A WALK IN LINKIN PARK

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 30, 2004 by PETER RICE THE GAZETTE

For many kids, Linkin Park is a rite of passage. When you start listening to their audio concoction of hip-hop, rock, rap and pop, it means you've officially graduated from *NSYNC, Britney and the Backstreet Boys. Time to bring on adolescence.

"It's easy to analyze trends from a bird's-eye view or in hindsight," counters Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson, from a tour stop in Detroit rock city. "But it's really just about great songs. Whoever writes great songs, whatever style of music they are, tend to do well. Then people speculate about the category that then creates."

At the skateboard park in the Goose Gossage Youth SPORTScomplex, however, the trend can be confirmed.

As he takes a break from boarding around the concrete dips and turns, Jake Acorn, 12, a clean-cut student at Eagleview Middle School, says he listens to Linkin Park, along with punk bands including New Found Glory and Good Charlotte.

"Everybody likes 'em," he says. "Linkin Park raps about stuff that will bring you down into depression." Acorn talks of the old days of listening to *NSYNC the way people talk about how they used to smoke or drink too much.

"I ended that like four years ago... the punk scene caused me to switch."

Acorn's classmate, Kellen Miller, also 12, says he never was tempted by the dark side. "I liked Sum 41 since third grade," he says. As for Linkin Park, he says, the often depressing, angst- ridden, PG-rated lyrics actually are uplifting in a way.

"Sometimes you think about yourself and you think about them and you think about how better off you have it," Miller says.

Indeed, lead singer Chester Bennington has had a rough life.

He's been through sexual abuse, his parents' divorce and addictions to cocaine and meth. The tough emotional times seem to have worked their way into the band's lyrics, as in their hit single "One Step Closer": "Everything you say to me/ Takes me one step closer to the edge/ And I'm about to break."

All feelings of empathy aside, will Miller be in the World Arena when Linkin Park takes the stage with all the eardrum-popping showmanship common to rock concerts?

"A whole bunch of kids are going," he says, "I don't have enough money." Tickets cost a relatively modest $32.25.

The six-man band got its start in 1996, calling themselves "Xero" at first, "Hybrid Theory" at second, and then, for legal reasons, Linkin Park (inspired by Santa Monica's Lincoln Park). Composed mainly of friends who met in high school, the group later added DJ Joseph Hahn and vocalist Chester Bennington.

They soon became a hit on the Los Angeles club scene, frequenting such famous spots as Whisky A Go-Go and the Sunset Strip club.

After being passed over by other music labels, they signed up with Warner Bros. Records. The group's debut album, "Hybrid Theory," soared to the top of the charts, spurred on by such popular singles as "One Step Closer," "In the End" and "Crawling."

The CD edged out Shaggy for top seller of 2001, moving nearly 5 million copies. Linkin Park kicked off its 2002 Projekt Revolution Tour with a sold-out show at the World Arena.

The band's latest release, "Meteora," was the third-best seller of 2003, behind only 50 Cent and Norah Jones. "The big difference this time around is that we've got three albums worth of stuff to draw from," Delson says. "It's an imperative that if you want to have a strong fan base, you have to continue to deliver great art."

Hoobastank and P.O.D. join Linkin Park on the current tour, which started Jan. 16.

After selling out arenas around the nation, the tour heads to Colorado Springs, where it hopes to attract lots of former *NSYNC fans.

THE DETAILS

Linkin Park in concert

Openers: P.O.D., Hoobastank and Story of the Year

Where: World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd.

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Tickets: $32.25; 576-2626