400 musicians rocking out to Linkin Park’s anthem “New Divide” is a vibe that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Flash mob group Cityrocks organized the jam, with the 400 musicians playing together in a tree-ringed area in gorgeous Dunaújváros, Hungary. Cityrocks declared their performances to feature the biggest flash mob in Central Europe, and the video supports that claim.
The performance featured a hugely diverse crowd, from fresh-faced youngsters to greybeards, with the musicians playing guitars, drums, bass, percussion as well as singing along. There’s something indescribable about the sound of hundreds of people joining their voices as one that just hits you in the chest. It’s like a primitive thing that we are hard-coded to love. Check out the riotous performance below.
The musicians did a great job keeping the song tight and groovy. It’s really impressive to maintain such a high performance level with such a large crowd of musicians. You’ve got to hand it to the choir as well, who sound so beautiful together, as well as the inspired live arrangement for the song. The arrangement takes advantage of the different elements effectively. The best example of this comes in the bridge, when the percussionists beat huge taiko drums to create the rhythm of the section.
The Linkin Park cover was a big hit on YouTube, attracting 6.5 million views. Cityrocks stated that the performance was made in honour of the late Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington, who died several years prior, in 2017, at the tragically young age of 41. There is only one video on the Cityrocks channel that attracted more attention than the Linkin Park cover, which was 500 musicians playing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. This video blew up to seven million views.
Rock fans online had plenty of praise for the flash mob, adding comments such as, “It’s so pleasing seeing all the drummers perfectly in sync” and “I just love that there are literally generations of musicians paying tribute to Chester in this way. This is one of my favourite songs by Linkin Park and these folks certainly made Chester proud!”
Cityrocks was founded by a group of friends in Szeged, Hungary, in 2017, with the aim to “bring live music, including rock music, to as many people as possible”. The events are designed to cater to both amateur musicians who have never played outside of their home before, as well as for professional musicians. The organizers state that there is no age limit, and that the youngest instrumental participant so far was just eight years old and the oldest was 74 years old.
The Cityrocks organizers said that they were inspired by the pioneering Italian group Rockin1000, which we have covered previously on The Music Man. Rockin1000 has a similar format to the Cityrocks videos above and went massively viral, most notably for their 1000-musician cover of Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly”.
If you enjoyed this thrilling rendition of Linkin Park’s anthem “New Divide,” make sure to check out more from this iconic band. You can find them on their YouTube channel, or follow them on Facebook for updates and more performances. Their unique music style and innovative arrangements have helped them revolutionize the modern rock scene and inspire musicians all around the world.