Linkin Park

Linkin Park covered Adele at the iTunes Festival last night

Linkin Park

Linkin Park covered Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at the iTunes Festival last night (05.07.11).

The US rockers performed a set of their biggest hits – including ‘Numb’, ‘Faint’, ‘Crawling’ and ‘One Step Closer’ – before surprising fans with their version of the soul singer’s huge hit during their encore at Camden’s Roundhouse in London.

Before they performed the track lead vocalist Chester Bennington teased the audience, saying: “We’re going to do something really special for you guys, this is something we don’t usually do. We’re going to play a song by a local artist.”

The band’s version of Adele’s UK and US number one single saw the band stripped back, with Chester singing and multi instrumentalist Mike Shinoda playing the piano.

The hit was part of a five-song encore that saw the band ‘ who are also made up of drummer Rob Bourdon, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell and DJ Joe Hahn – close the night with energetic performances of their 2001 single ‘In The End’ and 2007′s ‘Bleed It Out’.

Chester told the crowd: “It feels good to be down here with a bunch of people who really want to be here.”

They band opened with ‘The Requiem’ before launching into ‘Papercut’ and also performed ‘No More Sorrow’ and ‘Breaking the Habit’ during their set.

The iTunes festival runs throughout July and will include shows from artists including Beady Eye, Friendly Fires and Bruno Mars.

Linkin Park’s set at the iTunes festival 04.07.11:

The Requiem
Papercut
Lying From You
Given Up
What I’ve Done
Empty Spaces
When They Come for Me
No More Sorrow
Jornada del Muerto
Waiting for the End
Burning in the Skies
Numb
The Radiance
Breaking the Habit
Fallout
The Catalyst
Crawling
Faint
One Step Closer

Encore:
Rolling in the Deep (Adele cover)
Wisdom, Justice, and Love
Iridescent
New Divide
In the End
Bleed It Out

Linkin Park’s new tracks will ‘polarise’

Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park thinks the album they’re recording will polarise, and he’s happy about it.

The platinum tantrum-rockers have been in the studio recording the follow-up to last year’s worldwide chart-topper A Thousand Suns.

Singer Chester Bennington spoke UK metal mag Kerrang! about the process over the last two months and he’s happy that they’re pushing the boundaries.

“The music is great and we’re well ahead of where we’re expecting to be,’ he revealed. ‘There aren’t a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarised reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction.”

He says they’ve also learnt how to write “serious songs and serious lyrics.’

‘We’ve learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things,’ he warns. ‘Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don’t want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people.”

The band are currently doing the European Summer festival circuit and look to have a touring gap from July 4 to September 6 to go back into the studio.

Linkin Park joke they are weirder than Lady Gaga

While ‘Hair’ hitmaker Gaga pushes the boundaries of fashion – having worn a dress made entirely out of meat and appearing onstage wearing a prosthetic pregnant stomach – Chester Bennington, lead singer with the ‘Numb’ rockers, said his backstage rituals put her to shame.

He joked: “Lady Gaga has got nothing on us. I need an entirely white room where no other human has been. I then bathe in the purest goat’s milk for three hours before going on stage.”

The band – which also includes guitarists Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, drummer Rob Bourdon, bassist David Farrell and keyboard player Joe Hahn – are set to headline the Download festival in the UK this Sunday (12.06.11), and say they are honoured to be playing the huge rock event.

Chester added to the Daily Star newspaper: “Being American we never had many good rock festivals to go to as kids.

“Donington is a place we all dreamed of playing when we were growing up. Now we are headlining, it’s awesome.

“We tend to play big outdoor gigs so it won’t be too different.

“On this tour we decided to bring all the imagery and visuals of our album ‘A Thousand Suns’ on the road with us. There’s a strong narrative.”