July 6, 2017 - Birmingham, UK | One More Light World Tour

Thanks @LohithMohan, it truly was a wonderful and surreal experience to meet them. It really is strange thinking how things have happened during those 15 years... you listen to the music and see photos of them, then you watch their music videos, then you watch them perform live on television or during a stream, then you watch them live at a venue and then you finally get to meet them... there and then, in the flesh! It's also funny comparing how tall you are next to them, haha. Also, like you put, I imagined them to be exactly like that based on their interviews and personalities the many times I have seen them talk media wise. Chester the friendly and energetic one, Joe the funny one, Mike the appreciative and talkative one, Brad the sarcastic one, etc. It was how I pictured it in my mind and it's something I can and will always remember and cherish for the rest of my life. I will never forget this moment.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has had any unique experiences like I had with Brad? I know he usually doesn't stay long on Meet & Greets (from what I read beforehand) and as @Smarky said, he didn't really stay that long on this one but has anyone ever had Brad say or do something different? I thought it was cool and it still makes me smile how he acted, it took me aback for a few seconds but afterwards I found it hilarious when he bowed in front of me for a good while and I don't think he said a single word to me. He did smile though after he signed my artbook.

Also, thanks to @Smarky and @Ghoul for the kind words and for your write-up's of the show and your experience, I enjoyed reading all of it and seeing your thoughts on the show. Ghoul, I can understand if you enjoyed other shows more, sometimes one particular show will cater to you or stand out more so I can understand where you're coming from. I've loved all 3 shows I've been to and it makes it such a stark contrast between the 3 shows I've attended; first time in 2003 in Manchester where it was a full-on nu-metal set (2 albums), second time in Manchester in 2010 (4 albums) and it was more of a electronic-rock sound with metal mixed in set and on this one it was a mixture of pop/rock/metal (7 albums) and the band fused it all together perfectly. It's a nice blend not only for the show on Thursday night in Birmingham but also for the 3 different shows I went to. I always like hearing the classics and then listening to new stuff for the very first time live and in person. Still, I'm glad you still enjoyed the show.

Smarky, you weren't the person I was thinking of then as this boy and girl down the line from me also spoke to Chester about the Manchester tribute, so I think Chester was repeating to them what he said to you. When Mike went to them they mentioned how they saw him at the 02 and I believe the boy from what I could overhear has met the band before and met them in America. Another boy next to me also met them last year I believe he said. I believe you might have been opposite me then as I do vaguely remember seeing someone wearing a Heavy hoody with a beard but after that day, there's so much to remember you will forget about some things that happened in front of your very eyes. There was a woman opposite us who asked me to tap a boy on the shoulder as he was wearing a Leicester City bag, which I complied with and she said "great team" to that boy next to me. Maybe you saw me at that moment? Still, a shame we didn't get chance to talk. Were you queued up by the wall when meeting the band? If so, were you the one half-way/towards the end of the line? If that was you then I definitely saw you and remember Mike and Chester speaking to you at length on that side. Still, it was awesome, everyone there got to share a little something with each other and the band and even if it was a few words, a lot of words spoken or some form of physical contact (hug, handshake, first bump) that's something we can claim that we shared in that moment when we engaged with the band, truly memorable.

I do also want to say, it was fantastic meeting some really cool fans at the event. Back in 2003 and 2010, I didn't really get time to speak to other people but at this show, I spoke to a few people. It was nice to meet Phil from Cardiff, he was a laugh all night and a pleasure to meet, a shame I didn't get chance to say goodbye to him as he got ushered in another direction to his seats whilst I was chatting with my sister. I also met this other guy when queuing outside, who was a fan of all of the Linkin Park albums although he was lukewarm to One More Light. Still, he was very talkative and nice to converse with, he was a massive Enter Shikari fan and was also telling me he was in a band and how into music he was as well as the troubles he had with getting his tickets and how CID Entertainment nearly weren't going to give him his VIP Merchandise (his ticket didn't say VIP on it even though he paid for VIP). We also met this lovely older couple (probably in their late 40's/early 50's), who have been to a lot of Linkin Park shows. We met them in the queue (where there was a whole lot of confusion on where to go line up to get in) and then we met them again as we were sat on the same row a few seats apart.

The husband liked a lot of Linkin Park's music but wasn't a big fan, it was his wife that was the huge Linkin Park fanatic. They were talking to us about bands, the confusion with the queuing and checking we were VIP like them and then the woman told me once she realised I had a Meet & Greet pass how she met the band a couple of years back and how awesome it was and how down to earth the group is (which I already knew but still awesome to hear this). She told me when she met them they were all taken backstage and sat down and had to do a quiz to win a reward and then the band came in, took a group photo and then they spent 20 seconds with each band member and got their stuff signed. She said it was an experience and now I can certainly vouch for that! It was great though to catch up with them again before the show kicked off, I told them about me hugging Chester and calling him a legend, saying to Mike he was awesome, the unique bow from Brad and also Joe being told he had tomato around his mouth by Phil. They laughed and asked me a few questions and said they were glad I had a great time, which I did. A real pleasure meeting some awesome people and enjoying the same show with them.

One last thing and then I'll end another long-winded post; it was also fascinating listening to other Linkin Park fans that didn't speak to you but when speaking with other people they knew (probably friends or met before at these events) and they were asking about their favourite albums, favourite song, favourite show, etc. I would have loved to join in those conversations but I was busy speaking to Phil and having the same said conversation with him. When I got to another show in the future, I definitely want to speak to more fans, it was a lot of fun.

 

Yea I have a beard

I think the people you are thinking of had tickets to Manchester, a few people did so we were talking about it before we went it, I was on the other side to the guy that was with the Leicester bag and yea pretty close to the end of the line, Chester and Mike did spend some time talking cause we were talking about Manchester and asking for the tribute.

What a great moment, second time meeting them for me, always surreal. Such great guys.

I think it's my own fault that I missed brad, cause we were talking amounts ourselves.

 

Yeah, then I definitely saw you! A shame I didn't get chance to speak to you but I was opposite from you pretty much.

Yeah, the people at the end of my line mentioned Manchester to them and the tribute (and also spoke about seeing them at the 02). I did want to mention to Mike and Chester how me, my girlfriend and her family were planning on seeing them in Manchester (we had our tickets arrive they're still in my room) but due to the tragic events and Manchester being of course cancelled, they couldn't make it with me to the Birmingham show and that I was happy to be there and to see them. That didn't happen though as I could only think of a few words but still, it was a pleasure meeting them and talking to them albeit, briefly.

Awesome you got to meet them a second time, I'll be happy all my life even if I only meet them once. However, I would love to meet them again in the future and will make it a mission to do so... hopefully with my girlfriend next time.

Don't worry about missing Brad, he shot by and didn't really say much even to the people next to me. Phil (person next to me) only got a "sure" out of him and all Brad said pretty much was "hi" or "thank you". He probably spent the most time with me when he was bowing, so that was cool but otherwise he was the one that raced around everyone. Still, it was great seeing him.

Glad you had fun and awesome to see you're also from Hereford, what a small world!

 

Brad was like that last time too haha

Last time I saw them I spoke mostly to Chester and it was Chester and Mike who spent most time with them, although last time we got a group photo cause they all came in together and it wasn't indoors.

I'm trying to get a few things signed by them, I now have the hunting party and road to revolution vinyls signed plus I have the welcome deluxe vinyl and four of mikes artwork skate decks signed!

 

Just remembered that during the meet and greet Joe likened the OML hands logo to the human centipede haha

 

Awesome write up man. It was dope speaking to you at the Brixton show! Hopefully we bump into each other again at another LP show!

 

So the photos for the Birmingham Meet & Greet have been sent. I'm a little disappointed as they only show a photo of me really talking to Phoenix. They also show me talking to Joe but it's when he's talking to the girl next to the guy I was standing next to as Joe was admiring her tattoos, so it looks like he's completely ignoring me and my face is like "okay". Also disappointing they didn't take the photo of me hugging Chester as I'd love to have got that and printed it off and framed it! Ah well, I don't want to be sour about it as I had such a fantastic time and it will always live within my memory as a brilliant day, I just wish I had a few photos (besides the Phoenix one) where it shows me interacting with the band so I can relive that moment even better. I guess I can't be too selfish as I met the band, spoke to them, hugged Chester, got their autographs, which is already a special moment for me.

Funny thing is there's hardly any photos of Brad, he was out of there like a shot!

I guess it doesn't help I caught a cold on Sunday so I'm not in the best of moods. I'll have to make sure next time I meet the band I photo bomb as many pictures as possible, ha ha.

 

Were you allowed to take pictures by yourself at M&G? We got around 380 pictures on our e-mails and just by looking at those I'm on I can tell how excited I was, there's a huge grin on my face and notw it's hard to remember what I said to them. It still seems like a dream. What's with the guy carrying a camera, I thought they'd send us a video but I guess that'll go into some kind of official promotion?

 

No, we weren't allowed to take our own photos with or of the band (they made that crystal clear at the start before the band came out). There was a woman (LPU Crew Member) who was taking pictures with her mobile as well as the official LPU Photographer (Travis?). I think one woman asked Mike if she could take a photo with her phone, which he obliged. We got a lot of photos sent to us via e-mail, however, as I said, I was hoping I would be in more but it only really shows me with Phoenix and Joe (although Joe isn't looking at me).

There's one point when going through the photo where it shows Rob talking to the guy next to me and then completely skips my meeting with Rob and goes to the other guy next to me (this when Rob was the last person out there we all saw). That's why I'm rather disappointed as I wanted to relive these memories in picture form and I'm not in a lot. There's a few people in a lot of photos though with literally nearly every band member but only a few people that is, they're so lucky! However, there's one girl whose only in 3 photos with Mike and that's it, so I feel sorry for her as she's sort of left out.

I was hoping for more... you know? I really wanted a photo of my time with Chester though as that was unforgettable and I just wanted a picture of that one moment just so I can remember one of the best moments in my life. Like I said, it won't derail what a blast I had that day and the awesome moment meeting the band for the first time and being in awe of their presence. That and the amazing work by the LPU team (Lorenzo and others) and how fun they made it and the opportunity they gave us to live our dreams. I just wish there was more photos of my moments with the band... that's just me being selfish though but I guess you can be when you meet your heroes.

 

I totally understand because this is a dream come true for fans and it's rather disappointing you didn't get as many pictures as you wanted. It's nice to look at them, relive everything and to convince yourself it wasn't just a dream.
Lady did a good job at my M&G because she tried to include everybody and as far as I can see there are a lot of pictures with the same people
in them. The only band member missing is Brad because he stayed for maybe 5 minutes not even talking to us just signing what we brought. I'm really excited she took a picture of me talking to Chester and giving him a present. I'm thinking about developing those photos if anything happens to my computer.

 

I'm not the only one slightly disappointed by the photos, there's a couple of people that were standing right next to me on my side of the line-up that have messaged Lorenzo as there's no photos of Mike when he came to our side (only him on the other side of the queue/line) and only photos of Chester half-way down our line and then no more. You can tell some photos are missing as when uploaded in numerical order, some of the numbers skip (e.g. go from 2032 to 2033 then to 2038). Lorenzo informed a couple of people that queried if we can see these photos that they may have turned out blurry and unfortunately, we can't have access to them, which is a real shame.

I've printed off my photos with Phoenix and Joe (although the latter wasn't looking at me at the time the photo was taken which is rather annoying) as well as a photo of Chester when he wasn't far from me to show my girlfriend. I just really wish our side got a lot more photos with Mike and Chester. Ah well, you can't have everything! The experience is what matters.

Like I said, Brad only appears in 4 photos and they're taken from distance, he flew through that Meet & Greet.

I'm happy for you on the brilliant photos you managed to obtain, wish that happened for me but oh well, I can always try and meet the band in the future and plead for more photos, ha ha. Still, I'm glad you're pleased with your photos with the band, especially Chester.

 

Yea, this was my second meet and greet and there were much better with the photos the first time, last time the band came together and there was a group photo.

This time half the photos were taken by the lady with an iPhone, the official photographer guy turned up later and I guess the band were busy somewhere else (VIP meet and greets?) which is why they came out seperately, it did seem to be running late! I saw Lorenzo on twitter mention that some may not have come out and that kinda is what i suspect happening, the Meet and Greet was running late.

Not really too much of an issue for me, I hate photos of myself haha, I liked looking through them to remind me of the day and you guys though! I Immediately realised early on i was in the wrong place, because it was outside most of the area was sheltered, but I was right in the path of the sun, which made my face look very red and the photos with either chester or mike, you can barely see them due to the sun! I'm guessing that's what happened to most of the others he took of me as well!

ps @Foreshadowed_LP, I think I figured out who you are now! You didn't happen to be wearing a Meteora (I think?) top yesterday outside Tesco did you?

 

I agree, I told Phil (guy next to me in the Meet & Greet) I bet there were 2 Meet & Greets going on at the same time, our one and the One More Light Experience Meet & Greet, that's why things were running a bit late. The lady was taking most of the photos with her phone and the photographer didn't really take many, not that I saw anyway but I wasn't really paying attention at that point (due to the band appearing). Yeah, I saw Lorenzo's tweet/response to the two people that weren't far from me (Amie & Cam were their names) that the photos may have came out blurry and they won't have them now, which is a shame. 222 photos compared to someone having 380, that's a shame but oh well, nothing we can do and again I'll reiterate it again, it was an experience just meeting and talking to the band, I'll saviour that moment forever.

I wish we had a group photo with the band, that would have been awesome. Well, I'll try to enter another Meet & Greet in the future and hopefully get more photos, you never know. I'm glad you managed to get some good photos on the first meet-up with the band.

I don't mind photos of me but I was excited to see what photos I appeared in with the band members and just wanted that moment to last in photo form of where I'm face-to-face with the band. Still, at least the photo of me and Phoenix is great quality, I look really chuffed after meeting him, albeit briefly. I also liked looking at the other photos with other people, I envy those who got really good photos with Chester and Mike but they look very happy so I'm genuinely pleased for them. You look fine in the photos, it's funny though how each side of the line-up has a different shade in the photos, our line not being sheltered and yours being completely sheltered yet having the sun beaming down on you. I still think your photos turned out great though. I would have liked to see the photos they scrapped but there you go, gone forever, never to be seen.

I was wearing a Meteora hoody on Wednesday and was listening to my iPod (was listening to the One More Light album of course), I did go into Tesco, had to get a bit of shopping so yeah, you probably saw me after I finished work (I was wearing my black/white trainers and black work trousers). Unfortunately, I didn't see you... we may bump into each other sooner or later. Although I wouldn't have recommended speaking to me on Wednesday as I'm still shifting this annoying cold. Anyway, have a good one!

 

@Foreshadowed_LP I am so happy for you dude! Did you see the new meet and greet additional photos! Yea!!!

 

@Smarky - I've just seen the additional photos now, I'm so overwhelmed! They got me hugging Chester and shaking Rob's hand as well as the moment Brad bowed in front of me and I'm laughing! Also got me with Mike and Joe, such an epic day and the photos back this up now. I'll definitely be printing off more of these later on.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

I'm so happy for you You got everything you wished for and now you can jump from joy

 

Ha ha, thanks.

I'm so happy with the photos, this is a moment I always dreamed of and even though it's special and will always live on in your memory for the rest of your life, you still wish you had proper photos to remember that amazing and spectacular moment in your life, not just images from you mind as you reminisce. These photos are something I can always go back to and reflect on what a day I had meeting my heroes, people I look up to and have admired for 15 years. It just cements what a perfect day it truly was and I'm so thankful to the LPU staff for their work and dedication and bringing joy to every single Linkin Park fan that attends these Meet & Greets.

I can't wait to show my family and my girlfriend and her family the photos. This show and this day goes down as my best moment as a Linkin Park fan, period.

 

I know excatly how you feel, the same things goes for me. Whenever I listened to them (before back in 2005) or now I've always dreamt of meeting them and at the same time I was so afraid of that moment because I didn't know what to say and was afraid I'd embarrassed myself. According to my grin I didn't embarrass myself, just acted like a teenager, lol.
Did they post any other M&G additional photos pr just from Birmingham?

 

Yeah, it's amazing to think back in 2000 I first heard Points Of Authority on the radio, then Crawling on a compilation CD in 2001 and then I borrowed my friends In The End Single CD in 2002, purchased Meteora as my first ever Linkin Park album in 2003 and fast forward to 2017 and I'm attending my 3rd Linkin Park concert and meeting them for the first time. It really is unreal how time flies by as a fan and that something you've dreamed of for so long finally becomes reality.

It's funny, when I got the e-mail, I didn't even see it first time as I was waiting for e-mail confirmation for something else. I didn't know they had announced the Meet and Greet Lottery winners and I never saw any of Lorenzo's tweets confirming this as I was out all weekend. So when I read the subject and then the first few lines of the message, I yelled "Oh my god! I've been selected for the Linkin Park Meet and Greet!" and was speechless. Then when I had a few days to let it sink it I was just overjoyed. Then when the day came and me and my sister left to travel to Birmingham, I was calm. It wasn't until Lorenzo and the woman that is also an LPU crew member (she has a Stormtrooper attached to her walkie talkie) collected us and made us line up by the wall that I felt my heart pumping and my excitement grew.

When you finally see them there in person, standing before your very eyes, it's a magical moment. I was so happy, slightly nervous but I tried my best to maintain my calmness when speaking to them (I did shake slightly after hugging Chester as that felt like my life was complete right there). So I understand what you mean when you say you didn't know what to say and you were worried you may embarrass yourself (I didn't have anything planned with what I would tell them). I'm sure it went fine though and I'm glad you had a great time and the photos are evidence of that. I'm laughing and smiling in a lot of my photos, it was just an awesome moment that's for sure!

I'm not sure if they have posted additional photos for any other location, I only received the e-mail for the Birmingham Meet and Greet one as that was the only one I attended. I'm not sure if they forgot to post the other photos for Birmingham as originally there was 222 photos and now there's around 450 in total. Either that or because some people were unhappy with the lack of photos they maybe found the other ones and uploaded them, I'm not sure, just speculation on my part. Someone did say they post other photos for Meet and Greets on the LPU site, so they may upload different ones there soon but again, not 100% sure.