The band played the intimate Mayan Theater in Los Angeles at an event initially billed as a secret show; to gain access to the rare event, fans needed to raise $500 or more in order to win a pair of tickets.
"It's a really exciting night tonight. We're performing a show with the B'z from Japan, [the] biggest rock band in Japanese history," singer Chester Bennington told MTV News before the gig. "It's an honor to be able to play with these guys, and it's especially an honor to be able to give back to the Japanese community that's been so devastated and been so great in supporting us."
"We wanted to do something where we kind of engaged our fans to give money, because we're always asking them to give money all the time because unfortunately, there are natural disasters affecting so many places all over the earth that we're always asking our fans for money," explained Bennington of the group's ongoing fundraising efforts. "We wanted to do something that was exciting for our fans and gave them something to look forward to, a goal that was beyond anything they'd done before."
One initial idea had LP donating all the money from a show in Japan to relief efforts. But that felt like the obvious thing to do, so instead they came up with the notion of a secret show that would engage fans by having them "earn" the tickets.
"We set a goal that we thought was pretty high, at $250,000, and amazingly our fans — from both Linkin Park and B'z — have generated over $350,000 in 60 days," he said. "Which is unbelievable considering not only the devastation in Japan but also the economic struggles people are having here in the U.S. as well."
In fact, he said proudly, the top fundraiser brought in more than $13,000.
Linkin Park Linkin Park – The Messenger
Mayan Theater – Los Angeles, CA – August 31, 2011
See also:
VIDEO: Linkin Park rock Transformers film launch in Moscow
VIDEO: Linkin Park – Iridescent
