Twitter was abuzz yesterday when news broke about Nu Metal band Linkin Park touring SA later this year, much to the delight of basically no one.
“As a band, we’ve reached a point in our career where we have all come to the realisation that our creative energy is nowhere near where it used to be,†said Linkin Park frontman, Screamy-Guy.
“Add the fact that our fan base is waning steadily, and that leaves us with only one option left really – go on tour to South Africa.â€
Linkin Park exploded onto the Nu Metal scene with Hybrid Theory back when bands like Limp Bizkit and Crazy Town were popular which aptly sums up their musical prowess.
Since their debut back in 2001, the band has released a staggering four albums all of which, with the possible exception of the Hybrid Theory carbon-copy Meteora, have been lauded by fans and critics alike as being “kind of okayâ€.
“I dug that one song they did, I think it was a couple of years ago, you know the one where he’s singing about torture and pain and suffering and bleeding and shit,†said avid 5FM listener and musical ignoramus Gerrit du Toit, “ja… that on was flippin kief…â€
The band will be in SA under the guise of promoting their new album Living Things which is currently enjoying a Metacritic rating of 58/100.
“Living Things is definitely our most experimental record to date,†said Screamy-Guy, “in that it signals a marked departure from the band trying to copy Nine Inch Nails to trying to copy Skrillex, who we’ve heard is way cool.
“After the response the album got after it launched, we consulted our good friends Collective Soul, Evanescence and Staind all of whom said it was definitely time to head to South Africa because yeah… South Africa is so starved for bands, it’s probably the only place in the world that we can still sell out a stadium.â€
Linkin Park are set to wow people in their early thirties (who are still stuck in 2001 and get excited when “Mr Jones†plays at the pub) with concerts in both Johannesburg and Cape Town in early November.
-ST
