I noticed something today while watching some Linkin Park live concert clips. Maybe others have noticed it, too, or maybe not, but I want to talk about.
All bands have an energy. That’s what makes rock music special, is the unique energy that it has - that pulsing red feeling of fury that makes you want to jump and scream and cry. Linkin Park is, of course, no exception. But their energy is special. The fanbase can feel that, because they’re part of what makes it special. Yes, every band has a fanbase, but does every fanbase feel as much like a family as the Linkin Park soldiers? Does every fanbase feel like they have a deep connection to the band and all of its members? Linkin Park is special because they’ve always included their fans in every experience, through pictures and videos and frequent documentation. 18 years of a million memories have given the soldiers a connection that is unique.
Alongside this is the connection of the band members themselves. Many bands that we know and love, like Metallica and Pearl Jam and Three Days Grace, have lost members, changed members, shifted and moved. Sometimes it was tragedy, sometimes it was just someone who lost their connection, who needed fresh energy.
Linkin Park never really had that before this past July. After Hybrid Theory was released, they started to really build their connections with each other, and over the following 17 years became the family that we know and love today. And they were a family. That could be seen clearly in all of those underground videos, during those live concerts. They were a band of brothers that would never be broken. They listened to each other, and they all had a special input for everything that was made. Each album defined a new layer of the band as they grew and developed. They were a family, and they opened their arms to their fans, “You’re family, too!”
Linkin Park’s energy is unique not just because of their sound, but also because of the pure love and devotion that goes into the music. Nothing is half-assed, nothing is done “just because”. Every song they make and share is a beautiful creation made with love and care. The energy is unique because the band is a family, and the fanbase is a family. It could be felt during live shows especially.
On July 20, that energy was abruptly disrupted. We, as a family, lost Chester. We lost our inspiration, our smile, our voice. Depression came and bit him hard, poisoning him, and this time he didn’t find an antidote, because the pain was just too great.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has said or will say that if I were somehow able to go back in time, somehow able to find him and talk to him, comfort him, I would. If I could talk him out of leaping into the darkness forever, I would.
By now most of us have seen the picture that his widow, Talinda, shared yesterday: a beautiful image of their family. The most prominent feature? Chester’s grin, the smile that we all know and love. Taken just days before his death, the picture shows just how well depression can hide. Previously, Talinda also started the tag #fuckdepression, encouraging fans to open up about their feelings and sending out words of comfort and love. She also started #MakeChesterProud, pushing fans to live every day to its fullest, because that’s what Chester would want them to do.
Depression tried to tear our family apart. It took Chris Cornell, which weakened Chester and allowed him to be taken, too. And now we’ve all been left behind, confused and heartbroken, waiting to wake up from this nightmare.
But the whole point of this long rant is that we are a FAMILY. The tag #LPonefamily has been used a lot over the past few weeks as fans send their love to the remaining five brothers, and the band has shown their gratitude for this recently with a video of different Chester memorials all around the world. This video really showed the love we all share as a fanbase, really shows how strong we are as Linkin Park soldiers, all together. We lost our shining star, but that does not mean the family is broken.
That energy I mentioned? It’s still here. Yes, it’s different. Very different. It’s turned an odd purple color as a sad blue seeps into the furious red. Every Linkin Park song we hear is now tainted with tears.
But there is still a special energy. The energy that makes Linkin Park and its soldiers more than just a band and a fanbase. The energy that makes us a family. And it’s this energy that keeps us strong, keeps us moving forward.
We are a family. Mike, Dave, Joe, Rob, Brad, and each one of the millions of fans - we are an unbreakable force. No matter what the future may hold for Linkin Park, this will never change.
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