Mike Shinoda headlined the Roundhouse as part of his solo tour.
Since Chester Bennington’s (Linkin Park) passing in 2017, the American singer-songwriter and Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda processed his grief and thoughts with music. As result, he released a very honest, raw and emotional EP named ‘Post Traumatic (2018, Warner Bros. Records) and started touring to thank the fans. Even though the lyrics and topic of the EP seem to be quite dark and resulted from a deeply sad place, the music itself sounds rather euphoric in comparison and mixes different styles or genres showing elements from hip hop, pop, rock and electronic music – an impressive piece of art.
The venue, the Roundhouse in Camden, opened its doors around 7pm to a long queue of excited audience consisting of fans of all different projects Mike is involved in such as Linkin Park, Fort Minor or his most recent solo project. Coming all the way from Scotland, The LaFontaines opened the stage and offered a mix of rap and dance or electronic music. The crowd seemed to be quite difficult and did not engage in the performance at the beginning but after constant demands to clap along and to show their excitement for Mike Shinoda, the crowd eventually started to wake up towards the end of their set.
With Mike Shinoda entering the stage the energy in the room exploded and everyone was excited singing along or jumping around. The set was a good mix of songs from Post Traumatic, Linkin Park and Fort Minor including songs such as ‘Remember The Name’, ‘Sorry For Now’, ‘Roads Untraveled’, ‘Castle Of Glass’, ‘Bleed It Out’, ‘Papercut’, and many more. Especially ‘One More Light’ which was joined by co-writer Eg White and ‘In The End’ were highly emotional and changed the atmosphere in the room for a little while remembering and celebrating Chester Bennington. The whole crowd sung the lyrics on the top of their lungs and chanted Chester’s name between the songs and Mikes emotional speech not only talking about his passed band mate but also about helping others and looking out for each other. Taking up the pace again after the emotional and vulnerable middle section, the set ended with ‘Running From My Shadow’ and a huge circle pit in the middle of the crowd.
The acoustic in the venue at the beginning was slightly over the top and mixed up the sound but improved throughout the first set and was fixed or well-balanced during Mike’s set. Visually, the light show was well fitted for both sets and helped to enhance the vibes of each song.
Overall, it was a special time and an incredible evening with great music, an emotional atmosphere and an energetic audience. Mike seemed to have loads of fun on stage and was highly thankful and humble. The crowd showed their appreciation by dancing along, jumping around and singing the lyrics of the songs on the top of their lungs. It was a great mix of songs from Post Traumatic, Linkin Park and Fort Minor, not only honouring Chester Bennington but celebrating music.
Venue: Roundhouse
Band: Mike Shinoda
Support: The LaFontaines
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A Special Time 