Projekt Revolution tries to play outside the norm

By Alan Sculley

Correspondent

THE SUMMER MUSIC season is becoming more crowded than ever with festival tours crisscrossing the country and huge destination festivals staged coast to coast.

Because of that, Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda says, it’s important for festival tours to have a distinct identity. So when his band put together the Projekt Revolution tour, which stops Saturday in Virginia Beach, it chose the name to help further that goal.

“This is obviously not an Ozzfest. It’s not a Warped Tour. Our idea is to showcase groups that were doing something revolutionary, something original, something different, either now or they’re known for that over time.” 

This summer marks the fifth time Linkin Park has taken Projekt Revolution on the road, and Shinoda believes the tour stands out from other touring festivals.

“I see Warped Tour as being more kind of a screamo-emo-punk thing, and I see Ozzfest (which this year is being staged as a one-day event Aug. 9 in Dallas) as being a more metal tour. And those words I wouldn’t use to describe this tour.”

This year’s Projekt Revolution makes good on the promise of musical diversity. The bill of 10 bands touches on hard rock (Linkin Park), metal (Atreyu), screamo (Hawthorne Heights) and upbeat pop (The Bravery). Rap has been added the mix with the late addition of Busta Rhymes.

That kind of variety was one of the reasons The Bravery wanted to be a part of the 2008 edition, vocalist Sam Endicott said.

“You’re not seeing the same exact kind of band over and over and over again, but instead you’re seeing a wide range of styles.”

The reputation for diversity that Linkin Park has sought to establish with Projekt Revolution is a quality Shinoda hopes this tour shares with the festival tour that started it all – Lollapalooza.

Chris Cornell, who is also featured this year on Projekt Revolution, can talk about it and Lollapalooza. With his former band, Soundgarden, he was part of the second Lollapalooza in 1992 – a high point in that festival’s history.

“It was an amazing combination of bands. We were on our second major-label album, so it was like our fourth album. Pearl Jam was on their first album, but it had blown up.”

Having Linkin Park joined by Rhymes, Cornell and The Bravery – acts that have enjoyed considerable airplay – should give Projekt Revolution enough star power to compete in what is a busy summer for tours, including two new festival tours that focus on the harder end of the rock spectrum.

The Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, which stops Aug. 1 in Virginia Beach, is a metalfest co-headlined by Disturbed and Slipknot, with about a dozen other acts. Cruefest, which stopped in Virginia Beach earlier this month, offered the rowdy hard rock of Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Trapt and Sixx:A.M.

Of course, the Warped Tour and its scores of bands were in Virginia Beach last week. Shinoda isn’t to concerned that Projekt Revolution will suffer because of the competition. “I suppose in any situation where these tours cross paths that’s a concern on that end, but if you’re a fan of the bands that are playing, you’re going to go to the show.

“I mean, for me when I was growing up going to shows like Lollapalooza or just going to different tours of bands, when bands were playing in town, it wouldn’t matter if they were playing days apart. If I liked the band and I could afford the tickets, then I would do that.”

Alan Sculley, alanlastword@earthlink.net