Chester Bennington for Inked Magazine

I recently had the pleasure of attending the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit concert for the first time. The annual event took place less than a week ago at LA Live inside Club Nokia in Los Angeles May 30, 2013. A collection of fans, friends, families, and music aficionados were invited to an intimate show and award ceremony, specially honoring Tony Alva and Chester Bennington for their outstanding achievements of recovery and in the greater community.

A handful of eager fans, arrived fashionably early at the scene in hopes of getting a glimpse of the superstars who were set to perform and present during the show. I arrived at the scene about five minutes before 8pm after an impromptu day of fun in the sun at Six Flags Mountain. I caught a few minutes of Chester and the rest of Stone Temple Pilots on the red carpet taking photos and press interviews right outside the venue, and then shortly headed inside of the club where the show was set to begin.

The production crew had transformed the bottom floor of the venue into their own living room scene, equipped with tables, couches, and a dinner buffet full of temptation. With Bobby Lee positioned as our host for the night, the show kicked off with lots of laughs. I watched from the second level balcony along with the rest of the general, VIP, and LPU ticketholders. A relaxing performance by Early Morning Rebel paved the way for presenter Anthony Kiedis, who took to the stage in order to present the From the Heart award to legendary skateboarder Tony Alva. After delivering an insightful and inspiring speech, Mr. Alva then proceeded to perform three songs with his Chicken Noodle Project featuring Ray Barbee + Matt Rainwater.

Next up was an energetic performance by Ida Maria and a few witty remarks from Mr. Andy Dick before Linkin Park’s very own Mike Shinoda was introduced to present the Stevie Ray Vaughan award to Chester Bennington. Several kind words and worthy praises were exchanged, and Chester nervously took to the podium to give thanks in his acceptance speech. Stone Temple Pilots was set to perform a mini set of classic hits shortly after. STP was joined onstage by mega musicians Slash and Duff McKagan for an awesome cover rendition of “All the Young Dudes”. Stone Temple Pilots also played their new single “Out Of Time”, which was the moment I was most looking forward to the entire night. Needless to say, the song was amazing, and Chester sang the hell out of it like a true champion!

Unfortunately, the show came to an end soon after, but the night was still young. A small group of us headed over to the Yardhouse restaurant for a few drinks and late night indulgences before we each parted our separate ways. In summary, the event was a really fun experience with really nice people and great music! I’m glad I had the opportunity to see Chester receive such an honorary award, as well as perform with Stone Temple Pilots, whom I’ve been a fan of for quite some time, but had never had the chance to see live prior to the show. Many thanks to MusiCares Map Fund as well as the other sponsors for putting on such a great event. I am definitely looking forward to next year!

- Dayna

Chester accepting his Stevie Ray Vaughan award.
STP ft. Slash + duff.
Dressed to impress.
I was a hungry hippo.
Photo: @Katelyn26
This last Thursday I had the experience of a lifetime in getting to meet Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Stone Temple Pilots as well as Joe Hahn and Rob Bourdon. When I got there I was greeted by Marisela Huerta the lady who was in charge of the experience we were going to have. Originally I was only allowed to have one guest go with me who was Nikki Mitchell. However, since my LPU friends Katelyn and Susy were waiting with us, she invited them to do the experience with us as well. First she took us backstage to see the dressing rooms where we met Jim Digby, stage manager for Linkin Park. He was kind enough to let us in the STP dressing room and showed us around other places backstage. When that was over we made our way to the main floor where we would be meeting Chester later that night. While we were waiting, Tony Alva, who was being honored at the show walked by and we got to take a picture with him. He thanked us for coming in support of the mission of MusiCares.

When Chester got there it was simply an awesome experience. I had never met any members of Linkin Park before so I was really stoked to meet him. It was very casual when he got there, we were all literally just sitting on chairs and couches and having a conversation about the music they play on tour, his new role in STP and what songs they were playing that night. He was super nice and was more than willing to answer any questions we had for him. After that was done he signed tribute journals for all of us in the group and took individual photos with each of us, which was really cool. He then said bye to all of us and went backstage to get ready for the show.

At that point the night was just getting started. After the meet and greet with Chester we got to go out to the red carpet and have a professional photographer to take our picture. Following that we got back inside Club Nokia where we happened to run into Joe Hahn and Rob Bourdon who also were attending the show! Both were also awesome and let us take pictures with them, I didn’t even know that they would be there. Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda were there as well but unfortunately we did not get to meet them. We spotted several other celebrities there including Steve-O, Andy Dick as well as Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Dead By Sunrise and Julien-K. We then ate some food from the buffet and proceeded to go upstairs where we would be viewing the show. All together it was an extremely fun night and one that I will never forget!

- Kevin Selder (LPU member)

Nikki, Katelyn (@Katelyn26), Susy (@susynthemsnger), & Kevin (@kevinselder) backstage.
Legendary skateboarder Tony Alva.
Yesterday, Adam Ruehmer, Linkin Park’s marketing manager and manager of LPU for over five years, has announced his departure from his position to work in the Interactive Marketing Department at Warner Bros Records.
Here is his Tumblr post about it:

I was planning on waiting another week or so to post this, but word is starting to get out and I wanted you guys to hear this from me, not someone else…

This week, I had to break some news to the band, my colleagues and other partners I’ve worked with over the years. Telling you, the Linkin Park fanbase, is by far the hardest.

My last day working for Linkin Park/LPU/Machine Shop will be June 11, exactly 5 years and 4 months after I started.

The last 5 ½ years have been more incredible than I ever could have imagined they would be. My role was one that didn’t actually exist prior, and one I kind of made up along the way. I didn’t start interacting with fans because I was told to. I did it because I honestly cared about what you had to say. Going in the chat room and message boards became a daily task, and one I enjoyed immensely. As my role grew, I had the opportunity to go on tour and meet thousands of you all around the world. Being able to spend time with so many of you at summits, meet & greets and just hanging out at shows was a privilege and easily the highlight of my time with Linkin Park.

Read the rest HERE…

The LPFC team is very sad to hear this news, and instead of just posting this announcement as a news post, we have decided to leave Adam a short message from each of us here. We just think that Adam has always treated us as friends, and so an impersonal news post just felt wrong, even if we are a bit ahead of the game here.

Dayna

Adam,

I can’t say I’m surprised to hear the bittersweet news that you’re leaving the LPU to pursue a new calling. After five years of all your hard work, you certainly deserve it!
But I as well as many others are so sad to see you leave! You’ve been such a positive and helpful resource to all of the fans and I’m personally grateful for the nice things you’ve done for me and all my friends along the way. Congrats on your success and good luck at Warner Bros. marketing! I know you’ll do fine.
Yours,
Dayna

Irene

DUDE! I won’t forget why me met… Hahaha! Do you remember? ohhhh Bonnie… It was pretty cool for you to remember me as “Irene from Chicago” when we met at House of Blues show. You made my first year in LPU amazing! Thanks for all you do & for making our LPU family even better with all you have done. Someone has BIG shoes to fill! Good luck in your future endeavors!

-Irene

Jenni

Hi Adam,
it’s really sad that you’ll leave the LPU… I think there will never be another “Adam” like you .
Thank you for the summits and meet & greets, the chats… Thank you for the great time in Hamburg.
Thank you for everything! <3
Good luck and a lot of fun in your new adventure!

Greetings from Germany.

Bye,
Jenni (ShineyShadow)

An

Dear Adam
There are no words to express how thankful I am for the incredible LP opportunities you’ve offered me last year, our awesome chat conversations and concert meetups -with or without beer- that I will definitely miss the most, and just you doing such a damn good job satisfying LPUers.
I will be very excited if the person that replaces your position will already be half as good to LPUers as you were.
I wish you the best of luck in your future. WBR will be very lucky to have you, just like we used to be over the last 5 1/2 years.
See you on Twitter.- An

Jennifer

Hey Adam!
First, it´s really really really… sad that you are leaving LPU! You were the best dude for this job, maybe you were born for this job, haha! We had so much fun with you! You have done so many for us fans, I hope you will always keep the LPU community in your heart!
Thanks for your time at LPU, for your power to bring the fans closer to the band and also to the crew! I wish you all the best in your new job at Warner, for your new challenge in your life, hope it will be that fun as it was at LPU. Again, thank you so much, Adam, for all your work!
Greetings Jennifer from LPFC

Lizzi

Dear Adam, It was a bit of a shock when I heard you decided to leave the LPU, as you are one of the biggest parts of it, but I immediately thought you had your reasons why. I wish you all the best for your new adventure and hope that you stop by once in a while to have a giant cyber LPU campfire where you tell us all about the new things you’re experiencing!
Lizzi

Paul

Adam, I was saddened to hear that you are leaving. However, I wish you all the best in your new role at Warner. Be sure to stop by the LPU chat from time to time. Even if you have to purchase a membership!

Nikki

Sorry to see you leave, Adam. You were the best thing to happen to the LPU and its obvious just how much it has improved over the years. We will all miss you and everything you have done for us. Good luck in the future!
Nikki

Adie

Hey Adam,
hearing that you will leave the Underground was the saddest news since Justin Bieber left his monkey in Germany. Still, life without change would be really boring, and you deserve some new adventures. Just remember that this was a crazy and awesome ride (vomit bags included). Thank you for being you. Your “replacement” has some big shoes to fill, but it would really help if they were male, tall and handsome. Forgive us the sap party here, but we have to work through our trauma somehow.

LPFC says “Thank You, Adam”

adam ruehmer linkin park lpu marketing
In collaboration with LPLive, LPAssociation and Mike Shinoda Clan, we have organized and created an online scrapbook for Linkin Park and Adam Ruehmer fans/friends (YOU) to leave a message. Adam will leave the LPU on June 11 and we think, he deserves an elaborate farewell from the fandom!

This page is to give thanks to Adam Ruehmer for his time in the LPU, and to wish him well on his new job at Warner Brothers. We’re making a scrapbook for Adam from his time at Machine Shop Records and would like people to submit anything you think he’d like here. Messages, photos, videos, whatever.

You can find the scrapbook on
thanksadam.tumblr.com

and submit a message/picture, etc. HERE!

powered by:
Linkin Park’s interactive video for LOST IN THE ECHO is nominated for an O Music Award in the category “Best Interactive Video”. Who doesn’t appreciate a video with people crying over our meals and Grumpy Cat memes?

You can vote online for LITE:

1. The voting limit at the start is 50 Votes Per Day. Start voting!
2. You can earn more votes by getting your friends to vote on your own picks from your own “Super Fan Page.” So create a page and share it!
3. Votes cast from that Super Fan page are worth double (x2 points).
4. The more votes you rally for your nominees, the more your daily vote limit will rise.

LPFC has already a Super Fan Page. Give Linkin Park your double vote HERE!

awards linkin park o music awards vote
Linkin Park are offering a second opportunity to hang with them in the studio. This time they partnered up with Omaze to support Oklahoma after the huge tornado struck Oklahoma City.

Here are the details:

- You and a friend will get VIP access to a live recording session
- Flights & 4-star hotel included for 2 people
- Every entry helps provide vital services for children and their families recovering in Oklahoma

You can enter HERE!

linkin park music for relief oklahoma omaze
You might know Phoenix as one of the guitarists of Linkin Park, but he actually plays the Bass! He usually plays a Ernie Ball musicman Stingray bass. He has several of these but the one that stands out is the one which he’s seen tossing across the stage to his tech Ted Reiger at the end of “Given Up.” You might also know Dave from his comedic antics during LPTV/LPU-TV episodes or his sarcastic tweets but from my experience of meeting with him before Linkin Park’s shows he’s really a down to earth kind of guy. He was happy to answer a few questions while he’s working on new music with the rest of the band.

With the world wide success of Living Things, people were impressed with the sound as it blended everything you’ve done in the past. Will the next album be a completely different sound or something we’re familiar with? Will it be something similar to A Thousand Suns? Would you say the 6th album is sort of a metaphor for after high school where we get an idea of what you’ve put together over the last 5 albums?

I’ve never really been interested in trying to predict what our album is going to sound like. When we begin our writing process, we try to be as open as possible to the creative process and really try to work on what is sounding the best to us in that moment. It’s towards the end of the writing process where we can finally sit back and see what shape the album taking, and we can steer it from there.

What’s in store for Linkin Park for 2014? Touring, finishing up “The Mall” soundtrack or studio album? Would both the soundtrack for “The Mall” & the studio album be released in one year?

We are working on the soundtrack/score for “Mall” and our next studio album concurrently. They will be released when they are ready… and touring will happen too. How unhelpful is that answer?!?!

Would you ever hone yourselves up in the Lorel Canyon studios like you did for “Minutes to Midnight” while making an album in the future again or is the ease of being able to work in your own home studios and on the road while touring a convenience now that some of you have families & other responsibilities?

My goal with anything having to do with the creative process is to not put any restrictions on how we operate. I really feel like the best way to create something new is to not follow any preset rules preconceived notions of how things need to be. Having said that, it’s possible we could work again at the Laurel studio/house, and it’s possible for us to not ever feel the need.

Whose idea was the guerrilla street marketing for SSMF & was that a last minute thing or was it sporadic as the day went chain of events were decided?

It came out of us wanting to do some things how we used to do them, and then morphed into its own unique day. All in good fun.

Phoenix During “Given Up” at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in Universal City, CA 12/9/12

How do you think social media has changed since Linkin Park started? Do you think that involvement in social media is important & necessary for a band to be successful? How often do you use social media & in what form?

Social media is just another way to communicate. The real driving force has and always will be the fans. I think it’s important for bands to communicate with their audience, and vice versa. But the important thing is the exchange, not the medium for the exchange. I’m on Twitter, but my activity there goes in spurts.

Linkin Park’s use of technology has increased since the last album from the use of body scans created at Gentle Giant studios to the “Lost in the Echo,” music video (which was nominated for an O music award for best interactive video) to the “Castle of Glass” video which is also used in the “Medal of Honor” game. How do you see yourselves pushing the boundaries in future endeavors as a band?

We are always trying to find new ways to pique our own interest in what we are doing… technology and its constant evolution seems to consistently offer new avenues to explore in the creative world. Moving forward, we are looking to integrate more technology into our live shows.

The “mangled” Ernie Ball music man bass is a signature piece of the touring gear. I heard its last show was in New Zealand. Any plans to have it be the first bass auctioned off at a LPU summit one day or possibly put in the rock n roll hall of fame?

I don’t know if I can actually retire that bass yet. It’s been way too much fun beating that thing up, only to have my tech (Ted) continually bring it back to life. It’s a testament to how much abuse an Ernie Ball can take and still be “operational.”

Dave, I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview and I look forward to seeing you all at the Sunset Strip Music Festival!

-Irene
Here are two video interviews that were released recently. The first one is an interview with the new Stone Temple Pilots Line Up, and the second one is an interview with Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington who visited Guitar Center. Enjoy!
Manager Jordan Berliant discusses how Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington joined The Stone Temple pilots and the difficulties of replacing band members when executive decisions need to be made.

chester bennington jordan berliant linkin park renman renmanmb stone temple pilots
chester bennington interview kevin and bean kroq linkin park stone temple pilots video weenie roast