I remember in late 2000, Hybrid Theory became this revolutionary album in my mind that I kept pushing anyone and everyone to hear, only to see people brush them off as just another rap\metal\nu-metal band that was late to get on the dying bandwagon. I'm not trying to be that guy that claims to have liked them before they were cool, because the fact is their popularity exploded due to a lot of people who were also able to recognize that there was something special in the band from the first listen.
A few months later, on Valentine's Day 2001, they played at Newport's, a bar in Columbus. There was a decent turnout, as One Step Closer had been on the radio for a few weeks by that point. Taproot opened for them, and both bands performed incredibly. They played through most of HT, and at least one of their pre-LP unreleased songs.
Side note: Much to the surprise of everyone at the show, there was this other band opening that no one had heard of, Alien Ant Farm, who played some stupid-but-somehow-awesome cover of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal. You wouldn't believe it even if you heard this obnoxious song over and over and over on the radio for years to come.
After the show, the band stayed around for a good hour or two and met with everyone. We took pictures -- IIRC Chester was a bit drunk at the time. Mike had blue\teal hair. Phoenix was excited about how Hybrid Theory had apparently just gone gold in Australia. The rest of the band was off and on the buses during this time but were definitely cool about autographs\photos.
I ended up seeing them 9 more times between then and the following year, and maybe another 3 or 4 times after that point. I'm trying to avoid rambling on and on here so let me get to a point.
I'm quite fortunate to have been able to witness their rise to super stardom firsthand. In a little over a year since that Valentine's Day show, they had gone from playing bars to co-headlining in amphitheaters, to closing sold out concerts in arenas and stadiums around the world.
They've had some really great shows, and to be honest, a few bad shows. Chester pushed his voice to its full potential every time, and that always seemed to be the single deciding factor for the quality of the band's performance. Sometimes it was amazing while others made his frustration apparent.
At one concert in particular though, Chester's voice sounded unlike anything I had heard from him before or since. I've unsuccessfully searched countless bootlegs and fan recordings on YouTube. That night, about a year after the first time I saw them live, he nailed every fucking note like it was his last show -- the chorus on Crawling, the breakdown on APFMH, the monstrous tones on a cover of My Own Summer, and then closed the set with an acoustic performance of My December. I don't think I ever saw him top that one.
tl;dr Chester Bennington was one of a kind.
