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The revolution runs out of gas

Projekt Revolution Tour 2008
Alpine Valley Music Theatre
East Troy, WI
Aug. 16, 2008

The Bravery

Linkin Park

Chris Cornell

Story by Max Jensen
Photos by Terry Mayer

Projekt Revolution once again returned to Alpine Valley for the venue's final show in it's summer concert series. The last time this tour graced the stage at Alpine was in 2004. Linkin Park, who headlined the show, waxed too nostalgic back to the glory days of rock/rap fusion around the turn-of-the-century. Maybe that's why Alpine Valley was about at a quarter capacity or maybe it's because the ever changing evolution of music hates standing still or more importantly looking back (unless you're The Bravery, of course). Lead singer Chester Bennington command of the stage was a little less feral than in years passed. His howling screams were better suited for waking the kids up for school rather than proclaiming himself a hunter in the night. Mike Shinoda tried his best to make the hip hop shenanigans feel fresh again, but try as he might the staleness still lingered in the air. The band ripped through their hits such as "One Step Closer" and "Somewhere I Belong" with an assembly line aplomb.

Chris Cornell, whose glory days rode the bus with Soundgarden and more recently Audioslave, still put on a moody performance. Wearing his hair long and still owning a command of the stage, Cornell and his backing band charged through the shifting tempos of Soundgarden's iconic hits "Spoonman, "Black Hole Sun" and "Rusty Cage." On Audioslave's "Like A Stone" Cornell's voice hit the rusty timbre beautifully. While the backing band was competent - just go back and listen to Tom Morello melt his guitar strings or Soundgarden's guitarist Kim Thayil's cathedral of sonic sound and be reminded just how good those bands really were. A couple of song's from Cornell's forthcoming album failed to distinguish themselves from his earlier work.

The Bravery's Sam Endicott led the early march with the New York band's mix of '80s punk and the gnarliness of the UK punk scene of today. The Bravery's look is that of the chameleon - adorned in '50s cool leather one day and buttoned-up nerd shirts the next. But, the shit hit the fan with the electric fuzziness of "Honest Mistake" and the burned-out-cool of "Time Won't Let Me Go."

Projekt Revolution Photo Gallery 2007 - Tinley Park, IL - Sept. 2007
Projekt Revolution 2004 - East Troy, WI - Aug. 2004