Last night (September 16th), Linkin Park wrapped the U.S. leg of their “From Zero World Tour” with a sold-out performance at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The two-hour headlining set followed the tour kickoff show in the Kia Forum in L.A. on September 11th. Next, the band heads overseas for concerts in Hamburg, London, Seoul and Bogota between now and November.
These dates, as well a secret livestream concert held earlier this month, mark Linkin Park’s first performances since October 2017 when they played an all-star tribute show for their late, great singer Chester Bennington, who died by suicide in July of that year. The band’s current lineup includes founding members Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell and Joe Hahn joined by new vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, as well as live guitarist Alex Feder.
At both Kia Forum and Barclays Center, Linkin Park — playing in the round amid sci-fi lasers and projections — kicked things off with Meteora anthem “Somewhere I Belong,” and continued with a cavalcade of hits like “One Step Closer,” “Numb,” “In the End,” “Bleed it Out” and more. They also played their pop-punky new single with Armstrong, “The Emptiness Machine,” which precedes their forthcoming FROM ZERO comeback album, as well as the ballad “Friendly Fire,” from this year’s Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023). In Brooklyn, Linkin Park broke out a special surprise, ripping through Hybrid Theory’s “A Place for My Head” for the first time since 2017.
See photos from the two shows — as well as the setlist to last night’s Barclays concert — below.
The Linkin Park reunion has not been without its controversies, especially in light of Armstrong taking the place of the late Bennington. Just shortly after the band announced their return, it surfaced online that the singer was a member of the Church of Scientology, and had shown support for actor and convicted rapist Danny Masterson during his sexual assault trial in 2023. Responding to the backlash, Armstrong explained in an Instagram story that she attended preliminary hearings to support Masterson, who was her friend at the time, but realized during testimony that this had been a mistake.
“I always try to see the good in people, and I misjudged him,” she explained.” I have never spoken with him since. Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty. To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes.”
Linkin Park’s FROM ZERO is due out November 15th via Warner Records and available for pre-order and pre-save here.
Linkin Park 9/16/24 setlist:
Somewhere I Belong
Crawling
Lying From You
Points of Authority
New Divide
The Emptiness Machine
The Catalyst
Burn It Down
Waiting for the End
Castle Of Glass
When They Come for Me/Remember the Name
A Place for My Head
Given Up
One Step Closer
Lost
Breaking the Habit
What I’ve Done
Leave Out All the Rest
My December
Friendly Fire
Numb/Encore
In the End
Faint
Papercut
Keys to the Kingdom
Bleed It Out