As the infamous date of July 20th is fast approaching, news of meetups and tribute shows from around the world are being announced. We at LPFCW wanted to help spread the word so that fans globally can attend an event that will help them not only celebrate Chester's life and influence, but also speak about their experiences with the band and enjoy each other's company.
We reached out to the headline act, Meteora, as well as Hayden Rose who will also be performing at the event, to find out why they'll be performing in honour of Chester and how they plan to make the tribute night special.
Meteora are six, musicians born between 1991 - 1993 and apart from their singer, they all studied in the same school with a passion for metal music, especially Linkin Park, Slipknot, Rammstein and System Of A Down. This allowed a special connection to be forged and helped them become friends and eventually start learning and playing music together. I wanted to ask what this show means to them and what they hope to achieve. Meanwhile, Hayden Rose is a French singer-songwriter who will also be performing. He states many musical influences, such as Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Seether and Lifehouse and has won Akademia Los Angeles Music Award's Best song of the month with his single, My Fight.
What was your first experience with Linkin Park's music?
Meteora: We discovered LP on TV in France (probably a music video on MTV for In the end, Numb, From The Inside, One Step Closer). Two of us we were at Rock Werchter July 2017 to see one of Chester's last concerts... We don't want to be a perfect copy of Linkin Park. Firstly because it's just impossible to compete with Chester's incredible voice and secondly because we enjoy bringing some musical adaptations (we have made our own version of Breaking The Habit and play it during our shows).The thing we love is to make a show with a lot of energy to share that with people. A show is only successful for us if we can hear the public singing, jumping and smiling. We are LP fans like them, and the show is a celebration with the LP family for us.
HR: My first experience was singing Shadow Of The Day in a bar around nineteen years ago [2000] and after, people wanted me to keep singing it. I had always followed Linkin Park. LP always had this magical attraction to me. I was always impressed by their talent, their simplicity, their performances. The only concert I got to see was in Paris in 2014. My first tribute for fans of LP/HR was in 2018 on the 21st of July for the first anniversary of Chester's passing in Prague. This event was organised by the official LP Ambassador of Czech Republic, Monika. I was hesitant to perform at the event, but I accepted for her and the Soldiers and they appreciated it a lot. This year, I will be with the musicians of Meteora for the first time in Paris on the 21st of July as a special guest and it's an honour for me. It will be a real pleasure for me to meet them and the official LP Ambassador of France, too.
How did you find Hayden Rose and what are your thoughts?
Meteora: We discovered Hayden with his vocal cover and it was very impressive for us to find so many vocal and physical similarities. Our idea was to invite people who love Linkin Park in France and are able to pay a tribute to Chester. We decided to contact Hayden and it was a real pleasure to find out he was okay to join us! So, we have worked on many songs together and he'll also sing some songs alone on stage. It'll be very pleasant to meet in in person!
What does this tribute show mean to you?
HR: This show will be my first time [meeting and playing] with Meteora's musicians, the first time with the organiser of this event and my first time with the official LP Ambassador of France too, so I have a lot to thank them for. For me, this event will represent the strength to continue when we lose someone we love... The strength and love will be with us and across the world for Chester's family, his bandmates, his friends, his fans, the soldiers. I'm nobody, but my performance with the Meteora's musicians will allow the wounded soldiers to follow this tribute live at the venue and through the internet on my Facebook page, for people all around the world see it. I hope that my Roses will appease them. I get a lot of affectionate messages, but also messages from people still hurt by Chester's passing. I'm not Chester and nobody can replace him. My fans or the Soldiers probably see me as Hayden Rose accompanied by some spectrum of Chester, which soothes their wounds.
Do you have a favourite LP song to play live and will it be on the setlist at the tribute show?
Meteora: For our Chester Bennington French Tribute Show, we will play almost all of the LP songs we love. We will also play some of their songs for the very first time at this show, like Qwerty. Our favourite songs are Given Up, One Step Closer and Faint, so of course these songs will be on our setlist. It's the very first time we will play more than 22 songs in one show, our setlist this show will have 30 songs!
HR: My favourite song is the One More Light version of Crawling, because it's such an emotional song. For me, it's this song that reminds me of the last memories of Chester and my own past difficulties in life, even though I'm almost 40... In February 2017, I was pretty much in hell. My Mother died in 2012 and I'm separated in 2013. My life was empty. When I sing Crawling, I live the lyrics to remind me that I'm here for my daughters and to help people who also want to heal, My Roses and the Soldiers too.
Which of the members came up with the idea of creating an LP tribute band?
Meteora: We wanted to form a tribute band in early 2015 (simultaneously with our music band "Who's On First?) because we discovered The Scarsystem tribute to System Of a Down and Rage Against The Machine. We found it really cool because people are very receptive and it's a like a party between fans. So, Alexis [Bassist] suggested Linkin Park and it was an obvious choice for everyone (Jia, Julien, Victor, Thibaut, Alexis) because we were all huge fans of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Another reason is that Jia composed sample/keyboards parts and can scream/sing and rap, so it was a perfect challenge for him. But it wouldn't be possible without finding a lead singer able to sing Chester parts... We were very lucky to find Loic, who was the same age, from the same city, with the same enthusiasm about this project and a huge potential to sing high and powerfully. We prefer to play songs with interesting guitars, bass and rap parts, that's why our setlist contains a lot of songs from the first three albums [Hybrid Theory, Meteora and Minutes To Midnight], but we also play masterpieces from others albums, like Lost In The Echo, New Divide and One More Light.
Will you be doing a mixture of Linkin Park and Dead By Sunrise songs like on your YouTube channel?
HR: Unfortunately, I won't have the time for doing Dead By Sunrise songs. Because I'm a special guest, I can only do eleven songs in the middle of this commemoration. I will sing alone for some of the set, but I will sing some with the musicians of Meteora! It will be a first, we've never seen each other! We will unveil the setlist soon.
What do you think will be the best part of playing the tribute show?
Meteora: We don't know what the best part of our tribute show will be yet, because each person has their own favourite song. For us, it will be One step Closer and Faint. It will also be a good time to give out some gifts (we bought Linkin Park t-shirts, albums and other stuff) to give to the public through games and quizzes about Linkin Park.
HR: For me it will be the energy, the smile and the love that everyone will bring to the show, the Soldiers, Meteora, my Roses. That union. The love, because our Earth needs that to be cured. Together we will be stronger. I will think of my fans who are also on my Facebook page, who will be watching live on their screens on the 21st of July. Their messages are always beautiful to me, I'm very lucky to have their love. It comes from Sri Lanka, Brazil, England, United States, Sweden, Czech Republic, Australia, Italia, Russia, Spain, Indonesia, Germany, Argentina, Canada and lot of other countries. It will be one more light, a one more night for a beautiful star among the millions of stars...
Do you think that more should be done to help musicians with mental illness?
Meteora: Artists are often emotive people. This emotion and humanity is a gift, because it connects us with creativity and talent, but on the other hand, this emotivity could be a "weakness" if they have people with good intentions, especially when they are young/teenagers, and after when they are successful and become celebrities. So, for us, it is very important to create more awareness and help for people with mental illness and to continue to support them when they start becoming famous (Avicii, Amy Winehouse). But, it's also very important to protect children, because a huge part of adult mental illness is due to traumas during childhood (like Chester, who was open with his struggles as a child). We lose too many talented artists due to mental illness!
More information can be found on the event's Facebook page. More information on Meteora and Hayden Rose can be found on each of their Facebook pages, or at Hayden's official website. Follow the links provided in order to get updates on the event and notifications for the livestream of the event. Photos of Hayden Rose provided by Jeny Pretty Photography.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised, help and resources can be found at Buddy Project.