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Linkin Park, Common Lead Sunset Strip Block Party

Posted Oct 29th 2007 3:00PM by Steve Baltin
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A little into their set at the intimate Key Club, Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda gave the understatement of the night when he said, "I guess we should thank the folks at SanDisk for putting this on." The data storage company celebrated their newest foray into music by taking over three venerable Sunset Strip hotspots -- the Key Club, Roxy and Viper Room -- for one of the most ambitious parties L.A. has seen in some time.

After earlier sets by the Crystal Method and Cut Chemist, LP returned to their L.A. roots, playing the Key Club for the first time in what they estimated to be eight years. The rockers ran through an hour-long performance featuring a bevy of hits from 'In the End,' 'Crawling' and a beautiful rendition of 'Pushing Me Away,' that featured Mike Shinoda on keyboards accompanying a cast-wearing Chester Bennington, who broke his arm recently in Australia.

Following their set, the assembled press and VIPs filed down the street to the Roxy for an energetic after midnight set by Common that paid tribute to old-school hip-hop, with name-checks from Snoop to Dre.