Linkin Park at Prohibition?

MANILA, Philippines - When I received an invite to attend a Linkin Park event at Prohibition, I thought, “Well, hey! I’ve always enjoyed the song Crawling. Hashtag BOOKIT!” Flashback to my high school days where Linkin Park, among other millennium bands like Thursday and Incubus circa Morning View, were perpetually on loop on my MP3 player, alongside Christina Aguilera, Lauryn Hill and ‘N Sync. But why Prohibition, a swanky new speakeasy in the metro? Has this band’s star sunk so low that they couldn’t manage to book a gig at the Araneta or the more recently launched MoA Arena? I continued to wonder, and discussed it endlessly with colleagues at both the STAR and Chalk offices.

And then I realized, I had left out one very important detail in the invite — Sebago, a shoe brand well-known for its nautical and New England aesthetic. “Oh! It’s a collaboration! Now this should be exciting.” Yes, it hardly seems like a natural pairing: a Grammy Award-winning rock band and a heritage footwear company. Sneakers would have been a better fit for a rock band though that would have been stereotypical. But as I have come to discover over the years, it’s when oddity begets ingenuity that real artistry comes through. Think Elton John and Eminem at the 2001 Grammys. The Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder. Heck, even Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Well, according to Linkin Park band member Joe Hahn, who was introduced to the brand by New York graffiti artist Stash, what attracted them to work with the Sebago team was the brand’s reputation as a footwear company that produces shoes of a superior quality. It’s “one of the best things you could ever walk on,” Hahn says of the unique Vibram sole that underlines the limited-edition Linkin Park x Sebago boot. In fact, the boot is so highly coveted that only 100 pairs will be sold in Sebago outlets all over Manila.

Hahn continues: “This is a boot that the band, road crew, security team… would all want to wear. It’s not just a shoe for the band, but a shoe for all that are in our world.” He says that he wanted to craft a boot that would be simple and would ultimately last. After all, as some designer goods get better with time and constant wearing, so would this boot, and possibly even the band itself.

It was in 2004, after the Indian Ocean tsunami, that the NGO Music for Relief was formed with the orchestrations of Linkin Park. “Shortly before the disaster hit, I and my band mates were on tour in Southeast Asia; we felt a close connection to the people and loved the area,” shares Hahn. It was this connection that compelled the band to rally other artists and organize a benefit concert that would aid the survivors in helping the latter to rebuild their lives.

2010 saw the band releasing a track called Not Alone in support of the Haiti earthquake crisis, and a year after, Burning Skies as part of the “Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0.” Hahn’s fellow band member Mike Shinoda also designed two limited tees in aid of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster. The Linkin Park x Sebago boot is a continuation of these humanitarian efforts.

While the boots are on the pricy side, 10 percent of the profits from this collaboration will be donated to Music for Relief, and should be the perfect avenue to tide Linkin park fans over following the release of their latest album, “Living Things,” and ‘till they return to Manila, hopefully in near future.

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With limited stocks available, visit any of the select branches to pick up your pair of limited-edition Linkin Park x Sebago boots. The booths are sold at the following locations: Alabang Town Center, Greenbelt 3, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, and Power Plant Mall.