It was a night to bring people together to remember Chester and to share the love we all have for that era of Linkin Park.
by Alia Thomas | Aug 20, 2024
7 years ago Linkin Park played what they didn’t realise was going to be their last show with Chester Benington at what was back then, the Barclaycard Arena. It was 7 years ago that Chester devastatingly took his own life, leaving his family, friends and bandmates behind, and Linkin Park fans shaken around the world. It wasn’t unknown that he had issues with his mental health over the years, but it hits you in a different way to learn of someone leaving this Earth on their own terms like that. So what better way to raise a glass (or guitar, mic, drumstick or hand in this case,) to Chester than by putting on a fantastic tribute concert bringing thousands of Linkin Park fans together to raise awareness and money for mental health help within music, at that very same venue where Chester last played. However, this was one tribute gig with a big difference.
1000 Lights by Uprawr Mental Health Foundation was created to not only bring further awareness of mental health issues and breaking the stigma, but to raise money for the opportunity to give free counselling to those within the alternative music industry, but it was also a night to bring people together to remember Chester and to share the love we all have for that era of Linkin Park. What was special about this event though was that it brought together hundreds of musicians who shared a love for LP, and gave them the opportunity to play along with not only the UK’s number one Linkin Park tribute band, The Linkin Park Experience (@L1nkn_P4rk), but also no doubt some of their music inspirations such as members of Bullet For My Valentine, From Inside, Mallory Knox, Dream State, and Creeper amongst others, playing songs from various albums including Hybrid Theory and Meteora alongside them. The musicians on the floor were as much the real rockstars as the ones onstage.
Throughout the night, The Linkin Park Experience took us through some of the Linkin Park classics such as Crawling, Bleed It Out and Somewhere I Belong. Dotted inbetween the music was Sappenin’ pod co-host and vocalist of The Blackout, and tonight’s MC, Sean Smith appearing onstage giving the audience the lowdown of the event, a few laughs inbetween, and welcoming on different speakers that were there to shed some light onto the issues of mental health in the UK today. Zaid Elgahmi, vocalist of From Inside and host of From Inside Out podcast, shared a tragic story of his friend Leah who took her own life a few years ago, but showed how from that tragedy brought him a new pathway to do his bit for helping others by sharing her story and encouraging people to speak out about their struggles. His ‘quiz’ showed just how many people had experience similar things, proving the fact that we are not alone in the tough times and how friends are imperative to our healing as they are generally the ones we talk to most about the hard stuff. We also had a talk from The Samaritans explaining what they do and how they can help. We also had a video of Bowling For Soups’ frontman, Jaret Reddick who talked very openly about his struggles with his anxiety, what helps him, and how to be a good friend to someone who’s struggling.
Now going back to the reason why this gig was a tribute with a difference. As mentioned, the rock music heroes on stage were joined by a number of musicians on the floor – around 1000 in fact, made up of vocalists, guitarists, keyboard players, and drummers. It was quite a sight to behold. The musicians were lined up in rows reaching from the back of the arena to the stage. The two songs they played with the rest of the musicians on stage were two of the ultimate Linkin Park classics that anyone who knows the band will know… ‘In The End’ and ‘Numb’. Each time was played through twice, so in total, they played each song about 4 times. Flowing through the floor of musicians you could see their total immersion in the music. Some of them bursting with enthusiasm, headbanging to the beat and living their best rockstar life, and some gently playing along with the music but clearly having a great time. For some it was the first time they’d ever played live. The experience doesn’t match many others.
The show couldn’t be ended with any song other than ‘One More Light’. A sea of phone lights appeared in the air – on stage, on the floor, and in the seats. Everyone sung along to give the show the send off it deserved. Major kudos to Uprawr for creating such a beautiful event, with the best part being the amount that was raised. The event brought in over £130,000; enough to fund free counselling sessions for a good while, and that’s all thanks to the people that attended the show – the musicians who paid to have their spot on the floor, and the donations they collected, as well as the audience who bought tickets to attend, and the rest of the team who put all their efforts into creating such a fantastic night. One that we’ll all remember for a very long time I’m sure. Hopefully it won’t be the last event like this by Uprawr.
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