GIG REVIEWS

Linkin Park
@ Manchester Apollo
March 7th 2003
www.vanguard-online.co.uk

 'How many of you saw us when we played here with the Deftones?' asks Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington of the sold-out Apollo. That so few raised their hands is hardly surprising considering how frighteningly young some sections of the crowd are. As I watched my every step, so not to trample these urchins with my size 12s, I was reminded how my parents forbid me to go to rock concerts at age 7, presumably for fear of me being kidnapped by Satan-worshipping, drug-crazed degenerates in Saxon T-shirts. Linkin Park are, however, the family-friendly face of nu-metal. They may be a bit shouty but they pose no real threat. They don't do drugs nor drink to excess, they look like a hard-rockin' N'Sync, and - most of all - there's no blue language apart from one or two of Bennington's and rapper Mike Shinoda's stage raps. So far, so inoffensive.

Yet tonight's show, one of three warm-ups for their upcoming world tour, suggests that the smart money is on Linkin Park to survive the imminent nu-metal cull. Slipknot may have the masks and Limp Bizkit may possess more swearwords than Roger Mellie's Profanosaurus, but Linkin Park have that one simple, yet indisputable weapon - songs. Their gimmick-free set only enhances their strengths and enthusiasm is in abundance, particularly when Bennington takes a potentially nasty tumble on to the floor. New tracks from their second album 'Meteora' including 'Somewhere I Belong' are well-received, not least because they don't stray too far from the winning formula of 'Hybrid Theory'. However, the biggest cheers are reserved for those punchy, yet undeniably catchy hits. 'Crawling' still sounds like Savage Garden (on the verses, at least!) and 'In The End' remains a wonderful rock song, even if it strays into power-ballad territory. The angrier Linkin Park get, the response is greater as the explosive pairing of 'A Place For My Head' and 'One Step Closer' brings things to a spectacular close.

Taking into account the £16 ticket price, Linkin's all-too-brief set may have left some feeling short-changed and the lack of spontaneity suggests there is little difference between Linkin Park on stage and Linkin Park on CD. Still, to this outsider, Linkin Park show that, in the great big nu-metal turd, they are a rare shining diamond.



Ross Halewood