jersey boys. I’ve got a question for the MCR fans out there: Is Gerard Way gay? My gaydar says yes, but I’m not sure. Judging from his lyrics, his presence on stage and the fact that he asked all the guys to take off their shirts and wave them around, I’m guessing it’s a point for the other team. But I digress…

My Chemical Romance played all their usual songs – “The Black Parade,” “Helena,” “I’m not OK,” “Cancer,” etc. It was a good mix of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade. They played for 60 minutes straight and left – no encore. Strangely, I actually believed Gerard Way when he said this was the best tour he’s ever been on. Interestingly, Mikey, his younger brother, hasn’t been on this tour. Hmmm….

After MCR closed, it took Linkin Park 45 minutes to setup. The crowd got bored of the txt message board, so a girl from my section started trying to motivate people to do the wave. After about 6 failed attempts, her persistence succeeded and, before we knew it, the entire ampitheater was doing the wave. That might have been the coolest moment of the night, sadly. It’s the small things that make me happy. As soon as the wave died down, the lights went out and LP was ready to rock.

To open, they played the intro music from Minutes to Midnight (“Wake”) while there was a silhouetted image of the band against a huge grey curtain. Then, they dropped the curtain and started to perform “Given Up” at a level of energy that only Linkin Park can perform at.

I don’t know how Chester Bennington does it: scream at the top of his lungs on tracks like “Given Up” and “One Step Closer” and then croon on tracks like “Shadow of the Day” and “Breaking the Habit” – all tracks that LP performed during last night’s show. The highlight of the show was Mike playing keys while Chester sang “Pushing Me Away” and then “Breaking the Habit” without the rest of the band. It was an almost acoustic performance and that’s when I was reminded of how well Chester can really sing. They played from 9:30pm to 10:35pm and ended the set with “One Step Closer.” The encore was three songs (I think I have this right): “Faint,” “Numb,” and then they closed with an extended version “Bleed it Out.”

I’ve lost track of how many LP concerts I’ve been to – it’s something like 7 or 8. Every time I go, I am thoroughly entertained. Last night was no exception.

On a side note, I wrote in my Incubus concert review about how the Jones Beach ampitheater took away from the energy of the crowd. I was wrong. Last night, the crowd was amazing, albeit a bunch of 15 year olds. The place was packed and the energy level was way up there. Yeah, there were no mosh pits or crowd surfers, but there was plenty of jumping and screaming. Props to Linkin Park for putting on a fantastic show.

Here’s a video of the crowd doing the wave. More videos to come.