After seven years, Linkin Park walked back on stage with a two-hour smashing hometown show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California.
Stream: “Heavy Is the Crown” – Linkin Park
Entering the Kia Forum on the night of September 11, 2024, a certain type of stirring energy, unlike anything else, filled within the halls and crevices of the round building in the middle of Los Angeles.
With only a week’s notice, thousands of fans had swarmed from all over the city and world to witness the return of an influential band. You could hear them say, “I’ve seen them 36 times!” or “This is my first show!” when walking through the iconic red and white pillars of the Forum. Happy tears were spilled, pure excitement was radiating, nervousness of the unknown was present – but one common denominator remained between all conversations… “We didn’t think we would ever see them again!” Yet, here we all were, mere moments away from seeing one of the most pivotal bands of the 21st Century getting ready to rock the stage again for the first time in seven years!
They go by the name of…
Linkin Park!
After cryptic countdowns across social media platforms and the teasing of a big announcement, Linkin Park had fans on the edges of their seats waiting for days.
“Are they coming back?” “Are they releasing new music?” “Are they doing a side project?” Questions and questions were swirling around the internet, but what the early 2000s band had planned was a lot more than what people were expecting.
On September 5, Linkin Park’s countdown hit zero and a livestream from Los Angeles took over everyone’s screens that announced not only the return of the band, but a new song, a new album, a new music video, new band members and a world tour!
Following the loss of their beloved lead vocalist, Chester Bennington, in 2017, the band made the decision to walk away from Linkin Park. No one knew if they would ever perform again. They even stated before that they did not know if they were going to come back someday. Bennington is a one of a kind! He has a unique voice, immense talent and a heart of gold. The idea of the band continuing was not an easy thought for them or fans to even try to wrap their heads around.
So, what sparked this return? Linkin Park explained in several interviews their return all happened organically.
It started off with the band meeting up for breakfast and just wanting to hang out as friends again. Eventually, that led to them starting to play music together which led to more serious conversations about the band and landed them where they are today. Today, the band is made up of Linkin Park’s original members, Mike Shinoda (co-vocalist/producer/keyboardist), Dave Farrell (bassist), Brad Delson (guitarist/co-producer), and Joe Hahn (DJ/visual director). In addition, they have introduced their new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong and new drummer and co-producer Colin Brittain.
In an interview with Billboard, Farrell said, “In the midst of it, we didn’t know where it was going. I sincerely didn’t know if it was going to be something completely different than Linkin Park or a new version of it. In my head, I would shut down when I started asking myself, ‘OK, well, if this is new stuff, then how do you play old stuff?’ Mike was talking earlier about him doing music [after Bennington’s death] — I was the opposite. For a long time, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do any music. That hurts. I want to avoid that.’ It took a while to get to a stage where I started feeling like this is actually energizing. And that was the shift for me, where it went from like, ‘Is it Linkin Park? Is it something else?’ Emily feels like Linkin Park, Colin feels like Linkin Park. The six of us working together, figuring stuff out — that’s energizing, and I want to keep doing it. It was like filling a battery instead of draining it.”
Standing in the Forum, as the lights began to dim, and with fans screaming at the top of their lungs, Linkin Park was so back.
As if the energy in the Forum couldn’t get any more electric, the scratches on Hahn’s turntables began to take over the speaker, the synthy unique tones that gave the band their originality crept in and the drums and guitars started. All around, screams, cheers and cries erupted from fans who had waited years to hopefully see them back together again.
Then, Shinoda sang, “When this began, I had nothing to say, and I get lost in the nothingness inside of me. (I was confused) and I let it all out to find that I’m not the only person with these things in mind.” The words from “Somewhere I Belong” lingered in the air while fans absorbed them, and as immense smiles took over each band member’s face, the song was only fitting. They were exactly where they belonged – back onstage making music.
With passion and excitement, the band immediately followed up their opening with “Crawling.”
The question on everyone’s minds: Was Armstrong going to be able to keep up and hit the screams that have made this Hybrid Theory track such a classic? The answer: F* yeah she was! By the end of the about three-minute song, exhilaration was floating around the room and consuming almost every single person.
“There is so much to this band — this is a very, very important band to this world,” Armstrong told Billboard. “I’m on cloud nine, but then it hits you that there’s a lot of work to be done. And going into these [older] songs, by a singular voice that’s beloved by so many people — it’s like, ‘How do I be myself in this, but also carry on the emotion and what he brought in this band?’ That was the work that I had to do. The feeling, the energy, was already there as we were doing the album, so it’s just incorporating that feeling. [I had] to identify what the song meant to me as a singer, not just as someone listening to it. You got to marry the technical part and the emotion. It’s Chester’s voice, and it’s mine, but I want it to still feel the way I feel when I listen to the song, because that’s what the fans love. There is a passion to it that I’m hoping I can fill.”
What Armstrong is hoping to achieve is what she is accomplishing so far. She is keeping the authenticity of the band while still honoring Bennington and herself in the process. It is also extremely refreshing and inspiring to see a woman lead a rock band. It is not common to see that. For her to step in and absolutely crush it is adding to the powerful line of women who have and are currently paving a way for others within the rock industry.
When looking at the stage, fans may also recognize one of the original band members is missing, Delson. In a recent statement, the guitarist informed fans that he would be stepping back from live shows and touring. “Over the years I’ve realized I thrive most when I’m actively working with my bandmates behind the scenes – in the studio, collaborating on our new music, and helping build our live show,” he said. Within his statement, he also introduced who would be taking his spot on tour, Alex Feder – who is filling in marvelously onstage.
The rest of Act I within the show consisted of “Lying from You,” “Points of Authority” and “New Divide.” It ended with the band’s new song, “The Emptiness Machine.”
It was at this part in the show where fans got a glimpse into what the new version of Linkin Park would sound like.
The track began with Shinoda’s voice, and it almost felt like everything was on the line. He kept his calm tone, but it did not last long as the buildup with the instruments made their way in. Cue the drums, followed by keys. By the end of the chorus, Shinoda’s voice took on an echo and the guitars strikingly hit, bringing in this intense yet riveting instrumental of pure rock n’ roll.
Let you cut me open
Just to watch me bleed
Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be
Don’t know why I’m hoping
For what I won’t receive
Falling for the promise of
The emptiness machine
The emptiness machine
It was not until the second verse when Armstrong’s voice was introduced. Filled with a gritty rasp and a steadiness, Armstrong sang the lyrics as she stood in the middle of the airway shaped stage. When the chorus came back around, she screamed and sang with a mighty force that wowed. Jaws dropped across the arena and the entire place went bananas, joining in and screaming along with her. She had nailed it!
At the end of the track, the band left the stage to get ready for Act II. As they disappeared, a sense of understanding and appreciation hung in the air for the six. Fans all around started conversing about Armstrong and the new song. “She fits the band!” “Wow! I can’t wait to hear more of their new songs!” “It still sounds like Linkin Park!” People were impressed and craving for what more the band had planned up their sleeve. In this moment, Linkin Park had shown their hometown that they were the same band. While there may be differences, they are still very much the band the world has come to know and love them for. Just like the bridge of “The Emptiness Machine” says, “I only wanted to be part of something,” everyone standing in that room that night was now officially a part of something – the epic return of a cherished band.
Linkin Park ran back onstage with exuberance. Lasers of red and blue circled the room, lights lining the stage sparked and smoke continued to flow from the stage’s edges. Within Act II, “The Catalyst,” “Burn it Down,” “Waiting for the End” and “Castle of Glass” were played. Hahn and Shinoda also each did their own individual solos. While Hahn tore it up on the turntable, Shinoda performed “When They Come for Me” and “Remember the Name.” They ended this act with “Lost in the Echo,” “Given Up” and “One Step Closer.”
Although there has been lots of controversy on Linkin Park’s return, when looking around the Forum that night, it seemed as if everyone’s doubts and hesitations were slowly vanishing. Although questions still remained and an unreleased album was on the horizon, nervousness was being combated by utter euphoria. By the halfway point, looking at the original band members, you could visibly see that the joy that coursed through the veins of thousands of fans standing around the arena was simultaneously coursing through theirs too. And if you have been a part of the LP fandom for a while, you couldn’t help but feel proud of the band and how far they have come. While the world may have missed Linkin Park, it was evident that they, themselves, did too.
“There’s a big amount of life that’s been lived on our end and on the fan base’s end,” Farrell said in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “In the process of all that, I am so excited to share this whole thing with them again. As a musician my favorite thing is that interaction and that connection with your audience. I love this connection first and foremost,” he points to his bandmates, “but then I love to go share it. But I also have permission for our fan base to form their own opinion. It’s okay for them to land wherever they land on it. Obviously, I will speak for all of us, we want them to be in the journey. It’s an open arms event where we are like, ‘Hell yeah! Come on in!’ because we are having a great time and this is an awesome place to be. But respectfully, I know it’s a lot. I know a lot [has] gone down. I know there’s a lot of feelings. Different people process that differently. Even amongst the six of us, we’ve processed things differently. I want to give space and respect to that and just have an open invite.”
The band kept Act III short and sweet. They performed “Lost,” “Breaking the Habit” and “What I’ve Done,” keeping the energy high. But within Act IV, the feelings Farrell had mentioned were prominent. Act IV began with Shinoda emerging from the darkness and standing at his keyboard under a spotlight. He began to sing a beautiful rendition of “Leave Out All The Rest.” The crowd quickly joined in, singing with Shinoda in unison. The moving lyrics of remembering someone after they leave this world had created a special moment within the arena that sent chills down spines. There was no doubt that the loss of Bennington was being felt by all. It was beautiful and felt healing to hear thousands of fans come together under one roof with their band to sing such gorgeous heart-wrenching lyrics they all related to. While tears were shed, Shinoda sang the last line and led the band into an acoustic and slower paced part of the concert.
In the remainder of this act, the band sang “My December” and “Friendly Fire.” The latter of the two had never been performed live within the band’s history until this moment. They finished off the act by bringing the energy back up with their iconic songs “Numb,” “In the End” and “Faint.” Then, with all the lights going dark, the band exited the stage.
All I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
Didn’t look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Tryin’ to hold on, d-didn’t even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
Be a memory of a time when
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn’t even matter
But no show is finished without an encore! Especially when you have everyone on a music high, itching for just one more second of rock bliss.
As if on cue, a synthy beat began. Lights began to turn on and strobe around the arena in a circle to the beat. As the beat picked up momentum and speed, so did the lights. And for one final time of the night, Act V, Linkin Park made their way back to center stage. Within seconds, the familiar sound of “Papercut” began playing. Screaming encompassed the Forum once again. The band continued by surprising fans with another song that had never been done live before, “Keys to the Kingdom.” They closed out the show with “Bleed It Out.”
Linkin Park received a standing ovation after playing for over two hours. Clapping, cheering and other signs of respect were cascading throughout the audience. After a couple of minutes, Armstrong, Brittain, and Feder made their exit from the stage. But original members Shinoda, Hahn and Farrell remained. They took in the moment, beaming with smiles. They waved at fans all across the arena from the front row to the tip-top nosebleeds. They threw guitar picks, leftover paper setlists and any other possible object they could to the fans in the pit. For about five extra minutes, they showed their fan base appreciation.
“I was texting with the band after the Forum show and we were euphoric for 48 hours,” Shinoda said on The Tonight Show. “To be this many years in and to feel that genuine adrenaline and excitement and happiness – there’s nothing like it.”
Leaving the Kia Forum that Wednesday night you could feel all the emotions in the chilly Los Angeles air.
Thousands of fans had just reunited with their favorite band, each other and music that has made an impact on them since the late ’90s – the happiness was purely contagious.
The From Zero World Tour has shows in New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul and Bogota with special guest grandson on select dates. But the band recently announced three additional shows in Paris, Dallas and São Paulo with special guests Sleep Token, Bad Omens, Jean Dawson and Helmet.
Their new album From Zero is set to release November 15. The album includes “The Emptiness Machine” and their latest single released on September 24, “Heavy Is the Crown.”
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Stream: “Heavy Is the Crown” – Linkin Park
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