And then the Main Stage...ohhhh the Main Stage. A few well-known bands accompany Linkin Park, the main act, using lights, smoke, fire, and anything else to excite the crowd. Oh, I forgot to mention that music is veeeery loud, so even if your seats aren't so great, you'll still be able to examine with your own ears the awesome rocking intensity of some pretty amazing bands.

Linkin Park of course puts on an amazing hour and a half show at the end. Chester's live singing quality is ABSOLUTELY mind-blowing. You all know that 20-second scream in "Given Up"? Yeah, did that live, and then cranked out the high-pitched chorus right after that without even gasping...and that was up in Denver! He and Mike Shinoda also threw out a few unexpected acoustic and a capella tracks that were very nice to listen to, and balanced out perfectly with their more exuberant songs.

Projekt Revolution 2008 includes Atreyu, 10 Years, Hawthorne Heights, Armor for Sleep, and Street Drum Corps on the Revolution Stage, and Ashes Divide, the Bravery, Chris Cornell, and of course, Linkin Park, on Main. Is this year worth gathering up nearly $100, or even more, for your ticket in?

The Revolution Stage Bands

My first thought when looking at this list was, "Atreyu is on the Revolution Stage? But WHY?" Atreyu's style leans more towards your modern rock and roll in their two latest albums, which, if you listen to their older music, is a big transition. They've gone a lot lighter on the screaming, and their drummer, Brandon Saller, offers a lot more vocals throughout each song. This newer, more melodic version, though still offering powerful, enigmatic lyrics and amazing metal instrumentals, has chased away some Atreyu fans that enjoyed their heavy metal side, but many more are also attracted to it.

As for 10 Years...well, they're an amazing band. Brilliant lyrics, unique sound from the lead singer, and some pretty intense instrumentals, I've always thought that this band was very unlike any other that I've heard. Though they haven't had any recent material since the debut of their album The Autumn Effect , they'll have released a new one called Division on May 10, 2008, and will probably be playing a lot of their newer songs for Projekt Revolution. Contrasting with Atreyu's style greatly, 10 Years is that kind of alternative rock that is both calming and righteous, sometimes all in the same song.

Hawthorne Heights and Armor for Sleep are both emo-style alternative bands, the latter being one of my personal favorites. At Warped Tour 2006, they put on an absolutely awesome show, and they all seemed to put their best foot forward for the small crowd that was gathered there. Their style is a little more alternative than emo; the lyrics are beautiful, sometimes ironic and sometimes sad, and their ballads are quite...emotional, but most of their lyrics are balanced out by an alternative rock melody and some nifty guitar riffs that aren't at all "emo."

I was fairly surprised to see Hawthorne Height's name on the list; they have a history of being bashed for their popularity by those who though that "rock should be taking the charts," rather than the mainstreamed emo sound that Hawthorne Heights is generally known to offer. They also dealt with a lawsuit in 2007 about revenue disputes, and just a month after that in November, their guitarist Casey Calvert was found dead in the tour bus from combined drug intoxication. The tour will be good for this band's recovery, especially since they're coming out with a new album in summer 2008.

I hadn't ever listened to Street Drum Corps, but I recently gave them a listen from Myspace, and they're a MUCH different genre than the bands previously mentioned. Like Mindless Self Indulgence, they have a techno theme to their music, with lyrical melodies that seem something similar to Rage Against the Machine mixed with general screamo. About a month ago they released their first full-length album, We Are Machines . With such an interesting style, I'd like to see what they're capable of live at this year's tour.

Main Stage Bands

Chris Cornell will be main stage just before Linkin Park. Note that the list doesn't say Audioslave, the most recent band associated with this name, but Chris Cornell solo. He began working on his solo project in 2007, releasing the newest album that June. He had previously been a solo artist in 1998 in between Soundgarden and the aforementioned Audioslave, though it didn't go as well last time. This time around, Cornell's smooth vocals and instrumentals that vary between a toned-down surrealism and aggressive excitement are launching him a second album produced by Timbaland, to be debuted in September of this year.

I remember the Bravery from 2005, when their hit "An Honest Mistake" came out. This band has a pretty 80's feel to them and even has synthesizers in quite a few of their songs, which may be responsible for them being a bigger hit in the UK than here in their homeland. However, their style was also cause for criticism by the band The Killers, who claimed that the Bravery was "riding on the coattails of their initial success" (quote from Brandon Flowers, lead singer). Regardless of this opinion, the Bravery seems to be doing well and has avoided any tangles with the law because of the dispute. Their current single, called "Believe" is 4 on the American Rock Charts, the highest chart position the band has ever reached.

Ashes Divide, though new, is already rising to fame. Guitarist Billy Howerdell, former of the band, also formed A Perfect Circle, and the band's cellist (yes, it has an official one of those) is the son of Maynard James Keenan, whom we all know as the lead singer of Tool. Oddly enough, Ashes Divide sounds like a perfect mix of Tool and A Perfect Circle; they remain with a calm, quirky, unique sound that I believe will mesh perfectly with the Bravery on the Main Stage.

Altogether, I think this year's Projekt Revolution lineup is...pretty freakin' awesome. There'll be a great blend of all the sorts of rock that are not only popular today, but are great to listen to no matter what genre you prefer to stick to. And come on, it's LINKIN PARK, one of the most well-known American rock bands of our day, with 50 million+ sold albums in the past 12 years! I know that I personally would love to get my hands on a ticket. I hope this review did what it was supposed to....rock on, readers!

Their older music such as "In the End" is much more popular as it is the perfect medium between nearly all music we have ever heard. The Band from Agoura Hills California was started in 1996 only one of the original 3 members is still going strong in the group of current 6 active members who have released 5 albums in the last 9 years! The only thing "Linkin Park" has ever done that I do not personally agree with is selling out to Jay-Z, but that is another story for another time! "Linkin Park" is the best Alternative rock band out there.