Projekt Revolution Recap

August 23rd, 2007

[Editor's Note: Alberto, the MuchMusic.com newbie, brings you another entry in his "Alberto's Analysis" series of blogs. Herewith, his analysis of the Projekt Revolution show he attended at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre]

Yesterday I attended Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution tour at the Molson Amphitheatre. Linkin Park headlined, My Chemical Romance supported them and the main stage was rounded out by Taking Back Sunday, HIM, Placebo and Julien-K. Then, there was a second stage that included Mindless Self Indulgence, Saosin, The Bled, Styles of Beyond and Madina Lake.

Julien-K opened the show in front of a crowd that were just starting to fill their seats, since they didn’t let anyone in to the venue until minutes before Julien-K hit the stage. Second up were British rockers Placebo, who I was excited to see because I’ve been a fan of theirs since the 90s. They opened their set with their big hit Pure Morning and also delivered Special K, Taste In Men and Meds.

After Placebo came Finnish goth-rockers HIM, led by a cigarette-smoking Ville Valo, who played to a crowd screaming at the top of their lungs. Going into the show I had never heard of them [Ed. Note: Alberto is new here]) and they pleasantly surprised me. They also played a cover of Chris Isaak‘s Wicked Game which wasn’t too bad [Ed. Note: Alberto is new here]. Overall I was pleased; I am now in the process of buying their material!

After HIM’s performance my buddy and I figured that it’d be a good time to go get something to eat/drink, thinking that it would take max 10 mins in line to get something. Boy were we ever wrong. We ended up missing almost all of Taking Back Sunday‘s set due to the slow moving line for pizza. From what I saw on the TVs and from what people said they played a good set. We did end up seeing their final song which was Make Damn Sure, and we made damn sure we didn’t miss it – it rocked.

After Taking Back Sunday were done, the crew dismantled their set and the My Chemical Romance banner appeared – the crowd went nuts! And that was just for the banner…I knew I was in for something good. When MCR took the stage the whole place shook, with every woman, man and child in the venue yelling. Lead singer Gerard Way came out with his face painted like a skeleton and poked fun at the crowd saying that no one got the memo to come with their face painted! Not only was their set full of great songs, but also full of fire and pyrotechnics. Some of the songs they played included This Is How I Disappear, Helena, I’m Not Okay (I Promise), Welcome To The Black Parade and their most recent hit Teenagers. Mind you, Gerard barely had to sing with the whole Amphitheatre singing along! They also closed (if I remember correctly) with Cancer, which Gerard sang by himself…

After My Chemical Romance’s excellent performance came the big guns, Linkin Park! They came onto the stage behind a white curtain showing their silhouettes playing No More Sorrow off of their latest record Minutes To Midnight. The band were at their best, tearing through hits like Lying From You and Somewhere I Belong. The crowd did not disappoint the band – from the start of the set right to the very end they were belting out the lyrics to each and every song. They helped out Chester during crowd favourites Points Of Authority and Pushing Me Away. During Hands Held High, Mike Shinoda asked the crowd to help out with the chorus and they obliged with every ounce of strength in their bodies. Other highlights included The Little Things Give You Away, Shadow Of The Day, What I’ve Done, The End, and of course their latest hit Bleed It Out.

Overall the day lived up to the hype – my left ear is still ringing as I write this! The performances were so good that even the weather (cold and crappy) and the waits for food and to exit the venue couldn’t ruin things. Side note: they really need to make another exit for that place…get on it, Molson!

Until next time…

Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 8:28 am by Alberto and is filed under Concerts & Events.