Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars, and AFI @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien, New York 8-21-14

One of the tours that everyone has been waiting for this summer is the Carnivore’s Tour featuring Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars and AFI. It has been years since Linkin Park played the WNY area and of course since 30 Seconds front man Jared Leto took home an Oscar earlier this year, everyone was chomping to see what he and his bandmates had to offer.

AFI took the stage to a lot of technical issues. The energetic front man Davey Havok pushed the band through them with a 9 song set. The band, who were all dressed in black, played songs that spanned their 18 year career. They were a perfect anecdote for the rest of the evening’s performance. This was the third show on the tour so I guess the kinks were still being worked out in AFI’s case.

Since the tour was announced earlier this spring, momentum has been building for 30 Seconds to Mars. Some may argue a good portion of the crowd was there to see them verses the headliner Linkin Park. After seeing their performance it would be hard to disagree. Jared Leto took the stage resembling Jesus with a beard, robe, and crown of thorns. He also held a flag showing everyone that indeed this will be a show more about him verses the complete band. Leto did everything you would expect a front man to do. He engaged the crowd in a sing along (the whole uh oh thing got a little stale after a while), along with bringing up a few pre-teen boys on a side stage. Three quarters through the set he did play a few acoustic tunes and also climbed atop the spotlight truss to sing a part of “Kings and Queens.” Giant balloons were released during “This is War” and confetti guns were shot off during “Conquistador.” At the end fans who either paid or just fans that Leto picked out of the crowd joined onstage for the group’s finale “Closer to the Edge.” Leto did everything but pull out the kitchen sink. I’m sure his acting skills played a part in achieving his performance. He did thank the crowd for giving his band’s set a chance. Bravo for a job well done and take a bow Mr. Leto, exit stage right.

Linkin Park can’t be thrilled night after night to be following up what was an over the top performance from an opener like 30 Seconds to Mars. LP were more than up to the challenge this night as they gave their fans a good dose of Nu Metal. Along with Korn, LP were at the fore front of pushing rap and metal to a new genre of music in the mid to late 1990’s. Lead Vocalist Chester Bennington (who also has been dabbling as the lead vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots of late) and guitarist and rapper Mike Shinoda led the band through a quick 26 song set. On a lot of the songs only pieces were played with either intro’s or outro’s or a partial song that led into another one. I will say that Bennington’s voice is one of the most diverse in rock. His range nailed the heavier songs with ease like “Given Up” and “Points of Authority.” He then brought his octave down to melodically sing the ballad medley half way through the set. I was very impressed by him and his overall performance.

It will be interesting to see the headlines going forward from this tour. It’s clear that it may be billed as the Carnivore’s Tour but as Leto would like you to believe could also be billed as the Jared Leto and friends experience.

Linkin Park setlist:

Guilty All the Same
Given Up
Points of Authority
One Step Closer
Blackout
Papercut
Rebellion
Runaway
Wastelands
Castle of Glass
Leave Out All the Rest / Shadow of the Day / Iridescent
Robot Boy
Joe Hahn Solo
Burn It Down
Waiting for the End
Final Masquerade
Wretches and Kings / Remember the Name
Numb
In the End
Faint