The Best Moments from Linkin Park & Friends Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington

The Hollywood Bowl in LA went off for one hell of a tribute show to the late and great Chester Bennington who took his own life earlier this year. His former bandmates in Linkin Park gathered up a stack of friends to help honour the life of their fallen frontman with Mike Shinoda taking the reigns for the evening which featured a 3 hour setlist of music from the band's extensive back catalogue and then some more.

Featuring members of blink-182, Avenged Sevenfold, Sum 41, Bring Me The Horizon, System of a Down, Yellowcard and heaps more, it was one hell of a spectacle and we've gathered some of the best performances and moments you NEED to revisit or watch.

Oli Sykes performs 'Crawling'

Bring Me The Horizon's frontman burst onto the stage as Linkin Park revisited their Hybrid Theory era. Mike Shinoda told the story about how Oli was present during their first visit to London where they played for about 500 people.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=1h48m18s

 

Mike Shinoda reveals how he heard about Chester's passing + debuts song he wrote for him.

One of the most emotional moments of the night was when Mike finally shared with the world where he was when he first heard the news about Chester Bennington's passing revealing:

"I was at a photo thing when I found out about Chester... and for hours I was just in disbelief, I wouldn't believe anybody [or what] anybody had to say about anything"

He then goes onto say how music helped with the grieving process, not just liking to music but playing music and 8 days after Chester's death, he wrote a song called 'In My Channel' which he played for everyone too but stating it's still in the early development phase and to keep an eye on Linkin Park's social media pages to see what comes of it.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=1h33m48s

 

Jonathan Davis performs 'One Step Closer' with Orgy and Dead By Sunrise members

It's no secret Jonathan Davis of Korn was a good mate to Chester, the pair had worked on numerous projects over the years so it was great to see him take to the stage to perform one of the best songs form the band's career. Joining him was Julien K from Orgy alongside Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh (Chester's former band mates from Dead by Sunrise).

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=1h56m

 

Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember brings the house down performing 'A Place For My Head'

Straight after the previous performance Jeremy McKinnon made his way on stage for his rendition of one of the best performed songs of the whole entire night. His vocal range was on point, his screams were ever better and hands down he gets the gong for stepping up to the plate and doing one of the best performances of the night.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=1h59m57s

 

M. Shadows and Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold offer their services for 'Burn It Down' and 'Faint'

The fact that Linkin Park and Avenged Sevenfold hadn't crossed paths before is amazing because when you team up two of the best exports from Avenged with LP, you get the makings of a pretty fuckin hectic hardcore band with that HUGE stadium rock sound. M. Shadows first joined the boys on stage for a song together, then stuck around when his bandmate Synyster Gates came onstage to riff up 'Faint' for the crowd. Shit was epic and so enjoyable.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=2h56m30s

 

Talida Bennington stands tall and proclaims "Fuck Depression"

Chester's late wife Talida Bennington took to the stage as strong as ever telling her side of the story and how she has managed to cope following the passing of her husband, and father to their children. She also took a stand and declared the world should recognise "Mental Health is just as important as our Physical Health" amidst an eruption of applause across the Hollywood Bowl and revealed her plans to make it easier to gain access to mental health resources with a new imitative called 320 which takes it's name from Chester's birthday, March 20th. More info can be found at changedirection.com.  Talida also stated she's doing this, along with the help from fans to "Make Chester Proud" and "Fuck Depression", two hashtags which were loud and proudly cheered upon both at the venue and on social media. A truly inspirational speech from a woman who must be battling some of her own demons. Watch the full speech to see the passion behind this woman and her new cause in life.

https://youtu.be/9VoLHdADma8?t=2h34m40s

 

We could go on but everyone's experiences were different, highly recommend taking the time out to watch all 3 hours, uninterrupted to get the full experience. Chester certainly would have been proud with the amount of effort that went into this show and you could tell the remaining members of Linkin Park were proud of their efforts.

If you or anyone you know needs help with their own mental well-being call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Shout out to Wall of Sound reader and all around legend Shelley Couch who was present (and really fucking close to the stage) for sending us her footage from the show.

https://www.facebook.com/shelley.couch.9/videos/10155912273347425/