Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and co owner of Club Tattoo was in Vegas last night to celebrate theThe crew member luckily only suffered minor injuries.grand opening a his new shop at the Planet Hollywood Resort. The day included Chester appearing as assistant to daredevil magician Steve Wyrick for a 'Death Drop' escape. The strip was blocked by police as the road was filled with fans anxiously waiting for the magic show to start, suffering the heat, with no available water and crying my eye makeup off in the strong wind of the early evening air. The show started, Chester came out to thunderous applause and whistles as he he introduced Steve and then explained what should happen - from the press release:
Bennington, assisted by members of Dead by Sunrise, will lock and shackle Wyrick into one of the band’s equipment boxes. Connected to a crane by only a few thin ropes, the box will be dangled over a bed of 500 flaming spikes 80 feet below. The ropes will then be set on fire, forcing Wyrick to make his escape before the last rope breaks and sends him plummeting to a fiery death. Wyrick will have to jump 20 feet off a burning box to a safety rope and rappel down while avoiding the spikes and tremendous heat. This type of escape has never been attempted by an illusionist anywhere in the world.
We were advised during the media briefing, shortly before the show started, that the crate would come crashing down leaving everyone thinking the trick hadn't worked and then a helicopter would arrive landing on the strip and Steve Wyrick would emerge unharmed. Sadly, as the ropes were set on fire due to the weather conditions the curtains surrounding the box unexpectedly caught alight leaving the box in a mass of red hot flames, felt by everyone in the crowd and covering the area in smoke. Chester, was pushed aside as on site safety teams attempted to put out the fire and he would occasionally tell the audience something had gone wrong and apologize...of course this being a magic show - no one believed him. The box containing a stunt guy was quickly rushed from the stage and the helicopter arrived containing a safe but confused Steve Wyrick, which was already on route from the secret location when the accident happened. Much to Chester's surprise, he then had to introduce the magician to a jeering audience, feeling a little cheated that the "death drop" hadn't actually occurred as no one realized how serious the situation was.From communication with Chester's wife Talinda via twitter, she says:
The stunt went horribly wrong!!! Whoever is here, plz understand.The magician is ok.. The stunt double is SEVERLY burned
Later that evening Chester continued with scheduled events and performed an accoustic set with his side project 'Dead by Sunrise', their album due out in September and Chester has confirmed that they will be appearing with Linkin Park during the worldwide summer shows).
Update: Chester Land has video!
