Linkin Park to headline Sonic Boom

EDMONTON – One of the world’s
biggest bands never to play Edmonton
is about to make up for its little oversight.

Linkin
Park, a rap-rock group from California,
will headline the fourth edition of Sonic Boom, a modern-rock festival on
Sunday, Sept. 2 at the Northlands Grounds.

The
two-time Grammy winners have sold more than 50 million copies of their first
four albums, which mix hip-hop, rock and electronica. Hybrid Theory, their
appropriately titled debut, spawned such hits as In the End, Crawling and One
Step Closer. Linkin Park will release their fifth album, Living Things, later
this year. The first single, Burn It Down, was unveiled Monday morning.

Nine
more bands are on the Sonic Boom bill, including California rockers Incubus and Young The
Giant, dream-popsters Silversun Pickups, post-rockers Mutemath, and Welsh trio,
The Joy Formidable, who were one of the stars of last year’s Sonic Boom. Fun, a
pop-rock group with one of the biggest hits of 2012, We Are Young,
singer-songwriter LP, and Vancouver’s
blues-rock duo, The Pack A.D., will also perform.

Tickets
range from $90 (general admission) to $150 (VIP) plus service charges at Ticketmaster.ca.
On sale: Saturday, April 28. However, a limited number of early-bird tickets
will be available for $50 plus service charges as of Monday, April 23 via Sonic
102.9 FM’s Glee Club.

This
year’s festival will be held outdoors – rain or shine, say promoters of the
event. Last year’s edition was moved into the Edmonton Expo Centre due to fears
of inclement weather.

For
the first time, Sonic Boom’s lineup mirrors a similar festival in Calgary, X-FEST, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 1 at Fort Calgary.