I think the answer to that is called a contact buzz. I mean just look at 12 year old Connor's eyes in that last picture. This was Connor's first concert ever. It was such a good time.
The Minutes to Midnight album came out in May of 2007. I (Shannon) was obsessed with it so that meant the boys had to listen to it all the time as well. Connor was definitely more into it than Gabriel was. They had a mutual friend at the time named Jordan who was equally obsessed, he even managed to convince Gabriel to do a school project on the song Bleed it Out off the album. So when we found out there was going to be a tour and that they would be in Columbus we knew we had to go and Connor wanted to go as well.
As per tradition in the Barnes household, to celebrate any and all occasions you just had to involve food, so we took him to Buca di Beppo for a nice meal first. Now that we had food in our bellies it was time to head to the venue and find our seats. Lucky for us at the time of the concert in 2008, Buca was literally next door to Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus, Ohio where the concert took place.
After finding our seats we had plenty of time to walk around the venue and check out all the things we could purchase. Connor was able to get a tour book, a t-shirt for himself and we also thought it would be a nice surprise for him to pick a concert tee for his friend Jordan.
We think Connor enjoyed the whole night - having dinner alone with us, attending his first concert and as he calls out in his text - witnessing Chester Bennington belt out the word miseryat one of only two concerts on the whole tour. Which is one of only seven total times he ever did it. Period. So Connor witnessed rock history, for sure.
We would like to point out the fact that we knew this was a life event we wanted to honor, so that meant asking Connor to pick the song for today - which we did almost a year ago on February 24, 2024. At this point he probably forgot we asked him or thought that we decided not to include the song in the project.
Overall - just a great memory for us old folks rocking out to Linkin Park...with kinda high but definitely mighty Connor...
Given Up Linkin Park
Wake in a sweat again Another day's been laid to waste In my disgrace Stuck in my head again Feels like I'll never leave this place There's no escape I'm my own worst enemy
I've given up I'm sick of feeling Is there nothing you can say? Take this all away I'm suffocating Tell me, what the fuck is wrong with me?
I don't know what to take Thought I was focused, but I'm scared I'm not prepared I hyperventilate Looking for help somehow, somewhere And no one cares I'm my own worst enemy
I've given up I'm sick of feeling Is there nothing you can say? Take this all away I'm suffocating Tell me, what the fuck is wrong with me?
Put me out of my misery Put me out of my misery Put me out of my, put me out of my fucking misery
I've given up I'm sick of feeling Is there nothing you can say? Take this all away I'm suffocating Tell me, what the fuck is wrong with me?
Ghost of a Chance 