Kings Of The Game Tour 2000

Introduction

The Kings Of The Game Tour was P.O.D.'s headlining tour in support of their 1999 major label debut The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown which was certified platinum in the second quarter of 2000. It started on October 23, 2000 at Bogart's in Cincinnati, Ohio and wrapped up on December 8, 2000 at the Cox Arena in San Diego, California.

The initial line-up included (hed)p.e. and Project 86 as supporting acts with Linkin Park joining the tour on November 7th and leaving after November 25th to perform at radio shows. For the December portion of the tour, (hed)p.e. and Linkin Park were replaced with Living Sacrifice and Dogwood.

The mix of Christian bands with secular bands (music not created for the Church) was reportedly a cause for controversy in the tour.

Before the tour

Before joining the tour, Linkin Park released their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory, on October 24th. Rob McDermott, the band's manager, recalled when they received the number of sales for the first week, "we were at the Palace in LA.Last show of Kottonmouth Kings tour. I remember that was the day we learned what the Hybrid Theory Album sold first week. It was 45,000 and it was a record for a debut rock album for a few years."

After finishing the Ridin' High Tour with Kottonmouth Kings, Linkin Park's original tour manager Joe Moniak left and was replaced with David Pigg, who had previously worked with Van Halen. Linkin Park's touring bass player Scott Koziol also left following the final show of the tour so Phoenix could return to the band. According to Jeff Blue's book, Brad took him out to lunch a couple of days after Halloween and brought Phoenix, announcing he would be rejoining the band.

Jeff also recalls the tour with P.O.D. almost didn't happen because their management wanted Linkin Park to pay them to be on the tour. They got around that by having Linkin Park's management help doing marketing for P.O.D.

Summary

Memorable Moments

Linkin Park had to cut their set short for the Roseland Ballroom show in New York on November 10th because they had to fly back to Los Angeles the next day for the famous KROQ Jocks Signing Calendars show that took place in the Best Buy parking lot. In 2015's podcast with LPAssociation, Mike mentioned that people still come up to him and say that they saw Linkin Park play in the parking lot of a Best Buy. This show was an expected crowd of 500, but over 5,000 people showed up. Traffic was completely jammed. After the show, the band signed autographs on free calendars that were given out in Best Buy.

Collaborations

Chester started performing "Bartender" with (hed)p.e. during this tour and continued to do so everytime Linkin Park shared the stage with them.

Bassist Mark Young explained he first met Chester in 1998 when (hed)p.e. shared the stage with Grey Daze:

"I think many of us have some fond memories and anecdotes of Chester Bennington to share. Mine goes all the way back to 1998 before Linkin Park came to be, when Hed PE was on tour with Snot. Hed PE was opening for this legendary band and we were playing one night at an outdoor venue in Tempe called Boston's, which is long since gone. During the Snot set, fueled by a few beers, I thought it would be a great idea to stage dive during the show. For a couple minutes it was awesome, getting passed around the crowd while Snot rocked the stage, untl I reached the back of the crowd and was dropped from 6 feet in the air straight onto my head. I was a little dazed and bleeding when a young lad in the audience and his lady came up to help me. He had dreadlocks and an infectious smile, and they half-carried me out to our bus. He got me home safely, commented on what a great show it was, said goodnight and I never saw him again."

"Then in 2000, when Linkin Park opened up for Hed PE for a few brief moments before they went off to the moon, a shaven-head young lad with that same infectious smile came up to me at the start of tour - now the singer of Linkin Park - and recounted the story from Boston's of how he and his wife Samantha had picked me up and helped me out to our bus."

"Such a sweet soul, he will be dearly missed."

Credentials

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