PHOTOS: KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas
![Jared Leto of the band 30 Seconds to Mars performs on the first night of KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/68419cc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x333+0+0/resize/500x333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1e%2F64%2Fed83457d7c94a4753f11f6d00136%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic01-kulr36nc.jpg)
Jared Leto of the band 30 Seconds to Mars performs on the first night of KROQ-FM’s Almost Acoustic Christmas show at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![30 Seconds to Mars](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e06fbed/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x399+0+0/resize/500x399!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F15%2F87%2F3e72069545c7b4460ebc6fee80d6%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic02-kulr72nc.jpg)
Leto did much to lighten the proceedings, sprinting through the central walkway of the Gibson while fans reached out to him as if he were a religious icon. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![Dead by Sunrise](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f16b4f7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x349+0+0/resize/500x349!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2Fa4%2Fdd991f4616fe4e60a3820001da7e%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic03-kulr59nc.jpg)
Chester Bennington, left, who is also the frontman of Linkin Park, leads his new act, Dead by Sunrise. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![Dead by Sunrise](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f2eca62/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x353+0+0/resize/500x353!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F84%2Fce%2F694b30dfb4a485ad3e3301ed5c09%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic04-kulr7pnc.jpg)
Dead by Sunrise eschewed Linkin Park’s arena-sized rap-rock for a street-level scruffiness that, though typically hook-centric, wasnt nearly as fully formed as the other band. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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![Three Days Grace](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d829b43/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x336+0+0/resize/500x336!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe8%2F3c%2F726f2514bc39eb2b0b95b9044ec3%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic05-kulr83nc.jpg)
Adam Gontier of the Canadian band Three Days Grace. The band’s performance was a relentless dirge. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![Sublime](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2a86c53/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x386+0+0/resize/500x386!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6f%2F2c%2Ffd3c3e760e47a8f94732a7f13222%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic06-kulr3lnc.jpg)
New Sublime singer Rome Ramirez filled the late Bradley Nowells role ably. Hes a fine guitarist and nailed Nowells vocal inflections. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![Sublime](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5233e06/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x333+0+0/resize/500x333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F21%2F28%2Ff731ad9c8061cf3a3a20ba78c70d%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic07-kulr8mnc.jpg)
The band never introduced itself as Sublime. The question of who owns that band name the surviving members or the Nowell estate is still in legal limbo. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
![la-et-1214-acoustic08-kulr8snc.jpg](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bd6ceb6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x333+0+0/resize/500x333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2Fc1%2F965e057a0fe8f4ffba24d7d7422d%2Fla-et-1214-acoustic08-kulr8snc.jpg)
Fans go wild for Dead By Sunrise. Alice in Chains and Rise Against also performed and AFI headlined the show’s first night. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)