“How many musicians we have in the house?” asks Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington midway through the group’s supercharged live DVD/CD, Live In Texas. “We were on the other side of the barricade a few years ago …. Just persevere, believe in yourselves, and one day you’ll be up here with us.” The statement, however wistful, is not entirely far-fetched, and Linkin Park is living proof that anything is possible.
It was only a few years ago that Bennington and the rest of Linkin Park were opening shows for the Union Underground, playing to 50 people in dive clubs across the country. Within a few years, the Union Underground have fully disappeared, and Linkin Park has gone on to sell well over 10 million records, headline anywhere and everywhere, and capture the attention of a fickle populace.
Recorded at two stadium shows in Dallas and Houston during the Metallica-headlined Summer Sanitarium Tour, Live In Texas captures six skilled musicians at the top of their game. Crowds of 50,000 have replaced crowds of 50, but the hunger, energy and unending quest to move people through their music has not changed for Linkin Park.
The DVD, filmed in 35 mm and mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1, gives a stunning glimpse of what it’s like to stand before a football stadium of rabid fans and deliver with vicious precision. From backstage banter to walking onstage, it’s all captured in tremendous detail. It’s as good as a live DVD can get, and the closest thing to standing onstage with the band. The DVD could double as a motivational video for fledgling bands.
The DVD, which includes five more songs than the accompanying audio CD, opens with all the pre-performance calisthenics and jitters that come before shows of the magnitude captured on Live In Texas. Director Kimo Proudfoot adds slow motion, perfectly executed cuts and dramatic detail that make the performances effective and hard-hitting. The warmth of the 35 mm film gives the DVD an added depth that would not exist in a broadcast-quality package.
Highlights include the bouncy, angular melodies of fan favorite, “Papercut,” the symphonic jab of “Faint,” and a savage take on “One Step Closer” that sends the crowd into a seething frenzy and sees Linkin Park injecting plenty of punch into a song that they should be sick of playing at this point. The patchwork visuals on the extended, remixed breakdown of the song provide one of the most compelling and enduring moments in the collection.
Throughout the collection, emcee Mike Shinoda attacks his lines with a tenacity that isn’t always fully expressed on Linkin Park’s studio work, and guitarist Brad Delson, as the name on his traveling locker implies, is “The Glue” that binds together the disparate elements that comprise Linkin Park.
However loud, Live In Texas is not without its more subtle and melodic moments. “From The Inside” is introspective and features a strange appearance by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich wearing pink bunny ears and a pair of Hulk Hands. His presence, apparently not requested, is by far the most disappointing thing on Live In Texas, but don’t worry — it’s very brief.
“Crawling” still commands the attention of anyone within a two-mile radius, and “With You” sees Linkin Park operating in unison underneath a soft synth beat.
Jarring, stunning, and completely cinematic, Live In Texas is Linkin Park at its finest. The group has come so far, so fast, that it must feel like a dream. This excellent DVD/CD package is a reminder to each of them that it’s all real. Very real.
Grade: A/B
