August 21, 2008 – Fronted by the double-barreled attack of Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda on vocals, Linkin Park delivered a sonic chokeslam to close out Projekt Revolution with the biggest performance of the night.
Alternating between Bennington's fiery screams and Shinoda's charged flow, the two singers led the all out assault with relentless energy. Throughout the performance, Brad Delson played the quiet guitar hero with reserved, iceman cool, while David Farrell slung it low with slamming bass lines.
At the back of the stage, Mr. Hahn presided over the onslaught with a tight reign on the decks as drummer Rob Bourdon laid down the framework for the band's pummeling performance.
Even after powerhouse sets by Chris Cornell, Street Drum Corp, Ashes Divide, and The Bravery on the main stage, Linkin Park delivered an epic show that left no doubt of the band's place as the annual headliners for the festival.
Photographer's Notes:
This performance was an insanely fun and rewarding shoot. Aside from having two singers, the stage setup itself proved a huge challenge, with a tall riser spanning a large portion of the stage.
This platfom elevated the performers while they were on it, and effectively obscured them when they were behind it. In addition, the extra height created even more acute shooting angles when shooting from below.
The riser was divided into three sections, with a taller middle platform and two shorter side extensions. Band members took turns performing on the center section, essentially playing musical chairs with their time in the spotlight.
Lighting for the set was generally fantastic, with two spotlights lighting the front of the performers and four spotlights at the back of the stage.
The only real lighting issue came as a result of Bennington's close/tight mic grip, as a spot house right was tracking the singer. Since Bennington primarily held the mic in his left hand, this setup created deep shadows over the right side of his face.
Despite all of these issues, I had an absolute blast photographing this assignment and loved every quick second in the pit.
I shot this performance with the D3 and D700, utilizing the 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8. This two-camera, three-lens approach proved excellent overall and gave me all the range I needed. The 70-200mm f/2.8 stayed on the D700 while I switched between the other two zooms on the D3.
Overall, the 24-70mm saw the most use, followed by the 70-200mm.
End Notes:
I highly recommend photographing Projekt Revolution as a whole, but Linkin Park's live show just elevates the festival to another level entirely. Pure photo candy. I'm already looking forward to photographing these guys next year.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id='G00002XWdYBH0kvI' g_name='Linkin-Park-Projekt-Revolution-2008′ f_show_slidenum='t' img_title='f' pho_credit='iptc' f_link='t' f_enable_embed_btn='t' f_send_to_friend_btn='t' f_topbar='t' f_bbar='t' f_show_watermark='t' f_htmllinks='t' f_mtrx='t' fsvis='t' width='600′ height='700′ bgcolor='#000000′ btype='new' bcolor='#FFFFFF' crop='f' trans='xfade' tbs='2000′ f_ap='t' bgtrans='f' linkdest='c' f_fullscreen='f' f_constrain='f' twoup='f' f_bbarbig=” f_show_caption='f' f_smooth='f' f_up='f' target='_self' ]
