It’s been a little after a month since Linkin Park took to the stage and played their exclusive Concert For The Philippines in Los Angeles at Club Nokia. They performed alongside other great supporters including Bad Religion, The Offspring, The Filharmonic a cappella group, and special guests Mike Einziger of Incubus, Heart, and the legendary Travis Barker. The event was a special night for Music For Relief, with donations and proceeds benefitting the Philippines after the lasting effects of typhoon Haiyan. Music For Relief was able to raise over $500,000 as a result of the event.
I, along with many other enthusiastic fans, was eager to donate to the cause, earning myself a ticket to the event. I also had the privilege of volunteering for Music For Relief at the show, which was a great experience. Our team of volunteers (and good friends of mine) had the opportunity to assist Music For Relief with their online Charitybuzz auction, as well as traditional MFR features, including the We Care Solar Suitcase and Solar light bulbs. My night was spent doing various tasks, ranging from will call tickets, to VIP meet and greets, to collecting donations at the booth, with glimpses of familiar sound check rehearsals along the way.
Side note: one of my favorite moments of the day was during sound check. Chester wasn’t available for rehearsals, so Mike was filling in many of Chester’s parts with his own vocals. Hearing Mike sing ‘Numb’ was definitely a pleasant surprise. It brought a fresh perspective to a song that Chester clearly dominates, and it makes me wonder if there’s an early demo hidden somewhere out there with a different vocal take… the world may never know.
As the night progressed, the performers rocked on, and Linkin Park delivered a short, but undeniably, star-studded set. The crowd was one of the best I’ve experienced. Everyone was extremely supportive, and the energy in the room was unanimously pleased to help support Music For Relief and the Philippines. The concert was honestly one of my favorites I’ve seen from Linkin Park, my favorite being the Secret Show For Japan. There’s just something about those MFR shows that brings out the best in everyone I guess…
Being as LP Fan Corner has adopted February 19th as our annual Music For Relief Day, a few of my fellow volunteers from the Concert For The Philippines have kindly offered their thoughts about MFR and the show as well! Thanks Anthony, Ashaki, Greg, and Preston for your contributions and support.
-Dayna
Anthony Legerretta:
My name is Anthony Legerretta and I am from San Diego, California. I heard about MFR through linkinpark.com and Lpu, basically ever since I joined the Lpu, which was about 8 years ago. In my opinion Linkin Park and MFR are synonymous. I hear one of them and automatically think of the other. The concert for the Philippines was my first show that I have volunteered for MFR, even though I’ve went to the booth nearly every time I’ve went to an LP show. I really liked interacting with the people at the show and telling them about what MFR stands for and what MFR does to help the world and environment such as the Solar suitcase and the soccer ball that stores energy. Also I got to meet a few new friends that were volunteering as well. My favorite part about working MFR for this show was all the cool and rare memorabilia and also being that it was such a small venue that the MFR booth was inside where we were basically 100 feet from the stage and got to see and hear sound check. Coolest part of the day by far was when we were inside at the booth setting up and Brad Delson just strolls on by and says, “What’s up”. MFR is a great organization that has many great causes and I would urge everyone to volunteer at least once.
Ashaki Wallace:
When asked why I wanted to volunteer for MFR my response was, “ I want to volunteer because I cannot afford to support Linkin Park’s efforts regarding the Philippines disaster relief with finances. I can however donate my time, energy, strength and love.” I drove to Las Vegas then back to Los Angeles to volunteer in both cities. I met an amazing and inspirational group of people that regularly volunteered with MFR. I learned about the various ways in which donations directly assist people whether with funding or with purchasing items such as the spectacular We Care Solar Suitcase.
As I continue the excogitation of Noir Strassen Music, my unexpected project to combine, music, sexual assault awareness, anti-human trafficking and fashion, I reflect on my experience with MFR and appreciate that you do not have to separate doing something you love from expressing your love onto others. That love is the uniting factor that brings about the success of MFR in helping people whom they may never meet but continue to care about as though they were close neighbours across the street. No matter how unrelated two actions may seem, when it comes to empowering the life of others the love people will be the bridge to consolidate their relief.
Greg Ford:
My name is Greg Ford and I’m from Chicago. My first exposure to Music for Relief was in May of 2012 when I attended the House of Blues show on Sunset Strip. It was there that MFR began their Power the World campaign. Whitney Showler from MFR was kind enough to show me around and introduce me to several individuals at the event, including Dr. Laura Stachel of WE CARE Solar. Dr. Stachel gave me a personal demonstration of the Solar Suitcase and we spoke for nearly 20 minutes about its capabilities. Shortly before the Honda Civic Tour came to Chicago in August of 2012, I read that MFR needed volunteers to work at the booth there. I signed up immediately, seeing it as an opportunity to contribute my time to MFR and help share their mission with others. Demonstrating the Solar Suitcase was especially inviting since I work with technology for my job.
After helping to disassemble the MFR booth, I found my seat to watch the Linkin Park show, and happened to check Twitter. A tweet from MFR indicated that they still needed volunteers for the show in Indianapolis the following day. I booked my flight before the show was over.
Since then, I’ve volunteered for MFR at a total of six LP shows, including the Sunset Strip Music Festival and the recent Concert for the Philippines. I also helped MFR plant gardens in Inglewood, California last year in an effort to combat the “food desert” conditions there that leave residents with few healthy eating options.
Every experience has afforded me the opportunity to meet other amazing volunteers and MFR staff as we help spread the word about their ongoing efforts in disaster recovery and environmental issues. I wish I was able to record and preserve every encounter I have on behalf of MFR, because each is an incredibly unique and rewarding event.
Preston Bonner:
I got involved with Music For Relief on Linkin Park’s North American Winter Tour in 2011. My buddy Mark and I volunteered for the first three shows of the tour in Florida + Georgia. We had been huge Linkin Park fans but didn’t realize the satisfaction that was to be had from working the booths before the shows. We had such a good time that we decided to do the first six shows of the Honda Civic Tour in 2012. This is where we met Missy, MFR’s road coordinator, and we had a blast going from the South to the Northeast back down on the tour. MFR has a special place in my heart as the organization is founded by one of my favorite bands and the message of help for disaster victims has remained constant since the charity was founded in 2005. I have met many great friends around the country by being involved with MFR and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am honored to be part of MFR’s biggest booth to date at the Sunset Strip Music Festival in Hollywood, California this past August (on my birthday!). We raised nearly $3,000 at that show. Most recently, I was a part of the Vegas and Concert for Philippines show in Los Angeles last month. It was great to see the band, spread the good message of MFR, and see great friends again. I can’t wait until the next tour!
And lastly, big thanks to Whitney, Missy, and our Machine Shop and crew for all of your hard work, dedication, and patience with facilitating operations. Thank you to our special guests Bad Religion, The Offspring, The Filharmonics, Heart, Travis Barker, Mike Einziger, Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas, and our host Ted Stryker. And thanks Linkin Park for your consistent, philanthropic support through Music For Relief. We love and appreciate it all.
Donate now to our fundraiser page supporting Mike’s and Phoenix’s Birthday Challenge and support Music for Relief with their efforts regarding typhoon Haiyan. You can win CD Bundles and more!
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