August 18, 2008
Noblesville Daily Times

Despite seven and a half hours of music, the Verizon Wireless Music Center crowd seemed just warmed up and not worn down as headliner and Projekt Revolution creators Linkin Park took the stage Sunday night.

And the band didn’t disappoint as Linkin Park played all 16 of its singles from its three studio albums – 2000’s Hybrid Theory, 2003’s Meteora and 2007’s Minutes to Midnight.

Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora intertwined the nu metal and rap rock sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock and electronica. But with Minutes to Midnight, the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles.

The concert started off strong as fellow Projekt Revolution artist Street Drum Corps played a Blue Man Group-ish introduction to Linkin Park’s debut single, “One Step Closer.” “Lying from You,” “Somewhere I Belong,” “No More Sorrow” and “Papercut” followed.

Before and after “Points of Authority,” co-singer Mike Shinoda rapped – “Petrified” as the intro and “There They Go” as the outro.

The concert hit a lull as the band’s quieter songs were played one after another. “Leave Out All the Rest” was followed by the group’s mega-hit “Numb,” and the New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina themed “The Little Things Give You Away.”

“Breaking the Habit” broke up the slow tempo but it was short lived as “Shadow of the Day” followed. But the crowd was in for a surprise as Shinoda rapped the first verse to “Hands Held High” before Chris Cornell came onstage to help co-lead singer Chester Bennington sing 2001’s “Crawling.”

“Does he have the best voice in rock and roll or what?” Bennington remarked after the performance.

Linkin Park closed its set with “In the End,” the group’s biggest hit along with “Numb.” If the first encore of 2007’s “What I’ve Done” and 2003’s “Faint” – both No. 1 singles – weren’t enough, the Street Drum Corp returned to the stage for the second encore to accompany Linkin Park’s Rob Bourdona’s drum solo before “Bleed it Out” concluded their performance.

Opening for Linkin Park was musical journeyman Chris Cornell.

“So I’m here on Projekt Revolution and I only get an hour, so I’m trying to cover as much as I can,” he told the audience.

Cornell’s set included solo hits and classics from his three former super groups – Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog.

Intertwining “Scream” and “Watch Out” from his upcoming third solo album, Scream (due out in September), Cornell sang Soundgarden’s “Outshined,” “Spoonman,” “Burden in My Hand,” “Black Hole Sun” and “Rusty Cage”; Audioslave’s “Cochise,” “Like a Stone” and “Be Yourself, Show Me How to Live”; and Temple of Dog’s “Hunger Strike.”

Other Projekt Revolution artists include The Bravery, Ashes Divide, Street Drum Corp, Atreyu, 10 Years, Hawtorne Heights and Armor for Sleep. Rapper Busta Rhymes was slated to perform but dropped off the tour before its Noblesville stop Sunday.