NEW YORK – There are plenty of big things about Linkin Park’s upcoming Minutes to Midnight.
They include the producer (Rick Rubin), the expectations (um, real huge) and, naturally, the accompanying tour .
So it’s easy to understand why LP chose the massive, marble-filled Museum of Television and Radio as the location to announce that tour: the reborn Projekt Revolution, which they founded in 2003.
“This is very important tour for us, so we’re excited to announce the return of Projekt Revolution,” Linkin Park co-frontman Chester Bennington said. “We wanna go out there and kick as much ass as we can, and with the bill we’ve assembled, the pressure will be on us to prove we deserve to headline it.”
Bennington made the announcement backed by a large Projekt Revolution banner and flanked by his bandmate Mike Shinoda. Also along for the pomp and/or circumstance were My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzaro and Matt Rubano.
Those two acts will join LP on the tour, which kicks off July 25 in a city to be announced later this month.
“We were inspired by tours like Lollapalooza, where you have all these awesome bands playing together,” Bennington said. “All the bands are really exciting and they’ll bring something diverse to the bill. I can’t wait to get out there and bring it every night and destroy everything in our path.”
“When [Linkin Park’s 2000 debut] Hybrid Theory came out, I had just graduated from art school and was hitting the pavement trying to find a job,” Way laughed. “I remember seeing a poster for that album in the Virgin Records in Union Square … so to be touring with them now is great.”
The bill – which will feature bands on two stages – also includes Placebo, H.I.M. and Julian-K joining the headliners on the Main Stage, and Saosin, Styles of Beyond (who guested on Shinoda’s Fort Minor project), Mindless Self Indulgence, the Bled and Madina Lake on the Revolution Stage.
Linkin Park launched the first Projekt Revolution tour in 2003, with a bill that included Mudvayne and Xzibit. The following year, the tour expanded to a two-stage affair, with Ghostface, Korn and Snoop Dogg joining LP.
There was no PR in 2005, and the band made rumblings about relaunching it in late 2006, but the band didn’t have an album to promote at the time, so it ultimately didn’t happen.
Of course, that album, Minutes to Midnight, is now done and hits stores on May 15.
The itinerary for Projekt Revolution, according to Linkin Park’s publicist:
» 7/25 – TBD
» 7/27 – Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
» 7/28 – San Bernardino, CA @ Hyundai Pavilion
» 7/29 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
» 8/1 – Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Pavilion
» 8/3 – Selma, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
» 8/4 – Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
» 8/5 – Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center
» 8/7 – Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
» 8/8 – Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
» 8/10 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheatre
» 8/11 – Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
» 8/13 – Raleigh, NC @ Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
» 8/14 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheatre
» 8/15 – Wantaugh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
» 8/17 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
» 8/18 – Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
» 8/19 – Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion
» 8/21 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
» 8/22 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
» 8/24 – Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
» 8/25 – Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
» 8/26 – Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
» 8/28 – Syracuse, NY @ New York State Fair
» 8/29 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
» 8/31 – Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
» 9/1 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
» 9/3 – Englewood, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre