[Photo Gallery & Review] Carnivores Tour ft. Linkin Park & AFI – 8/13/14 – Bristow, VA

The “Carnivores Tour” featuring co-headliners Linkin Park and Thirty Seconds To Mars came through Bristow, VA marking the fourth stop of one of the most arguably stacked tours this summer. Opening the festivities was AFI, who are currently out supporting their latest release, “Burials” which was released last October. Kicking off promptly at 6:30, the quartet began playing to a less than receptive response, save for a few noticeably die-hard fans jumping up and down in the crowd. Not to say that AFI put on a bad performance, but perhaps there wasn’t much of an overlap between the fan bases of Linkin Park and 30STM. Regardless, the initial lukewarm crowd response didn’t affect AFI, as vocalist Davey Havok took advantage of the catwalk that goes into crowd for some good old fashion barricade crowd participation. By the time Havok returned to the stage, AFI had the crowd’s full attention. Wrapping up the set was the group’s 2006 hit “Miss Murder” and the crowd sang along to every word. Overall, the group did an excellent job in winning over and warming up the crowd for Thirty Seconds To Mars and Linkin Park.

AFI – Photography by Terry Dobbins (Scenes Of Madness Photography)

(Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, we weren’t granted access to Thirty Seconds To Mars’ set)

After impressive performances from both AFI and Thirty Seconds To Mars, the stage was set for Linkin Park’s 9:20 set-time. Chants of Linkin Park filled the venue and the crowd let out a deafening round of applause as the house lights went out. Entering the stage one by one, Linkin Park kicked things off with the lead single, “Guilty All The Same”, from the recently released sixth studio album “The Hunting Party”. Although Rakim (who is featured in the song) wasn’t there to perform his verse, Mike Shinoda did a fantastic job covering for him. Continuing on through the night, Linkin Park covered almost all of their discography by abbreviating songs that flawlessly segued into another. For example, “Blackout” (from 2010’s “A Thousand Suns”) and “Papercut” (from 2000’s “Hybrid Theory”) were both abbreviated, but segued well into each other that pleased the crowd. Another highlight of the show was DJ Joe Hahn had a solo session in the middle of the set where he combined various remixes from the band’s remix albums (Reanimation and Recharged) to transform a rock concert into an EDM concert. To further prove the band had no limits in creativity, Mike Shinoda (backed by Joe Hahn providing samples) performed a medley of “Wretches & Kings” and Fort Minor’s “Remember The Name” that segued into “Lying From You” which also was sampled with “Dirt Off Your Shoulders” from Jay-Z. Fans can remember the mash-up from 2004’s “Collision Course” and what a way to give a nod to the collaboration which was released ten years ago. All in all, the band managed to cover most of their discography in a ninety-minute set and then some. Any fan of Linkin Park can be assured that this is indeed the tour of the summer, and right now Linkin Park are at the top of their game. Be sure to check out our official album review of “The Hunting Party” which is out now through Warner Bros. Records.

Richard Ramirez

Linkin Park – Photography by Terry Dobbins (Scenes Of Madness Photography)