12 November 2022 – Max Watts, Melbourne – words and pictures by Nicole Smith-Walker
At the age of eleven, I fell in love with Linkin Park. Their debut album Hybrid Theory, released in the year 2000, to me, was the perfect blend of rock and hip-hop music.
Hybrid Theory, Reanimation and Meteora remain my most played albums of all time. The only time I was blessed to see them live was in 2013, for their Soundwave Festival Melbourne performance.
Hybrid Theory- The Linkin Park Tribute band from Portugal, forming in 2017, by fans, for fans of Linkin Park. Their sold out show at Melbourne’s Max Watts was on the 12th of November, 2022.
Prior to the show, I only watched a brief clip of them on YouTube. I wanted to be in the unknown, seeing them live and not really knowing what to expect. A part of me didn’t want to believe any band could come close to Linkin Park.
The night began- already with a full house, for Melbournes own- rock band Chasing Lana.
Hybrid Theory was opened by their DJ. As soon as their vocalist Ivo was singing, I was in awe. While photographing, singing-a-long, I had to stop and just watch and take in what I was hearing. The similarities of Ivo’s voice to Chester Bennington was incredible.
They played all Linkin Park’s hits. Everyone in the crowd was singing their hearts out, encouraging each other to get into it more – to scream, to mosh. There was crowd surfing, people hugging- as one guy had a “Free Mosh Hugs” top on. Ivo crowd surfed too.
During “Bleed It Out”- everyone crouched down to jump back up on the band’s command.
After the show the band came out to hug the crowd and take photos.
For any Linkin Park fans who never got the chance to see the band live or would love to hear their music live again- see this tribute band. They’re truly passionate about putting on the best show for us fans. I can’t wait to see them again.
