Chester Bennington to Make Guest Appearance for "Athletes for Heroes"

Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington will be making a special appearance at the "Not Your Average Idol" event in Boston, MA this coming Thursday, 3rd February to help raise awareness for the initiative "Athletes for Heroes", an organization born from the charity "Hits for Kids". The charity is organized by Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis and aims to help children who have lost a parent/loved one in the line of duty.

Chester and a host of other guests will take part in "Idol like performances" as they hope to launch the new initiative with great success. The event details can be found below:

6:00PM
Thursday, Feb. 3rd
The State Ballroom
60 State St.
Boston, MA

If you're in the area and want a great night of entertainment, be sure to check it out! Learn more about "Hits for Kids" / "Athletes for Heroes", buy tickets and make a donation to the charity by heading over to the official site below.

Official "Hits for Kids" Website - Click HERE

Madison Square Garden show to be televised

Linkin Park are due to play at Madison Square Garden on February 4th. This show is going to be televised on FUSE TV on February 18th, 9:30PM/8:30C

Who will be there?

Who will be tuning in to watch the show?

What set list will LP play that night?

Discuss this and more on our boards

28.01.11 - Minneapolis, MN, USA, Xcel Energy Center

28.01.11 - Minneapolis, MN, USA, Xcel Energy Center
Linkin Park will be playing Minneapolis, MN at the Xcel Energy Center tomorrow (01/28/2011) in what will be the sixth show of the North American leg of the A Thousand Suns World Tour.

The band are coming off a show in Chicago, IL where they hosted a very successful LPU Summit (their first ever in North America) and debuted yet another completely new set list (B13), which saw When They Come For Me moved to the encore for the first time this tour. Other notable changes were the band opening with Faint after The Requiem (with a Mario Salvo outro), and The Catalyst being played without Fallout as an intro.

Burning In The Skies was rehearsed heavily during sound check but did not make it's debut at Chicago, being absent from a set list that still did not include The Messenger or Wretches & Kings, two songs that were staples of the setlists before B11 and B13. What do you think about the changes and which set do you prefer?

In addition to B11/B13 it is still widely believed that Linkin Park will debut yet another setlist this tour, one that may bring back W&K or re-introduce Burning In The Skies back into the live set. What would you like to see from the third setlist, and what do you think we can expect from Minneapolis tomorrow night?

Win Linkin Park VIP Concert Tickets To Philadelphia Show

Radio 104.5 is giving away VIP Concierge tickets to the Philadelphia show on 1/31/2011.

"Want to see Linkin Park up close and personal? Starting Monday, you can text in to win tickets to watch their show at the Wells Fargo Center on January 31st from the private VIP platform and meet members of the band! Just be the 104th to text "linkin" to 91045 whenever you hear two Linkin Park songs back to back Monday through Friday 7a-7p and the tickets are yours! Star texting as soon as the second song starts! Plus all winners get VIP concierge level tickets this includes: parking, private cash bar w/ free hors d'oeuveres, souvenir laminate, and tour program!
P.S. Concierge Level Tickets are for sale to the public!"

Source: Radio 104.5 & Linkin park twitter

Linkin Park puts premium on marketing itself

Linkin Park wasn’t supposed to still be around. Appearing on the scene in 2000, the band barely distinguished itself from its contemporaries in rap-rock, the harsh hybrid of rage and rhyme that ruled the airwaves at the turn the century with chart-topping and aptly named bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit.

But Linkin Park possesses commercial instincts the others didn’t. From the 2000 debut of “Hybrid Theory,” a multiplatinum cash cow whose liner notes started a band tradition of providing lengthy product endorsements, through a new album, the kinder and gentler “A Thousand Suns,” Linkin Park has sought to express its angst, sure, but always just within the confines of what sells.

“We’re not trying to make a song that, well, that’s what other people are going to listen to — that’s going to be a hit,” LP’s MC Mike Shinoda insisted in a recent teleconference with journalists about the band’s North American tour, which began last week. It was a conversation that included as in-depth a discussion of marketing experiments as creative decisions.

In fact, if you want to get a glimpse at the different sales strategies being auditioned by the unsettled music business these days, look no further than this band’s tour. For good or ill, Linkin Park is on the cutting edge of plugging its music into new business models. Here are just a few of the ways the band is seeking to separate you from your money:

1. Concert downloads

Included in the price of your concert ticket is the cost of a digital recording of the concert. Linkin Park has teamed again with Base Camp Productions (the techies who pioneered “official bootlegs” from Pearl Jam, followed by Tori Amos, Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth and others) to provide ticketholders a mix of the show they just saw, ready for download within a few days.

At the show, fans will see a text message code displayed. Send the text, and Base Camp (basecampproductions.com) responds with information on where to go for the download. Shinoda said other shows on the tour will be available for download for an extra cost.

“I wish I could have had the opportunity to take home a souvenir recording of the time I saw Alice in Chains at the Palace back in the ’90s. I saw Anthrax and Public Enemy play together. That was one of the first concerts I ever saw, which was the Killer B’s tour. I remember seeing Pearl Jam playing,” Shinoda said. “For young people, I know they don’t necessarily remember a time when this didn’t exist, but for those of us who have that kind of perspective, it’s something that’s exciting and I feel like we take advantage of it.”

2. Charity donations

Also included in the price of your ticket — whether you wish to contribute or not — is one dollar earmarked for the Music for Relief project (musicforrelief.org), a coalition of musicians raising awareness for the continuing struggle of post-earthquake Haitians. (This includes the Download to Donate effort, downloadtodonate.org, which offers free music by Linkin Park and others in exchange for a $10 donation to Haiti relief efforts.)

Shinoda said the band chose this particular charity because it seemed responsible, first asking, “What areas can be focused on that are going to make the biggest impact for that amount of money being raised? Because we don’t raise huge amounts of money. We donate $1 from each ticket. … We want to be responsible for the money that we raise and making sure that it’s going to things that are actually going to be helping people.”

3. Fan club convention

In Chicago this week, members of the Linkin Park Underground, the band’s fan club, are converging for the two-day International LPU Summit. One of these events occurred recently in London, featuring fans hanging with band members and even jamming onstage with LP’s instruments.

Chicago’s event starts today, with fans competing in a basketball tournament at the Irving Park YMCA. Later, there’s an ice skating outing at Millennium Park. On Wednesday, the day of the concert, activities include designing T-shirts to send to Haitian earthquake victims, backstage tours, a Q&A with the band, viewing of the sound check, plus both a raffle and an auction. (The event site has a helpful list of “what to bring,” which includes “cash” twice.)

“We’ve done two [summits] so far, and we’re doing a third one now,” Shinoda said. “The one in London we saw people from as far away as South Africa, Asia, all over Europe flying out just to come and be a part of the event. Everybody meets the band, everybody talks to the band. You all get autographs, photos. You have opportunities to get up onstage, to play our instruments. A bunch of the fans got up onstage and jammed the song ‘Saint’ on our instruments. By the way, the drummer and the guitar players were incredible. They were so, so amazing.”

Membership in the LPU costs $10 per month or $60 per year. Annual members can register for a free pass to the summit; monthly members can buy a summit pass for $75. More information is at lpu.linkinpark.com/summit-chicago.

4. VIP treatment

Remember when the good seats were sold with all the others and an average Joe with good timing could luck into the front row? Not anymore. Most arena concerts now cordon off the best seats for big bucks, simply by throwing in some cheap perks. Linkin Park’s ticket prices, like most big shows, are tiered.

“We have something called the VIP concierge service, which is a higher-priced thing and you get special parking, special access, merch comes with it, and you get great seats,” Shinoda said. “So if you’ve got the money and you want to pay for something extra, then that’s great. It’s actually an excellent product. But at the same time, if you don’t have a lot of money and you just want to see Linkin Park play, then there are tickets that are affordable for you, as well. I mean, we’ll see at the end. It’s an experiment. We’ll see how it works out at the end of this tour.”

VIP tickets, which also include munchies and a cash bar, are $149.95 for fan club members, $199.95 for others. Regular tickets are $41.50 and $71.50, plus fees.

Help Linkin Park Make "Waiting For The End" Live Video

Linkin Park needs your help in putting together a live video of their single "Waiting For The End".

Read Joe Hahn's full post via LP.com below -

Hey everyone,

In celebration of the current leg of our world tour, we're putting together a LIVE video for "Waiting for the End," and we want it to be filmed by you. We think the world should see the show from your perspective. Here's what we want you to do: If you are attending our January 26th show in Chicago, or January 28th in St. Paul, pull out your camera or phone when we play "Waiting for the End," and capture your best footage. We don't only want to see the band on stage; we want to see you in the crowd, your friends, the people around you singing, even footage from the parking lot or outside and around the venue...whatever you think looks cool.

Afterwards, starting at 12:00 noon on January 27, go to this link and there will be instructions on how to upload your video. Include your Twitter handle if you want a shout out in our official video. Don't worry about the audio. We're handling that part for you. And keep it clean, please. Your final day to submit is January 29.

Linkin Park plans a show you'll want to remember

Kids today have it good.

That’s in essence what Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda says when he talks about the ability fans of his band will have to almost immediately download a free, top-quality recording of shows they attend on the tour that hits Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday.

Gone are the days of sneaking a tape recorder and microphone into a show, and trading bass and hiss-filled bootleg tapes with other fans via mail. The ease of click-and-play recordings gets Shinoda musing pretty quickly about shows he’d love to have saved on an iPod for instant enjoyment.

“Man, I wish I could have had the opportunity to take home a souvenir recording of the time I saw Alice in Chains at the (San Francisco Cow) Palace, back in the ’90s,” Shinoda said via phone recently.

“I saw Panthrax and Public Enemy play together. That was one of the first concerts I ever saw, which was the Killer Bees tour. I remember seeing Pearl Jam playing, they were, like, the second band on Lollapalooza. For young people, I know they don’t necessarily remember a time when this didn’t exist, but for those of us who have that kind of perspective, it’s something that’s exciting.”

Heading out to support the new album “A Thousand Suns,” the band is now into its second decade of a career that’s been marked by wildly successful albums and side projects that have merged hard rock, hip-hop and electronic music.

Shinoda said the blend comes from having six members with wildly divergent musical interests working well together and being unafraid to take chances while creating music that excites them.

“That gap (from rock to hip-hop) has been bridged a million times and we just happen to have grown up on many different styles of music and when we write music that’s how we write it,” he said. “One misconception about how our band might write is that when you sit down to write a song you’re thinking of imitating something else. When we go into the studio, we don’t set out to say, ‘Let’s write a song like another song.’ We sit down and try and write something that is exciting to us and something that’s fresh and especially on the new record, that’s where the majority of the songs came from. Just trying to write something that sounded different and was exciting to us.”

That creative daring resulted in “A Thousand Suns” becoming perhaps the band’s most adventurous and mature album. While there’s still a healthy dose of anger and frustration flowing from songs such as “Wretches And Kings” and “Burning Skies,” as a whole the Rick Rubin-produced album is more restrained and measured than the band has ever shown itself on record.

“We were making demos and we knew that the sound was a little bit more electronic-based and it was more loose and almost more abstract,” he said. “Ideas would just kind of pop out, and I wouldn’t even know that I was thinking about some of this stuff and it would come out of my mouth and the song would develop.

“There’s ideas of kind of like self-annihilation and fear that were popping out and surprising us. We’re very analytical when it comes to rating our songs and putting them all together, so we’re looking at songs from every angle, and we’re thinking about things and we start asking ourselves, ‘What do we all feel about these ideas being on the record all over the place and maybe taking the record in that direction?’ And it turned out that all six of the guys felt like there was definitely a universal fear that I think a lot of people these days do have that fear, whether it be in the front of their mind or in the back of their mind, that humanity as a whole is and has been for a long time on the brink of destroying itself.”

That departure has made the tour for “A Thousand Suns” something of a creative adventure as the band has tinkered constantly with its set list and execution of new songs, to find ways to help them fit and find context with its past work that was largely more visceral.

“You can plan it out from beginning to end in the studio and whatever, but there’s something else that happens when it comes to stepping on stage with that set list. We’re constantly tweaking the set list and making little changes and improvising on parts, because we’re searching for ways to improve it,” Shinoda said.

“The new record definitely lends ... a narrative to the show, which is really nice, kind of ties different parts of the show together, and I find that some of the old songs take on a new meaning when they’re put in that context.”

And while not everything has worked and some pairings and transitions have had to be cast aside, Shinoda said on the whole the tour has yielded more pleasant surprises, such as the live rendering of the largely electronic and sample-based “Blackout.”

“I’s mostly like drum sounds and keyboard sounds and stuff like that and we were thinking, ‘This is going to be a nightmare to try and play live, like literally the whole band is going to need to play samplers and synthesizers, so how are we going to do that and make it sound as exciting as the song is supposed to sound?’

“We threw some ideas together and rehearsed it and felt pretty good, but, I mean, the crowd went out of their minds. It was so much fun to play that song and it actually is now probably one of the most exciting moments in the set.”

Free Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns - Part II

Download Linkin park ATS Part 11

Linkin Park Mix Ambient with Rage in Tour Opener

Thursday night's opening show of Linkin Park's new tour, at the BankAtlantic Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, showed a group of veteran performers standing on a divide. On the one hand, Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, and company clearly want to explore the new, more ambient and electronic sounds of the band's fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns. On the other, these seasoned road dogs clearly aim to please their fans, many of whom have stuck with the band since its early nu metal-ish days.
So despite the MTV and radio hype surrounding the release of the new album's first and wildly unexpected single, "The Catalyst," the song was, bizarrely, never played in full during the evening. The only reference to it came through "The Requiem," which shares some of the same lyrics and was played as the band's entrance music.

Instead, Linkin Park started out blazing with a string of throbbing, rap-heavy hits that featured the dynamic Shinoda. With a longer, glossy hair-do and dark sunglasses, he looked less like a b-boy and more like Prince. Still, Shinoda is a commanding rhymer whose aggressive but controlled delivery can light up a yawning venue. His star power only shines brighter as he switches between his vocals, guitar-playing, and synth work, often on the same song.

After about the first third of the show, though, Shinoda largely receded from the spotlight as the band launched into a chunk of material from A Thousand Suns and vocalist Bennington controlled the proceedings.

Here is where the set took a turn for the somber, beginning with the atmospheric electronic coda of "Empty Spaces" and dramatically heightened by the moody, galactic slab of trip-hop that is "Waiting for the End." Even the older, frenetic "Breaking the Habit" was introduced by a bit of maudlin piano, though Bennington finished it strong by going a cappella and reminding everyone of his vocal chops.

Toward the end of the show, though, things picked up again with a slate of chart hits -- "Crawling" and "In the End" among them -- and a close-out with the explosive rap-rock anthem "Bleed It Out." Though fans had respectfully listened and sung along to the subtler songs, it was during these ragers that the mood became electric.

Wherever you happen to fall on the new vs. old Linkin Park divide, however, there's no denying the band's generosity. A series of videos played on screen before the set outlined the band's charity work through Music For Relief: scads of money to southeast Asia after the 2005 tsunami and to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and a million trees planted throughout the Thousand Suns tour, ostensibly to offset its carbon footprint. And for the fans, there was a special SMS code to send that would generate a unique link to download audio of the evening's show.

Linkin Park has also been creative in selecting supporting acts (particularly on its past Projekt Revolution tours). Thursday night's openers further signaled the band's desire to bridge the rock-electronic divide.

Reading, England, dance-punk quintet Does It Offend You, Yeah? took the stage with little fanfare and a modest setup, but won the crowd over by the end of its brief set thanks to the force of its hefty electro hooks. Skipping its relatively subtler, vocal-driven material in favor of ear-splitting, four-to-the-floor stompers, the band showed that it has outgrown hipster dance floors and grown arena-size. Even the several-year-old club stormer "We Are Rockstars" sounded fresh again.

Meanwhile Pendulum, originally from Perth, Australia, made one of the better cases of recent years for another major mainstream dance/rock crossover, a la the Prodigy. Like those English greats, this six-piece marries dance beats with rock attitudes and textures (and the beginning of Pendulum's "The Vulture" sure seems indebted to "Smack My Bitch Up").

The main difference, though, is that even if Pendulum has publicly downplayed the connection, the band mostly skips house and big beat-type styles in favor of metallic drum 'n' bass. As evidenced by mass crowd singalongs to songs like "Witchcraft" and an unusual cover of Metallica's "Master of Puppets," the group has accomplished what Roni Size and company never could. It has created songs from the genre that would fit seamlessly into commercial radio. It just took removing all of drum 'n' bass' old Caribbean and hip-hop inflections, and then kitting it out in a platform-booted, active-rock image, to do so.

Setlist:
"The Requiem"
"Wretches and Kings"
"Papercut"
"Given Up"
"New Divide"
"Faint"
"Empty Spaces"
"When They Come For Me"
"No More Sorrow"
"Jornada del Muerto"
"Waiting for the End"
"Wisdom Justice and Love"
"Iridescent"
"Numb"
"The Radiance"
"Breaking the Habit"
"Shadow of the Day"
"Crawling"
"One Step Closer"

"The Messenger"
"In the End"
"What I've Done"
"Bleed It Out"

23.01.11 - Atlanta, GA

Linkin Park are heading to Atlanta, GA for the third show of the North American leg of the A Thousand Suns World Tour. The show takes place at the Phillips Arena and follows last nights show in Tampa, FL.

The band performed the same set last night in Tampa, FL as they did in Sunrise, FL with the only exception being the inclusion of Fallout & The Catalyst, which the band cut on the first night during the encore break. Another cool detail was the Bleed It Out bridge, which included both the Burning In The Skies chorus & the A Place For My Head bridge in the song. Other key moments include Mike's keyboard dying on Shadow of the Day, and having to call for a backup and Chester having his bracelet broken and his hand nerves pinched by a crazed fan on the front row, which he addressed during the performance down the mic and tweeted about - HERE. Other than those hiccups it was a solid show!

With the band sound checking Blackout and Burning In The Skies the previous two nights, maybe we can expect them integrated into the set sometime soon? Do you think the band will begin rotating sets on the third show? If so what do you want to see them change up? Ofcourse with the expectation of two other setlists in rotation, maybe Robot Boy is set to debut soon?

Who's heading to the Atlanta show tonight and who's lucky enough to get a meet & greet? Share your experience, thoughts and impressions of the tour so far in the LPA Forums!

22.01.11 - Tampa, FL

Linkin Park will be playing their second date of the North American Tour in Tampa, FL at the St. Pete Times Forum. Coming off a solid first show in Sunrise, FL on the 20th the band will continue their A Thousand Suns World Tour tonight.

The band performed a familiar setlist on the first night, which many tour followers may remember from Europe, however the band removed Fallout & The Catalyst from the encore which was apparently due to guitarist, Brad Delson's illness. Rumours suggest the band will be rotating three sets during this tour; A, B & C respectively, however comments from Mike suggesting "three brand new sets" were in question as we saw the return of a setlist from Europe. Was this intentional to allow the band to find their feet? Will this set be one of the A, B or C sets? What do you think of the setlist and what would you change? *View 20.01.11 Setlist.

Among the set the band took the time to sing "Happy Birthday to Rob", as it was drummer Rob Bourdon's birthday on the opening night of the tour.

We hope that Brad is resting well and is in good form to take the stage in Tampa tonight!

Keep up to date with setlists and submit your photos and videos for any tour date in the LPA Tour

Who's heading to Tampa to see the show and who's heading to the meet & greet? Share your thoughts and experiences on the LPA Forums!

Linkin Park Discuss Possible 3D Film and More

NewsOK has recently posted an article discussing with Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington about the current tour. Along with details we already know, such as the free DSP downloads for everyone who attends a show on the North American tour, the band also revisit the possibility of actually performing A Thousand Suns in it's entirety at some stage. The band also shed more light on maybe using 3D technology at some point in the future by maybe releasing a "3D film".

"Shinoda said Linkin Park is talking about special shows where they play A Thousand Suns in its entirety, to better capture the album's moody feel. Beyond that, they've explored the possibility of a 3D film? but for now, those plans are hush-hush."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!

Burning In The Skies Release Date - March 21st

Linkin Park's third single from A Thousand Suns is set for a UK shelf date of March 21st 2011, according to online reports. Rumours about the date began circulating yesterday, as FemaleFirst issued a press release, and MusicNews.com have now also released the same information, leading to believe this will be the case.

The band recently finished up filming the music video before heading out on the North American leg of their World Tour. The video is once again directed by Joe Hahn and will presumably be released late February / early March.

We'll keep you updated on any official word regarding the release date, single tracklisting and music video news as it becomes available.

New LPA Tour Section Launched

We here at the LPAssociation are constantly looking to improve the site and after user feedback from our community, we are happy to announce our new Tour Section just in time for the North American leg of the Linkin Park World Tour.

We have implemented an intuitive navigation system that enables a user to either search for a show via the search bar, or select a show from the list of previous or upcoming dates. You may also like to scroll the World Map to find locations and shows, including Linkin Park, Dead By Sunrise & Fort Minor.

YOU, the users will now be able to send us images & videos from specific shows by using our uploader, which will present them as thumbnails on the show page, with full credit to you when viewed.

Each show will be updated with their set-list continuously, and you will be able to view them on the show page where applicable. We are working hard to update past and future set-lists as time goes, and want YOU, the LPA Community to help us make this a success!

We hope you enjoy one of many updates we have coming in 2011, and we look forward to your feedback on the LPA Forums!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWLY REVISED LPA TOUR PAGE

New LPTV Episode Posted - Australian Tour 2010

Linkin Park has posted a new LPTV episode covering the Australian tour just a couple months ago. Check it out below!

20.01.11 - Sunrise, FL

Linkin Park begin their US Tour tonight at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. With support from Pendulum, The Prodigy and Does It Offend You, Yeah? They embark on their US leg of the A Thousand Suns World Tour that will finish up on February 28th in Phoenix, Arizona.

Linkin Park are coming off shows in Australia, The Middle East and Europe which saw the band rotate a number of setlists, which later included "Blackout" & new single "Burning In The Skies" from their latest release, A Thousand Suns, leaving "Robot Boy" as the only track left to be played live from the album. Will they debut it on this leg of the tour?

Fans in our community are also hoping for the inclusion of live favorites such as "With You", "P5hng Me A*wy" and "A Place For My Head", which was played only once last year in France to celebrate Hybrid Theory's 10th anniversary. Will the band play any of these classic tracks on this leg of the tour? What songs would you like to see the band play at the shows this time around?

Mike Shinoda recently spoke to MySpace Music where he stated that fans can expect a visually stunning, unique experience with rotating setlists between shows. So expect the band's tradition of bringing fans on stage to play Faint and extending Bleed It Out with recycled lyrics to continue this time around. Also, don't forget they'll be issuing FREE audio downloads of every show to every concert goer on this tour!

Who's heading to the show tonight? Anyone getting into the Meet & Greet? Discuss the show and share your experience with others on our LPA Forums!

Linkin Park to Play Main Square Festival, Arras, France

Linkin Park are among the confirmed acts to play the 2011 Main Square Festival in Arras, France. The Festival takes place from July 1st - 3rd, and Linkin Park have been announced to take the stage on the first day, Friday July 1st. They will be joining other acts such as The Chemical Brothers on the same day, as well as Coldplay, Arcade Fire & Portishead who are set for the weekend.

Burning As A Single

It has now been confirmed by Mike himself that the next Linkin Park single will indeed be Burning In The Skies, as they shot a music video for the track today. Mike made the announcement via Twitter on his own page. This comes a day before Linkin Park embark on the American leg of their world tour.

Shot video for Burning In The Skies today...start tour tomorrow. Florida, here we come.

What are your thoughts and feelings over this single choice? Feel feel to share your opinions in the comment section

Linkin Park to Headline Nova Rock Festival in Austria

In a string of confirmed festival appearances this summer, Linkin Park are now the third confirmed headliner at the Nova Rock Festival, joining Iron Maiden & System Of A Down. The festival takes place between June 11th - June 13th.

For the full line-up and ticket information check out the Official Nova Rock Site - Here.

Linkin Park to Headline Hove Festival in Norway

Linkin Park have been the confirmed headliner for the Norwegian Hove Festival, which is set to take place from June 28th - July 1st, 2011. It takes place on the Island of Tromøy outside of Arendal and is the largest festival in Norway.

The band were originally scheduled to play Norway last in 2003 with a show in Oslo at the Norwegian Wood Festival, but the band had to cancel due to Chester being ill. This marks the first time since then that the band will play Norway.

For ticket information and the full festival lineup, check the official Hove Festival Site - HERE.

LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix Full Release Now Available For Download!

After over 10 months of development and much blood, sweat and tears from Keaton Hashimoto (the game's developer, designer and composer) we are proud to finally announce the world of premiere of the world's first ever full-length fan made Linkin Park video game featuring art, stages and themes inspired by the band's music and videos from 2000 till now. The game, titled LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix, was heavily inspired by Linkin Park's music videos, artwork and music, and features a visual throwback to the classic 8-bit/16-bit era of video games. As such, the game play is very challenging while providing a fresh take on the fan game concept, at least when it comes to music bands. Those who have played video game classics like Mega Man, Super Mario Bros, and Metroid will love the game's tongue-in-cheek nods to those memorable games and their humor, as well as other popular 8-bit/16-bit video games from that era.

The Story:
In a time before Linkin Park made it big, there was a void in the name of a missing bassist. Distraught but unable to search for themselves, the band hires help. Enter LPAMAN: A silent-but-deadly agent with an unknown past and the ability to throw fire. Hot fire. From his hands. Upon finding his first lead, LPAMAN soon realizes the greater conspiracy behind the bassist's disappearance.

Can you save the band, and the world before it's too late?

The Game:
The play style is a hybrid of Super Mario platforming meets Mega Man combat with a little adventure thrown in, which help boast a strong emphasis of tactile combat and platforming elements. LPAMAN will traverse land, water and a couple obscure locations as he battles to find the missing Phoenix. Utilizing a unique firing system, LPAMAN goes further than simply being a shoot-em-up or a Mario clone, forcing players to learn, adapt and utilize all skills and knowledge. With a very old-school difficulty and diverse Worlds for LPAMAN to travel through, this game asks the players, “Just how much do you want to save Phoenix, the bassist from Linkin Park?!”

LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix has been built from the ground up to be a completely unique experience and features not only customized graphics specifically drawn for the game, but also boasts a large soundtrack composed specifically for the game as well. Featuring 9 worlds and over 70 levels, LPAMAN is designed to provide hours of game play as well as an extreme challenge for old-school and new-school video-gamers alike.

Working on this project for the fans was an absolute honor, and we hope that both the band and Linkin Park fans across the globe will enjoy this absolutely incredible game and pass it on to their friends. Please let us know your opinions in our comments section of this news post!.

lpassociation.com
keatonhashimoto.com/games

Game Zip Includes:

LPAMan Executable File + Cutscenes (Approxiametely 40MB in size)
LPAMan Manual PDF File
Read-Me Installation Guide

CONTROLS:
Left-Right: Move LPA Man
Space: Fire
Shift: Jump (jump velocity depends on pressure on shift)
Ctrl: Run
Down and Shift: Superjump (may be deadly! caution!)
Running Jump: Ctrl+Jump (may result in uncontrollable landing, use with caution)


Notes:

Game is Windows only. Mac support was unfortunately impossible at this time, however hopefully down the line a mac version will be available.

Game may be played full screen, however if game is maximized during a cutscene (and not before), any screen resizings will occur after cutscene has finished playing.

DOWNLOAD LPMAN& THE MISSING PHOENIX

New "Explosive" Linkin Park Video Being Shot Today

Joe Hahn posted to his Twitter account stating that he will be shooting the next Linkin Park video today and apparently it's explosive!

"I'm shooting the next Linkin Park video today. Its explosive!!!!"

We already know that this is for the all but officially announced next single "Burning In The Skies", and this confirms that Joe Hahn will be Director once again, but what do you want to see from the video? Speculate what Joe is referring to and what you want from the next video in the comments section!

Linkin Park Feels "Energized" to Write New Music on the Road

Billboard.com have posted an article which highlights the bands desire to write new music on the road, and possibly release an album sooner rather than later. The article also covers Phoenix heading to Haiti before the US tour kicks off, side-projects and the possibility of the band using 3D technology in future website & video projects. Check out the excerpts and full article below.

"I like we're where at right now," the group's Mike Shinoda said during a conference call with reporters. "Creatively I feel like the band is really energized...We are really trying to get focused on getting in the studio as often as possible...It's definitely on our minds that we want to be trying to write as much as we can."

"We're always writing," he notes. "I think we benefit from the fact that the music recording and writing technology has gotten so compact and so easy to carry around in your laptop. I keep getting emails from the guys in the band saying, 'Hey, you want to get together and write some stuff? What are you up to? Are you bringing your gear on the road?' I expect on this next run they'll be knocking on my hotel door looking to collaborate on some ideas. It's definitely a creative time for us; hopefully that means the next record is in the works."

"It's not like 12 months of straight touring, like it used to be," he explains. "It's more like write and tour, then write and tour. It's nice to be able to get into the studio in the middle of a cycle...go home and write a little bit. It just keeps it more fresh on my mind."
Read the Full Article at Billboard.com - HERE

LP vs eminem when wake up going Gigaboed

Chester Bennington Responds To Arizona Shooting

Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington recently conducted a Q&A with New Times, and amidst the usual tour and band information took the time to share his thoughts on the tragic shooting that recently occured in Arizona, where Chester was born & spent the majority of his life. Albeit not necessarily news, we felt Chester's comments were of interest and something we can all reflect on. See what Chester said below.

New Times: Did you want to say something about the situation in Arizona, with the tragic shooting?

Chester Bennington: "I admit I don't watch the news very often. I knew she got shot, but I don't know the reasons why behind it. We live in a crazy world. There's no explanation for it. I personally feel that violence and war and murder are primitive, and I think that we've evolved as a species beyond that. Unfortunately some people still feel that's a means to an end."

"Peace and love and communication are the way that we all resolve our issues with each other. There's a non-violent way to express yourself and get your point across -- regardless of what you're saying or what your point is. In a free society, people have a right to believe whatever they want to believe. That's their business and they can speak their mind."

"But nobody, even in a free society, has the right to take another person's life. Ever. That's something that we really need to move beyond."

Keaton Hashimoto's "The Catalyst" Remix Added To Download To Donate

As part of Linkin Park's ongoing global effort to assist those affected by the earthquake in Haiti (as well as other global natural disasters), Linkin Park have recentely launched Download To Donate 2.0, a new collection of tracks from contributing artists, intended to continue to the rebuilding efforts in Haiti through the gift of song.

Today, we here at The Linkin Park Association are very proud to announce that our very own Keaton Hashimoto has been added as a Download To Donate artist, with his runner-up remix of "The Catalyst" made for Linkin Park's Catalyst remix contest last August. As large supporters of Keaton and his incredible work, we couldn't be any prouder and we encourage you all to donate to Download To Donate today and download his remix for a good cause!

Click Here To Preview The Track

Chicago LPU Summit Details Imminent

According to a Tweet made by LPU Representitive Adam Ruehmer, the first information on the Chicago LPU summit will be announced later today! Check out Adam's Tweet here.

Stay tuned to LPA as information on the first ever LPU summit to be held in North America is revealed!

New Download To Donate Tracks

As you may remember, Music For Relief (the charity founded by Linkin Park) started a campaign back in 2010 called "Download To Donate" in response to the devistating earthquake that hit Haiti which is estimated to have taken the lives of over 200,000 people. This program has recently been updated with new songs by new artists which are available to download when you pledge $10 or more. Some of the new artists featured include Thrice, The Glitch Mob, Switchfoot and Everest. You can check out the new featured artists here (along with some of the old ones).

The aim of this program is to spread as much awareness as possible of the ongoing struggle to help the Hatian people recover from this disaster. Here at the Linkin Park Association, we urge everyone to seriously consider pledging to this fantastic cause. Thank you.

Click Here to check out Download To Donate.

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faint mix_ by Gigaboed

New LPTV Episode: Middle East

Linkin Park have uploaded the latest LPTV episode to their official Facebook page. This episode highlights the recent shows that the band played in the middle east towards the end of 2010, including their first ever shows in U.A.E. and Israel!

LP To Play iTunes Festival

Linkin Park have been announced as an act for the 5th annual iTunes Festival. The 31-day, 62-band festival is set to take place in London, England throughout the entirety of July. Linkin Park will play The Roundhouse in Central London on July 4th.

For more information, including how to get tickets, visit the :ITUNES FESTIVAL WEBSITE

Travis Barker feat. Chester Coming Next Month

Travis Barker's debut solo album "Give The Drummer Some", which features guest vocals by Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington, will be released on February 22nd according to his official Twitter.

Barker, synonimous with the punk-rock band Blink 182, has also selected artists such as Slipknot/Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor, Slash, The Game, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello to feature on his debut effort which is expected to be a heavy mix of rock and hip-hop.

Fans of Linkin Park and Blink 182 will certainly want to check this out!

Mike Shinoda Online Store

Mike Shinoda Online Store