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Linkin Park has uploaded the highly-anticipated first LPTV installment covering their most recent From Zero tour leg which took them to Australia and New Zealand just this past month. This was the band's first time in these countries since (respectively) 2013 and 2010, with unfortunate circumstances of all kinds preventing them from visiting again until this year.

Unsurprisingly, the run proved to be one that won't soon be forgotten, with considerable setlist twists and turns night-to-night, some of the arena venues hitting new milestones thanks to Linkin Park coming through, and Mr. Hahn's birthday during the March 15 show in Sydney. There were also, of course, unforgettable From Zero Night experiences for Linkin Park Underground members, featuring exclusive merch access, exciting raffles and even some fan karaoke.

With all this in mind, it's hardly a surprise that one LPTV episode isn't enough to cover the highlights from Linkin Park's AU / NZ tour. Among other things, this episode features the band members attempting Australian accents, footage of "Casualty" being performed for the one and only time all tour during the first Brisbane show, and the thing we all came to see: Linkin Park befriending the local wildlife during their visit to the iconic Australia Zoo in Queensland.

There is also footage of the Linkin Park x Deus Ex Machina pop-up event in Melbourne which was on during the band's time in the city, with Colin Brittain making a surprise appearance to meet the fans shopping there. The episode closes out with fantastic shots of Emily Armstrong diving into the crowd during "Two Faced" at the second Melbourne show, the only stagedive of the entire tour.

As this is titled "Part 1" (the "Part 2" seen in the video's title card is an error, it would seem), there will be at least one more episode covering this tour leg to look forward to.

Source: Linkin Park on YouTube

Linkin Park's Colin Brittain appears in a new video uploaded by Braba, a Brazil-based YouTube channel focused on drumming content. When it comes to featuring musician profiles of this kind, Braba seems to mainly only cover South American drummers, making Brittain a rare and certainly very prominent exception. The featured interview here was filmed while he and the band were on tour in South America towards the very end of last year, a tour leg which prominently featured dates in Brazil. Excerpts from this video have been posted by Braba steadily throughout the past few months.

Source: Braba on YouTube via @Qwerty19

Just a week after the previous episode was released, we finally have the episode looking at the last track of the deluxe edition of "From Zero" this time we're focusing on 'Let You Fade'.

The episode takes us through the song's evolution, starting in October 2023 at Mike’s home studio with Phoenix and Emily. We get to see some early vocal tracking where the band experiments with the emotional delivery of the track. By May 2024, Mike and Brad are seen discussing the song's direction. We get to hear a snippet of a acoustic version of the song. They debate the structure of the song, and Mike also goes over the lyrical twist in the bridge that flips the listener's perspective on the entire song. Finally we jump to October 2024, the full band is back in Mikes studio, working out the details of the song, far before even announcing the special edition of the album that it would end up on.

And just like that, we're done! We now have LPTV episodes for all songs on the album, including the deluxe edition songs! This hasn't been done before with a Linkin Park album, and now we're just waiting on live recordings for all the songs as well, just missing 'Over Each Other', 'IGYEIH', 'Unshatter', and 'Let You Fade'!

What did you think of the episode? Come and discuss in our forums.

Source: Linkin Park YouTube

New LPTV day! While we're having to wait longer between the episodes, we're still getting LPTV episodes of the songs from From Zero, and now we're on the second to last song; 'Unshatter'! The episode only takes place in Mikes home studio throughout the years, starting with Emily recording vocals in May 2023 with Mike, Colin, and co-writer Jake Torrey. Next we jump to October 2024 where the band (excluding Brad) are discussing this and other songs to work on. We're also treated to more vocal recording, both from Emily and Mike, as well as a improvised acoustic version of the song courtesy of Colin and Emily.

Watch the episode below.

So this only leaves 'Let You Fade' to get its own dedicated episode. Are you looking forward to it? What do you think of this episode? Come and discuss in our forum.

Source: Linkin Park YouTube via @Xerø 21

Linkin Park Association member Elaine attended the March 17 From Zero Night as well as Linkin Park's March 18 show, both in Auckland, New Zealand. The following is a personal account of both events, giving us a special way to recap Linkin Park's New Zealand show and close out our Australia / NZ tour leg coverage.

For me, Linkin Park as a live act has been one I've had very few opportunities to see. Let me take you back in time a little bit. Linkin Park was on their Minutes to Midnight tour. I was in college at the time, too broke to fly to the North Island for the Auckland show. I was a young'n, still a teenager, so still at the age where I was all, "Hey, Dad, this would be a GREAT birthday present." He was like, "They'll be in town again!". Translation: "I'm broke too". That would have been my first opportunity to see these guys. They skipped us on A Thousand Suns, and came back for the LIVING THINGS tour. The problem was, I was… also broke then. "Don't worry," I'd told myself, "They'll be back", echoing the words of my dad a few years earlier.

Talk about a huge regret!

It took a lot of patience, but here, now, in 2026: they were back. After dodging us in the tour cycles for several albums, a sudden tragedy hit everyone with the loss of Chester, and my hopes to ever see the band that had been such a big part of my life since I was very young seemed fully dashed.

Well, you all know how the rest of this story goes. Rumblings of a comeback, then a massive comeback with a huge smash single, and then a world tour announcement. Naturally, I never expected them to come here, to New Zealand. I might have even made a bet about it that I lost. Well, between you and me, I'm very happy that I lost that bet. Linkin Park announced a 2026 show, and I was finally in a financial position to secure flights and accommodation for myself. Not only that, but given the nature of my relationship with them as a live act, I can't be too sure they'll be seeing us again in a hurry, so it seemed all the more urgent that I got my tickets this time around. To be extra secure I renewed my Linkin Park Underground membership for early access tickets, and also a shot at Early Entry.

Oh, there's something else I should tell you: I've never been to a concert before. I'm in my early 30s. This particular fact should make more sense to you if you consider that any act I'd like to see always visits the arena in Auckland rather than visiting me in the South Island.

To add further excitement, this tour includes local "From Zero Night" events featuring various activities, run by the band management and exclusive to LPU members. Raffles, quizzes, sometimes even karaoke. Extra fortuitous: the From Zero Night announced for Auckland just so happened to be the day before the concert, which was the only extra night I'd allocated for my trip. And I got an invite!

So all that was left was a lot of waiting. One of the things I had to wait until much closer to the event for was Early Entry. LPU has a fantastic Early Entry system. You get assigned a queue position on a first come first serve basis. I was extremely lucky– I got queue position #12. I had no idea how this would go for me, being both my first concert and my first LP concert, but the kind folks on the official Linkin Park Discord server assured me it would be enough to not only get a good spot, but to get barricade.

With that knowledge, I slept a little easier, fearing only for my feet and my bladder on the day of the show. Standing around boxed in for over three hours kind of does a number on you, if you're an anxious sort like me, and I'm very anxious. Reader, I cannot impart to you just how gutsy it was for me to go full pit barricade mode for my first ever concert. Too many unknowns, and fears that, for the sake of my feet, I would regret not getting a seat. In fact, anticipating extremely sore feet was what made me book a day ahead, so I didn't cram all that travel in on the same day as the show. I was quite lucky that it coincided with the From Zero Night, as I would wind up standing for the run of that entire event, making it a sort of dry run for how sore my feet were going to be the next day.

To add in another factor of The Unknown(™), Linkin Park didn't announce support until about two weeks ahead of the event. I was a little on edge about this as I wanted to get to know whichever band was going to be there so I could properly enjoy myself! Support turned out to be Vana, an up-and-comer New Zealand act, with only a handful of EPs to her name, currently working on getting out her first album. Naturally I did a bit of a crash course to familiarize myself with her material before the trip. An act that left me a little hot and bothered. I could best describe her style as "kink metal", very sexually forthright, combined with face-melting metal production and a cutesy-wutesy affect that also threatens violence. I've been told she's similar to an artist named Poppy, who I'm not familiar with personally.

Even travelling in your own small country, flights and accommodation are expensive. I'd only ever been to Auckland once before, to meet up with a work mate who was down from America, but thankfully that experience taught me what to expect. Namely, a massive hit to the wallet, and not enough money for merch. Still, for me, this was a bucket list kind of a trip, and that was a small price to pay.

And ‘lo, on the eve of the show, I set out on my flight. The first part of the journey lay before me.

An hour and a half later, I touched down in Auckland. Then, a bus ride, followed by a train ride, and I was at my hotel. Thanks to the delay I basically had no time left – once I checked in and cleaned up somewhat, I was back out on the streets and walking to The Tuning Fork, a venue right beside Spark Arena. Anticipating horrific traffic on the night of the concert, I'd made sure to book a hotel within a reasonable walking distance. This turned out to be a good dry run for my travel plans the next day. I stopped on the way for a quick dinner and then arrived.


There was already a small crowd of a dozen or so people here. The chatter was lively. I made for a seat, about a half hour ahead of the show, and mingled with what turned out to be someone I already knew from the Linkin Park Discord server, thus determining who I'd be spending the majority of the night with.

The conversation topics were broad. From things like favourite albums, to memories of the previous times the band had been here. There was a conversation about recording quality of old fan events, and I threw in a joke about the infamous "BURN IT DOWN" potato leak. I was a little anxious because this was my first ever band related event. Not a bad ice breaker.

People kept flocking in. I'd hear later in the night that they'd sent out something like 150 invitations. I never got a total headcount, but that felt massive. Especially when you consider, every invite contained a potential +1.

Finally the doors opened and we were welcomed in. There was quite the queue for such a small event.


Upon entering, we each received a magenta Joe Hahn pick and a black Phoenix pick. We also got a token for a free drink at the bar, which I would later find out did not apply to the special Linkin Park branded cocktails. As I did not use my drink token before the bar was closed, I am able to supply you with an image of both the (creased) token and the guitar picks.


So I waltzed on into the event and immediately I recognize someone. The one, the only, Adam Ruehmer. Yes, that Adam. Band management, band marketing. I quickly walked up and introduced myself. There was some friendly back-and-forth. I gave him a much briefer version of my story: that I'd flown up from the South Island, and this was my first ever concert. We covered a few things– how Linkin Park was responsible for me getting into music-making (here on LPA, even!), and how that's landed me a couple professional opportunities here and there, some of which led to me even being financially able to fly up and see the band in the first place. I thanked him and let him mingle with more fans, because I knew I could take up so much time just chatting.


I made my way to the bar to see a custom menu. Some very nice puns in there. I never did get to see what the watermelon one was, as it was sold out before the event even started. My poison of choice was A Place for My Margarita.



Then I found my table with the mates I'd met outside. Conversation was just as lively. The venue was playing a rotation of Linkin Park songs. There was a particularly ominous stage that could mean only one thing …


Yes, karaoke. I knew not what tonight entailed, but being a fool's fool, I spited my own anxiety and signed up for a song. Then, one of my mates at the table wanted to do a song but it needed a partner as it was a duet, and I once again signed myself up for karaoke.

It'd be a while before then. There was some food served; the food had its own pun names, but it was far too dark to snap a photo of the board, unfortunately. Both I and my table mates made the mistake of picking up a cup of fried nuggets, only to find out they were jalapeno poppers. Yikes. I only made it halfway through that one.

I did hear that one of the event's managers was going around asking for people's Linkin Park experiences, so you can expect a video of that somewhere eventually, or maybe the band keep it to themselves, who knows? I would have volunteered, but I knew I was writing this article, and I didn't want to double up.

The spectre of karaoke was looming, and would take up most of the night, so I made sure to get a photo of my table while the lights were still on. One of my mates there said that they were more of a Linkin Park Live member, but still obliged me for this LPA piece.



I completely embarrassed myself on my first song. The karaoke was so loud that I used the earplugs I'd be using at the show the night after while performing, and couldn't hear myself sing! I felt embarrassed, but not too embarrassed as I'd had my margarita. My table assured me I was fine, and that the point of karaoke was to get up there in spite of it all and just let loose, embarrassment or no. I got a lot of fistbumps afterwards for taking the risk. I did mention it was a rather different experience, doing it as part of a small group vs. in front of ~150 extremely enthusiastic Linkin Park fans. The crowd had covered me flubbing by singing along. Words cannot express how loud and enthusiastic this crowd was for karaoke. I joked with my table mates that we'd be the only ones without voices to sing with at the actual concert tomorrow!

Then there was a shocker: Adam came up on stage to do some karaoke himself! He was not alone – he invited onto the stage a Jim from New Zealand, one of the people responsible for running this event. Together, they performed "Somewhere I Belong". I recorded it. You can watch it in the embedded video right below this paragraph. Now, some apologies are necessary – my finger slipped and hit the shutter button on the side of my phone during the recording. I pressed record as soon as I could.


Some songs later, it was my time to come up on stage again and do my duet. This time, I didn't use my earplugs and, between you and me, I fucking nailed it. Mostly. I was on key and in tune right until the closing high notes, which completely broke my voice for the rest of the night, but I was so much more confident the second go around. It was worth having a do-over for the first go. So much easier to sing when you can both rein in your nerves and hear your own voice. Later that night, one of the other performers straight-up gave me a hug. He said seeing me go up on stage twice gave him the confidence he needed to stop doubting himself. No matter how badly or how well I may or may not have done, that's what matters in the end.

Afterwards, Adam took to the stage with Lorenzo and brought up a group of four to run the classic cheer-o-meter to determine the victor. The prize for the lead was a signed drum sheathe used in the recent Middle East tour. The other participants each got a Papercuts vinyl (not signed). I wasn't one of the finalists, but everyone else did such a freaking good job of it I didn't care.

Then came the raffle. The top ticket prize was another signed drum sheathe, which someone from my table won! There were a couple signed From Zero vinyls, which Adam made sure we all knew even included Brad's signature. I got a photo of the table the raffle and karaoke prizes were on before both events started.


As the event ended, Adam made sure we all stayed to get a big photo from the stage before we all filed out. The bar was closed, so I couldn't use my drink token. I made my way back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning came with some worrying signs. My left foot hurt to stand on. I'd twisted it somehow, and the feeling was more than a little panic inducing. I had nothing scheduled that day, so I went to go get breakfast, and then I had some tea in bed with my legs elevated. Tea to nurse my voice from the karaoke, which would recover in time for the concert.

Still, it was a bad step to starting the day I'd been looking forward to for months. I was worrying all the way to the venue. When I got there, I saw a line. I was wowed that people without EE were queueing up so early, and even further wowed when I realized that this wasn't the GA queue. This was the merch queue.


Yet another reason to be glad for LPU Early Entry. Outside there were disorganized lines for VIP Early Entry and LPU Early Entry. I met up with my mates from the fanclub night, and even a former flatmate who'd also made the flight up to Auckland. Time just flew by. We were let into the venue lobby, where there was a nice set of stickers waiting to greet us. (No picks! I'd have loved a couple extra picks!)


And of course, there was the indoor merch stand.


Being extremely broke due to travel, I only had the money for one thing, and there was only one thing I wanted regardless: the magnet. In fact, minuteforce from this very community urged me to get the magnet, and assured me that the magnets were very, very nice. After purchase, and after holding one in my hand, I very much agreed. This magnet is now on my fridge, a fantastic memento. I am told it is 1 in 200.


I was extremely relieved once I made my way past the merch to my queueing area. Why, you ask? There were seats. Honest to goodness seats. Large benches, a godsend before the show.


I made friends with those who would be beside me at the barricade, and we whittled away the time before the show chatting. I made some bathroom stops, knowing I wouldn't be able to once we were let in. We were ordered to organize ourselves into our queue by the venue staff, and soon enough, we were let in.

We were made to walk, not run, and assured that if we made a nuisance of ourselves we would be kicked out. We filed in up to the barrier. I could not believe how lucky I was. I was basically straight in the center. Up on the stage, our LPU avatars were being displayed in sequence. I eventually got a photo of mine, the one with cat ears at the bottom-left.


I could see the band's equipment, cloaked under sheets. To the left, I knew, was Joe's DJ rig. To the right, Mike's piano. At the back, in the middle, Colin's drum kit. Up front was the drum kit Vana's drummer would be using.


The atmosphere and pre-show tension was palpable. I made some small talk with my neighbours. The neighbour to my left was only recently a fan; he hadn't even listened to the Linkin Park Underground CDs yet. I knew I'd be able to goad him about this a little during Mike's "When They Come for Me" solo. A polite encouragement kind of goading, of course. Everyone should be familiar with "Step Up". That's how you separate the weak from the obsolete.

Then, the one and only Colin Brittain made an appearance along the barricade, before General Admission ticket holders were even let in. Lots of hooting and hollering from the crowd, lots of things signed by Colin.

And, of course, lots of panicking from yours truly. I didn't have any signable merch. This was a golden opportunity, and I was about to miss it. I already had my camera out – maybe I could get a quick shoutout?


I didn't want to keep him, but perhaps I was a little too hasty and didn't explain who we were. Massive thanks to Colin for playing along.

With that, we settled in for a little wait. General Admission was let in, and the place started getting a lot louder. If you're ever in my position, I highly advise making friends with your neighbours at the barricade. It makes the show go so much smoother, and the wait far less tense. As far as first concerts go, I feel like I did particularly well here.

Before Linkin Park, before even Vana, we got a surprise Haka performance. Neither band was involved, but it was a treat to see on the stage.


With that done, we settled in for another wait. More chatter, more nerves. I made small talk with one of the security guards, who seemed to be familiarizing himself with people at the barricade to stave off his own pre-show wait time. Seemed like a fairly chill guy and he hyped up the concert.

Then it was time for Vana. I let the first song go without my phone out so I could try and acclimate myself to the vibes of the stage. The thing that immediately floored me was the raw power of the bass. It vibrated my entire body. I felt every hit of the guitar, every thump of the kick. It was utterly overwhelming. And Vana was so close, you guys. It was as if she were standing across a table from me, though elevated. That closeness made the reality of the barricade position really hit home. I'd familiarized myself with her material before the show but it all basically went out of my head with the pre-show jitters so I did my best to headbang along and show my enthusiasm for the support.

I recorded the second song, "NOXIOUS", taken from her EP, that I remembered being an absolute banger.


One thing I will note about my phone recordings: they've all had to be downmixed to mono. Holding onto your phone at the barricade is a struggle between life and death, even putting it away in your pocket again afterwards. The pinch gestures for zooming meant my grip was changing on my phone all the time and covering where my mics were. I had an iron grip on this thing, because I knew I couldn't afford a screen shatter as I had to scan a QR code for my flight the next day. Such is the way of life.

I did feel a little sad for Vana when the most cheers she got during the night were "Who's excited for Linkin Park?!". That's the nature of support; you know people aren't here for you, but you carry on and give ‘em a good show. She was an absolute soldier for her set. Stunningly charismatic and able to work the crowd in spite of it all, with a great set to boot. She played four or five songs, with the second to last being unreleased material from her new album. Each and every song ripped, and you could tell she was very happy to be there. I highly recommend checking her out if you're a metalhead.

Then, we all settled in for another wait, the final wait of the night. Before long, and slightly after schedule, we were welcomed with a familiar sight…


Tensions slowly rose even further. A guy behind me joked, "We should do what we did in Melbourne, count down from ten every time the minutes switch over." He got the crowd going, and that was that. Every minute we counted down.


Finally, there was one minute remaining. I knew what was going to happen – I'd seen live recordings, I was extremely excited because Linkin Park always knows how to open a set. I've loved every one of their openings, my favourite being the "No More Sorrow" intro (bring it back!). Knowing this would be a moment I'd want captured from my POV forever, I whipped out my phone and proceeded to get the whole-ass opening.


I hastily put my phone away so I could fully immerse myself in the concert. I couldn't believe I was here, this close to the band that meant so much to me, the band whose live act always seemed so far out of reach. They were so on-point. I knew Emily had it rough with a cold she caught over in Australia, and any remnants of that weren't felt by me in the pit at all. She absolutely slayed it.

The next song was "Lying From You". This wasn't one of my favourites from Meteora, but I knew it was a highly wanted get from some of my friends, and instantly I could tell why: the song RIPS in a live setting. The whole crowd joining in on the "YOOOOOOOOOU" was exhilarating. I think it was after this one that I turned to my neighbour in the brief break and went, "Oh my god, I am so happy right now." Because I was. That's the story of the night, really. So much of the set blurred together in a sea of sheer glee that it's hard to pick out standout moments, because it was all standout.

The crowd absolutely popped for "Up From the Bottom". In fact, there wasn't a song they didn't pop for. Assume it's an unspoken truth throughout the rest of the set: New Zealand was loud. The band were having the time of their lives, too. Mike couldn't stop smiling. Each and every band member was dominant in their own ways. Alex, Mike, Emily and Phoenix did crowd work at all corners of the stage they could get to, meaning I got some up close and personal time with friggin' everybody.

The next song I brought my phone out for was "Points of Authority", which, again, absolutely ripped. Always loved this one, and it's even better live.


"The Emptiness Machine", one of the loudest points of the night, really just hammered home just how much of a hit the song is. Everyone sang along. I can't imagine how gratifying that is for the band, to have such a smash hit at such a mature stage in your career, even if there hadn't been a relaunch with a new lead singer.

The transitions for this live show are so killer, too. I did whip out my phone trying to get the Act II transition into "The Catalyst", but I realised I'd want my phone torch out for the bridge. Gotta have your priorities straight, folks. However, once the confetti blew out, I made sure to get some shots of it. "The Catalyst" just hits different live. It was always one of my faves, being in the pit made me love it even more.



Mike asked the crowd how many people had seen Linkin Park before– big cheers, a nice "Welcome back." Then, he asked how many people hadn't. He was surprised that there were so many. Then… "Okay, smaller number, probably much smaller… how many of you are Fort Minor fans?". Naturally, I cheered because I knew what was coming next: "Where'd You Go" - total classic - transitioning into "Waiting for the End". The crowd actually popped hard for the Fort Minor shoutout. We Kiwis know where it's at.

I figured I'd better record whatever came next, which turned out to be a nice rotation cut that I was very happy for, as it's one of my favourites from Meteora: "From the Inside". And, right after, another favourite with "Two Faced". (There's a little glitch towards the end as one of my pinch zoom gestures aborted recording– you lost about five secs there.)


That's all I could get from that night. After "Two Faced", the barricade had bunched up so tight that there was no way in hell I could get back to my phone.

Being so bunched up actually presented problems later in the night. It's hard to headbang when your shoulders are pressing up against your neck, and I didn't want to injure myself. And I'd been singing so vigorously that my jaw was complaining when I moved it too much. For about a third of the set towards the end I wasn't able to emote or participate quite as much as I'd have liked, and it made me feel bad due to being front and center in the barricade. These are all things you never realize or prepare for if you've never been to a concert before. My body was on a massive lean for the entire rest of the show, with my spine straight but my legs jutting out to the side. I basically had to cling on to my barricade position with my life. I knew I was going to pay the price for this the next day, but it was totally worth it.

None of that stopped me from enjoying the crap out of the show. I was about five people to the left of Mike when he was doing his "When They Come for Me" solo. There was someone out there with a sign that was something like "Open heart surgery soon– Mike cap for luck?". It got him the cap. Mike even remarked, "You've studied up on these shows" or something along those lines. Then, he dropped a few verses, guiding the crowd through the "Step Up" chorus; I turned to the kid next to me and said, "See, this is why you study up on the classics".

I got a high-five as Mike ran past. Then, we got what was an absolutely killer rotation song: "Unshatter"! I got the sense a lot of people didn't know this song – I made sure to sing along to every word. We were just rolling through the setlist, everything felt like it was going so fast. The "One Step Closer" extended intro was brilliant to experience in the pit. Then "Lost", followed by a track that really hammered home how awesome that night's setlist was for me: "Leave Out All the Rest". I could not believe how lucky I was. A few songs later was "Numb", and the crowd was HUGE for "Numb". You can't not sing along to it.

We actually got something pretty special for "In the End". At the start, Mike came over to Joe and started goading him on the sample triggers, and Joe responded by giving the intro a little "Enth E Nd" twist! I could NOT believe what I was hearing. Credit to Dirvinator on YouTube for capturing this moment.


That was huge for all of us Reanimation heads out there. The crowd would not stop being huge all night. "Faint", "Papercut", and then, a song I felt extreme pleasure to get as it'd been skipped a couple times due to Emily's cold, "Heavy Is the Crown". Emily ran down to the barricade and belted it out in all our faces. I missed her hand when she ran by, missing my chance at a high five, but I'd snag something much cooler later.

Finally, it was time, and no bunched-up shoulders or sore jaws could stop me from belting out and headbanging for this one: "Bleed It Out". You give that song everything you have. Towards the end, the band started throwing stuff out to the crowd, joking, "The tour's over and we don't need any of this anymore!". Emily said, "We really don't want to leave!". She threw a guitar pick out, and it landed between the barricade and the stage. A security guard near me picked it up, and everyone began begging. I slid my hand under his and he dropped it right in there. I now have a bespoke Emily guitar pick straight from the stage. I will treasure it for the rest of my life.


I can tell from the slight bend to the end that it wasn't a spare, either, but one she actually used.

Emily closed out "Bleed It Out" with "I Will Always Love You". It was Mr. Hahn's birthday a few days prior, and she busted it out there on stage for him, so it must have been on her mind, but the context of this particular night meant that it seemed directed at all of New Zealand. The band really did not want to leave. I think I shouted out, "We love you too!". I don't remember. A lot of that night is just a blur, because everything was so peak.

I actually spotted Adam on the other side of the barricade after the show was over, and got a fistbump and an "It was nice to meet you last night" as he walked by. The girl a couple people to the left of me got a setlist from one of the security guards.

We shambled out of the arena. I was personally very happy to move again and not be so awkwardly situated.


One thing was sure: I needed a drink. I headed again to The Tuning Fork, and found my table gang from the From Zero Night there. We had a chat, debriefing from the show. One of my new mates revealed he caught one of Colin's drumsticks, which was a sweet get. The DJ was playing nu-metal and pop punk hits from the 00's and everyone was singing along to the likes of Papa Roach and Blink-182. I knew I couldn't stay long, as I had a flight the next morning, so I said my goodbyes and hurried along outside.

There, I saw the merch stall queue had dwindled drastically and decided to hang about and see what I could get. In the line, I met up with my flatmate again who was extremely envious of my Emily guitar pick, and our neighbours in the line wanted photos. I also showed off my magnet, which was fortuitous as the vendors called out that there were only two magnets remaining and my neighbours eagerly snatched one of them up.

I wound up getting a shirt, and headed back to my hotel, collapsing on my bed.

There, I worked through the post-show adrenaline by debriefing with my friends online, working through some of the things I'd make sure to highlight in this very article. But I was also kind of a wreck and needed to get to sleep. It took a while. I think I only got four or five hours of sleep that night. I made sure to take some painkillers in the morning before setting out for a long day of travel home with one thought in my mind: I would do it all again in a heartbeat. And I would miss it dearly. If you ever get a chance to see Linkin Park live, especially if you have not done so before, do not miss it.

Pictured below you'll see my final, full haul. And, yes: not only did Colin give me a couple words for a shoutout, he also signed my shirt.


Words, photos and videos by @Elaine except where noted. Foreword by @minuteforce.

Tonight, on March 18, 2026, Linkin Park makes their grand return to the mysterious New Zealand, capping off a very memorable AU / NZ tour leg with a stop in Auckland, by far the largest major city in the country. Linkin Park performs tonight at Auckland's Spark Arena, a 12,000-capacity arena venue (natch) which has previously hosted the band for all their New Zealand performances except one - that's three out of four shows to date. This final show of the tour follows a series of Australian shows with increasingly-wild setlist surprises, so the bar is high to make this last one special. Playing support for Linkin Park in what is sure to be a historic event for the band and the country is New Zealand's own alt-metal goth princess Vana, set to grace perhaps the biggest stage of her young career after only having recently embarked on her first headlining tour.


Linkin Park's first time in New Zealand saw them perform at Auckland's historic Town Hall on May 8, 2001, at a time when Linkin Park mania had gone international since Hybrid Theory's release in late 2000. Earlier in the month, Linkin Park played their very first shows in Australia, following that up with their first shows in New Zealand and Japan. Opening the show was the Auckland-based nu-metal band Wash. A review of the show published in the NZ Herald described Linkin Park's set as "energetic and melodic", and highlighted frontman Chester Bennington in particular:

The vocals of Chester Bennington - one-half of a twin vocal attack - were superb and swung from vicious bark to sonorous soar. Their true quality was on display when he sang solo the Janes Addiction classic Jane Says. For a moment there I could've sworn Perry Farrell had stepped up to the mike. Perry who? Janes who?

The kids loved every minute, especially the end, when an over-excited Bennington clambered up a speaker stack, pulled himself upstairs and spent 10 minutes shaking hands and hugging his overawed faithful.

The review also mentions Linkin Park performing their hit single "Crawling" in addition to Bennington's "Jane Says" cover, making those the only confirmed songs from an otherwise unknown setlist.

The band didn't return to New Zealand again until 2007, playing two nights in a row in Auckland's Vector Arena, the venue which would eventually become known as Spark Arena, on October 11 and October 12. These shows, which kicked off the 2007 Australia / New Zealand leg of the Minutes to Midnight touring cycle, was one of the very first times Linkin Park performed at the same venue for two consecutive nights in a row. The October 12 date was initially the only one announced, but New Zealand's passionate fans caused that event to sell out within minutes (which was later mentioned more than once during the show itself); the October 11 event was then added to meet demand. On every date of the AU / NZ leg in 2007, Linkin Park was supported by the legendary Chris Cornell, who, with his band, performed a selection of Soundgarden and Audioslave hits in addition to his own solo material.

Linkin Park went all-out with rotating setlists as they went deeper into the touring cycle, but their setlists generally contained the same set of songs in different orders, serving a perfectly-even mix of songs from the band's three albums. Highlights from both nights include "Leave Out All the Rest" being played on night 1, and frontman Mike Shinoda going deep into the crowd during "In the End" on night 2. Unfortunately, not much decent footage exists from either of these shows.




For their most recent New Zealand show before tonight, Linkin Park returned to Vector Arena on February 21, 2013 to kick off the Australian / New Zealand tour, their first LIVING THINGS tour leg of 2013 and their second live event of that year. The show, where the band was supported by Stone Sour, preceded both bands being on the bill for the Australia's Soundwave festival, which would visit five major cities during the end of February and early March. Highlights of Linkin Park's setlists around this time include the Hybrid Theory fan-favourite "With You", which made a welcome return as a staple in 2012, and a new arrangement of "Waiting for the End" with an extended "UNTIL IT BREAKS" rap verse intro and a noisy, shoegaze-inspired ending. There was also, of course, a selection of songs from LIVING THINGS including "VICTIMIZED" (with elements of "QWERTY" thrown in for fun), "LIES GREED MISERY" and "CASTLE OF GLASS".



Linkin Park also held the eighth LPU Summit on that date ahead of the Vector Arena show, allowing a selection of Linkin Park Underground members a backstage tour and time with the band members. The fans at this event were able to watch the band perform five songs during soundcheck, buy exclusive LPU Summit merch and experience a Q&A where Chester Bennington uttered some interesting things that NZ fans are probably still pondering to this day. For the first time ever, portions of the Summit were livestreamed to LPU members worldwide, via a platform which no longer exists, and footage from the fan club event was made into an LPUTV episode titled "Auckland Q&A".


Linkin Park has gone through a lot even just recently to get to this point. The Australian leg which has just wrapped up was quite the rollercoaster of emotions and setlist choices, to say the very least. The most recent couple of shows in Sydney alone are jam-packed with things worth mentioning.

The first of Linkin Park's two Sydney events at Qudos Bank Arena on March 14 arrived with a shroud of uncertainty hanging over it, coming right after the March 12 show in Adelaide, South Australia had to be cancelled due to illness within the band, devastating the fans there. While the band kept fairly quiet about what this cancellation would mean for the rest of the tour leg, both of Sydney's shows did indeed still happen.

Support act Polaris of course kicked off affairs, these final two Australia shows acting as a sentimental homecoming and victory lap. Moshers on the floor clearly didn't need to wait for the headline act to come on to start having fun, with the circle pit action almost constant throughout their set.


Linkin Park once again abbreviated the setlist, this time in advance instead of on the fly, to accommodate Emily Armstrong as she continues to recover from an illness affecting her vocal performances. The early part of the set included some old-school classics with "Points of Authority" and "Lying From You".


Towards the middle, as "BURN IT DOWN" came to a finish, Mike Shinoda decided to keep the party going, holding his keyboard notes at the end of the outro and leading the rest of the band into a spontaneous jam, complete with some improvised lyrics from Armstrong. Old-school Linkin Park fans might liken the result to the short live jam version of "Pictureboard" occasionally performed in 2001. Maybe it will even be developed into something for the next album ...


Linkin Park followed this up with another LIVING THINGS cut, "CASTLE OF GLASS"; a few songs later, they threw another curveball, playing "LIES GREED MISERY" as well. This marked the first time these two songs have appeared within the same setlist on this entire tour cycle, let alone the same act having previously occupied the same rotation slot.


In the show's third act, Meteora highlight "From the Inside" appeared after also being played during the second Melbourne show. In Act 4, a rotation slot that would have contained a From Zero deep cut was omitted from the setlist as an adjustment for Armstrong. Instead, the band followed up "Numb" with ... the Hybrid Theory fan-favourite "A Place for My Head", starting with Shinoda hyping the crowd after the intro. Perhaps not quite being at full strength given her illness, Armstrong relied more on the crowd than usual throughout the night, with moments like the APFMH bridge illustrating this best.


Unsurprisingly, "Heavy Is the Crown" was then also absent from the setlist for the second show in a row, with the band going from "A Place for My Head" straight to main set closer "Bleed It Out".

Coming after two shows packed with surprises, and a redemption arc to complete, it looked pretty clear that Sydney would be in for a ride with the second Qudos Bank Arena show on Sunday, March 15. Linkin Park did not wait long to get a little wild with Set A6; after "Somewhere I Belong" and "Lying From You", the band pulled out From Zero highlight "Over Each Other" just three songs into the set, the first time it has been performed this early in a headline setlist.


Both the audience in attendance and those following along from home were naturally left wondering where "Up From the Bottom" might end up, or if it would appear at all. A few songs down, after LIVING THINGS stomper "BURN IT DOWN", the From Zero bonus track was performed at a point in the show when "Over Each Other" would typically be expected. Not only were the two songs swapped around, but "Up From the Bottom" was returned to a slot which it previously occupied as a staple of the 2025 North America setlists.

After delivering "Waiting for the End" without a hitch, Emily Armstrong continued to prove doubters wrong with a stone-cold performance of "From the Inside", here on a setlist for the third show in a row, before Sydney's moshers went all-out "Two Faced", giving the seated concertgoers quite a spectacle.


Frontman Mike Shinoda surprised longtime LP fans with an old-school pick during his medley segment, teaching the crowd the classic call-and-response for the "Step Up" chorus, before launching into the first verse, returning to the chorus ... and, then, proceeding to run a veritable Linkin Park / Fort Minor marathon with rap verses from "It's Goin' Down", "Lift Off", "When They Come for Me" (the second verse this time) and "UNTIL IT BREAKS", all punctuated with the "Step Up" chorus, before wrapping it up with "Remember the Name".

Mike Shinoda's support set over, headline act Linkin Park took the stage again to wish turntablist Joe Hahn a happy birthday, putting on Whitney Houston's 1992 classic "I Will Always Love You" (a cover of a Dolly Parton song from 1973) and having a cake brought out. In a literal throwback to 2004's Inglewood, CA show, Hahn threw his cake out to the crowd, amidst his bandmates dancing and Armstrong giving the crowd some soothing vocals over the music - a majestic moment. As Linkin Park does, they then switched up the vibe completely, charging into "One Step Closer".

The wider Linkin Park fan community is still trying to find the lucky persons who this cake landed on.

Even bigger surprises were in store for Sydney later in the set. Following "Lost", Linkin Park pulled out Minutes to Midnight ballad "Leave Out All the Rest", a move which left the Linkin Park Discord chatters in absolute shambles. This was the song's very first appearance in a setlist since 2024, when it was a highlight of the From Zero world tour sets.


Linkin Park brought it to the past again with a fan-selected disco intro for the "Numb / Encore" intro leading into "Numb", an interactive moment they haven't done in some time. They then went further back in time, with an impromptu jam which morphed into a a mash-up of "Numb" and Tears for Fears' 1985 hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", which Sydney's crowd kept going after the instruments stopped.


The band later had to pause during the intro for main set closer "Faint" due to a medical emergency in the crowd, and restarted shortly after it was resolved, with Sydney's crowd still absolutely ready to go.

For the encore segment, Linkin Park returned to the stage with Hybrid Theory staple "Papercut", and delivered yet another surprise with the grand return of what we asked for: "Heavy Is the Crown".


After missing for two shows straight, not counting the cancelled Adelaide show, the From Zero highlight was predicted by many to not appear for Sydney's night 2 either - fans who were surely relieved to be wrong. Armstrong once again took to the barricade during the bridge, so fans there could hear her ferocious screams up-close. HITC marked the sixth From Zero song to appear in night 2's set, a step up from just four on night 1 that left some FZ fans disappointed.

To put it lightly, Linkin Park will be hard-pressed to top a setlist this wild when they play the final show of the Australia / New Zealand run in Auckland tonight, but we've seen them succeed against such odds before on this very run. All bets are off in terms of what they will play tonight to cap off a very-eventful tour leg. There is one thing, however, that New Zealand fans can be confident about right now: Emily Armstrong is very much back.

After performing their one and only New Zealand show on the tour, Linkin Park will be taking a two-month break from touring, before embarking on a European run, a mix of arena shows and festival slots, all kicking off on on May 29 in Stockholm, Sweden.

This is much-hyped event in Auckland, given the scarcity of Linkin Park shows throughout the years, and they only have one show to wow the country with. Fans both in New Zealand and around the world cannot wait to see what happens.

Linkin Park’s Oceania tour is starting back up this weekend with a two-night stop in Sydney, where the band will headline Qudos Bank Arena. These will be the band’s ninth and tenth times performing in Sydney, respectively, and the final dates in Australia for the From Zero cycle, with one Auckland, New Zealand performance following this. In spite of the unexpected curveball of Adelaide’s cancellation, the band looks poised to come back for their final dates in Australia with as much vigor as their previous ones.

The band will be taking the stage back-to-back at Qudos Bank Arena, which opened in 1999 as the Sydney SuperDome and is Australia’s largest indoor venue. Opening for them—as they have for all the previous dates in Australia—is Australian metalcore act Polaris. These Sydney shows will also be a homecoming of sorts for Polaris, who hail from the Sydney rock and metal circuit. The band’s inclusion of Polaris as part of their show gives these Sydney shows especially a local angle, and they are sure to give great performances for their return to their home city.

Like the rest of Australia, Sydney has not seen Linkin Park in over a decade, but before that did receive at least one visit per album cycle. Their first Sydney appearance was also their first time ever performing in Australia, on May 2, 2001, when the band played the Enmore Theatre. At the time, they were still a rising act on the heels of Hybrid Theory, and stopped in for a three-date Australia run with support from alternative rock band Sunk Loto, hailing from the state of Queensland.


The set featured every song from Hybrid Theory save for “Cure for the Itch,” as well as deep cuts “High Voltage” and “And One.” One of the most iconic pieces of lore from this show came from Mike Shinoda tour diary: the crowd’s intensity reportedly caused part of the floor to sink into a visible circular depression during the show. Quite an encouraging way for the band to start their live career in Australia.

Linkin Park returned to Sydney on October 11, 2003, during the Meteora cycle, coming back to Sydney as festival headliners for what turned out to be the final edition of Australia’s Livid Festival. The band played at all three dates of the festival across Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney that year, ripping through their Hybrid Theory and Meteora material. In Sydney, the band played a setlist quite similar to what they had played across the summer opening for Metallica, opening the show with Meteora album opener “Don’t Stay” and continuing through a setlist that quite fairly balanced their then-current two studio album. Many of the Hybrid Theory tracks included featured elements of their Reanimation counterparts worked in, with “P5hng Me A*wy” even being played in full over the original 2000 recording. That song and “Figure.09,” also part of the setlist, would not appear again after the end of the Meteora touring era. This Australia and Asia run was also the last life for “By Myself” outside of its singular performance in 2014 to celebrate Hybrid Theory’s birthday.


Sydney would see the band again for the Minutes to Midnight era, with the band returning almost exactly four years later on October 20, 2007 (overshooting by nine days). The band’s Australian presence had stepped up in a major way, with two headlining nights at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on their Australian/New Zealand run, alongside Chris Cornell. Those shows brought some of the band’s most classic live renditions of the era to New South Wales, such as the piano version of “Pushing Me Away,” a full performance of Minutes to Midnight deep cut “Hands Held High,” or the melancholic “The Little Things Give You Away” with its long keyboard intro.


Linkin Park then returned to the arena stage in December 2010 for another two-night stand, bringing A Thousand Suns to Acer Arena. These double Sydney dates were, interestingly enough, not in sequence, with two Melbourne dates in between. The later date also included the second-ever LPU Summit event beforehand, notably featuring an acoustic performance of “The Little Things Give You Away.” During that second show, two fans—brothers—were invited to play bass and guitar on “Faint,” giving Brad and Phoenix a song off. One of them, a fan frequenting the LPLive forums, also played on “Faint” several nights prior. Night two in Sydney was one of only three dates where “Iridescent” was cut during the entirety of the A Thousand Suns World Tour, likely due to the new additions of “Blackout” and “Burning in the Skies,” which had just debuted at the previous show in Melbourne.


Sydney last saw the band during the LIVING THINGS era, again for two dates, in February 2013. First came their Soundwave festival appearance on February 24, then a headlining show two days later on February 26, at Sydney Entertainment Centre, where they also played in 2007. Both dates had issues surrounding “Points of Authority,” with Soundwave having a fan injury and the headlining date featuring technical issues for both Brad and Joe. The latter show ended up being Linkin Park’s most recent Sydney performance for more than a decade. The band did not visit during the touring cycle for The Hunting Party, and nothing had been announced past the Japan shows in October for One More Light before the band ground to a halt in 2017.


After Melbourne and Brisbane getting their long-awaited return visits from Linkin Park, it is finally Sydney’s return. The previous Australia dates have not let down in terms of setlists—both “Unshatter” and “Let You Fade” returned to the setlists after fans were beginning to presume they were lost. The From Zero bonus tracks finally returned for the first time since mid-September last year, with “Unshatter” performed for Brisbane night two and “Let You Fade” for Melbourne night one. Both were last played in Portland, Oregon, and didn’t appear at all for the South America, Bahrain, UAE, or India dates.


Also returning for the first time in a while—also since Portland—was the lone representative of The Hunting Party this touring cycle, “Keys to the Kingdom.” The band rotated the song in for the “heavy” rotation slot mid-set for Melbourne’s second night, making the Portland returnees all night-after-night.


Melbourne’s second night was also plagued with some difficulties later in the set, with Emily having some vocal issues that became apparent during “Lost.” Both “Stained” and “Heavy Is the Crown” were on the setlist for the night, but were skipped for presumably the same reason, likely due to vocal challenges both songs would present.


It seems likely the issues presented at Melbourne night two were related to the illness the band announced they were cancelling their show in Adelaide for. There is a bit of irony to it, considering that Adelaide was the last Oceania date announced. Nevertheless, it seems likely that Adelaide’s unfortunate cancellation has given the band time to recover and come back for Sydney at full strength before closing out this leg in Auckland.

With live streaming becoming more accessible than ever, fans at home have been able to watch shows on social media via YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram livestreams from attendees. While we are not asking our readers to livestream the show, if anyone reading this finds a stream or is streaming it themselves, let us know so we can watch along with you!

Will you be attending this show tonight? Visit our official LPA Meetup Thread if so and let others know! We'd love for you to send any pictures or videos from the show our way as well @LPAssociation on Instagram and Twitter. Whether you're attending or not, come and discuss the show in our forums.

Remaining shows:
March 18, 2026: Auckland, New Zealand

For their next show in Australia, Linkin Park heads to Adelaide for a show at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Linkin Park has played two out of their three shows in Adelaide at this venue, in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Let’s dig in a bit to the band’s history in the city.

At the show before this one in Melbourne, Chester had broken his wrist at the start of ‘Papercut’, so at this show Mike took the time before Papercut to explain why Chester was wearing a cast and talking about it. For ’Shadow of the Day’, Mikes tech Kurt played Chester’s guitar part, coming out and joining the band on stage.


Speaking of ‘Papercut’ and other people playing guitar… in 2010 the band made the (well it would be today at least) controversial decision to drop Papercut from the setlist (absolutely outrageous!), something that they would never do today (i hope!). A recurring thing on this leg of the tour was that fans would join the band on stage and play Mike’s guitar on Faint, and that happened at this show as well.


As of now the bands last performance in Adelaide came all the way back in 2013 when they toured as part of that year’s Soundwave festival along other bands like A Perfect Circle, and Stone Sour. For this tour there were no official recordings, but we had something about Papercut in the other two paragraphs, so let’s look at a video of that song.


Most recently, Linkin Park visited Melbourne and going by the recordings, comments, and reviews, they absolutely crushed it! The general consensus seems to be that they were really firing on all cylinders to deliver two fantastic shows.

Night One:
For night one the band started off the show with the usual Somewhere I Belong, Up From the Bottom (which now seems to be permanently moved to the start of the show), and The Emptiness Machine. Sprinkled in between those songs were Lying From You and Crawling. Moving on to act two the set continued as per the usual, with the first rotation song of the act being ‘Over Each Other’. As for the other rotations/variations of the act we first saw ‘CASTLE OF GLASS’, then the ‘Lift Off’ demo verse on Mike's solo medley and ‘IGYEIH’ before the usual act ender; ‘One Step Closer’. As for the rest of the show, we finally saw the welcome return of ‘Let You Fade’ in act four, played for the first time since September 19 in Portland.


Night Two:
Oh boy, here we go, what a damn show. As always the show started with the three mainstay opening songs, now mixed with Points of Authority and New Divide. After Burn It Down in Act 2, the band decided to give Cut the Bridge its Australian debut, ‘From the Inside’ came back to the set and after that they rolled into ‘Two Faced’ like they usually do. Something that usually doesn’t happen though is that Emily went down into the crowd for the bridge and decided that now would be a good time for her first crowdsurfing moment (in Linkin Park)!


Next they pulled out ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ from its apparent retirement (along with ‘Let You Fade’ they hadn’t played it since September 19 in Portland), ‘From the Inside’ made a welcome return to the set, and ‘A Place for My Head’ made its 2026 debut. However, unfortunately ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ was a rare cut from the setlist, since it debuted at the third show after the band’s return in Hamburg, Germany on September 22, 2024. ‘Stained’ was also on the setlist in Act 3 but got cut. It’s unknown exactly why these two songs got cut, it could be Emily struggling with her voice or it could be due to time, or maybe they just didn’t feel like playing those songs, only the band knows.


After this the band heads to Sydney where they will play on the 14th & 15th before traveling to Auckland, New Zealand where they will end this leg of the tour on the 18th.

With live streaming becoming more accessible than ever, fans at home have been able to watch shows on social media via YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram livestreams from attendees. While we are not asking our readers to livestream the show, if anyone reading this finds a stream or is streaming it themselves, let us know so we can watch along with you!

Will you be attending this show tonight? Visit our official LPA Meetup Thread if so and let others know! We'd love for you to send any pictures or videos from the show our way as well @LPAssociation on Instagram and Twitter. Whether you're attending or not, come and discuss the show in our forums.

Remaining shows:
March 14, 2026: Sydney, Australia
March 15, 2026: Sydney, Australia
March 18, 2026: Auckland, New Zealand

Drumeo content director Brandon Teows promised "lots more" content in collaboration with Linkin Park's Colin Brittain, and he apparently wasn't kidding. A new video up on the drumming-centered YouTube channel sees Brittain playing through every single song on From Zero, even throwing in "Up From the Bottom", "Unshatter" and "Let You Fade" from the album's deluxe edition.

In addition to giving us drum playthroughs of every track, Brittain takes time to give Teows the lowdown behind each song, particularly providing insight on the interplay between live drums and sampled elements in Linkin Park's music. He also talks about his journey becoming a full-fledged member of the band.

This all harks back to Brittain's earliest appearance on the Drumeo channel in 2024, where he similarly talked briefly about each of the 11 standard songs heard on From Zero. Whether this is the big payload or there's still more Colin content in the Drumeo pipeline remains to be seen ...

Source: Drumeo on YouTube

Following two intense showings in Brisbane to kick off the Australian From Zero tour leg, Linkin Park is taking their spectacular show down south to Melbourne, another of Australia's major cities and capital of the state of Victoria. The band will be performing at the city's 15,000-capacity Rod Laver Arena tonight, and returning afterwards for a second round on March 10. For both dates, as well as every Australian show on this tour leg, Linkin Park is supported by one of the leading names in Australian metalcore, Polaris.

Linkin Park's history of playing Australian cities might be sparse, but the shows have been eventful and memorable more often than not, and Melbourne is no exception. The first time the band performed there was in mid-2001, on May 4, at the city's famous Festival Hall, a historic theatre-sized venue that has stood in Melbourne since 1913. This was show #2 of three Australian dates (therefore, the band's second show ever in the country) nestled within a whirlwind run during April and May 2001, a tour which saw Linkin Park hitting various new markets, while Hybrid Theory and its phenomenally-popular singles continued to sweep the globe. The tour, including stops throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe, came after a March 2001 European run where they supported Deftones, and led into the big Ozzfest 2001 festival tour that kicked off in June 2001.

To start off, this first show in Melbourne featured a lengthy setlist for that time in the band's history, and is even rumoured to be their first ever to feature an encore break. Additionally, with over 6,000 tickets sold, Melbourne's Festival Hall hosted Linkin Park's biggest audience ever at that time. Being this deep into the Hybrid Theory tour cycle, Linkin Park had incorporated non-album cuts like "High Voltage" and "And One", as well as a couple of interludes, to bolster the length of their set as they morphed into a headline act playing on bigger and bigger stages. Playing support were the Queensland-based alt-rock act Sunk Loto and Melbourne-bred hip-hop trio 1200 Techniques.

During the Meteora cycle, Linkin Park returned to Australia in October 2003 as main stage headliner for that year's edition of Livid, an Australian touring festival that ran annually throughout the 1990s and early 2000s; 2003 would prove to be its final hurrah. The festival run included a stop in Melbourne on October 12, where Linkin Park played at Rod Laver Arena for the first time. Alongside LP on this massive festival bill were Australian icons like The Living End and Little Birdy, buzzy international alt-rock acts like The White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and American hip-hop names (and Reanimation alumni) Jurassic 5 and The Roots. The band's setlist at this show is actually not known, but the band had played many shows throughout 2003 after releasing Meteora. It is widely-assumed they delivered the same setlist as was typical for the time, and which was later immortalised on Live in Texas. Most notably, this setlist featured "With You", "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" being performed with Reanimation-inspired arrangements, as well as "P5hng Me A*wy", a cut from Reanimation outright.

Four years later, in October 2007, Linkin Park embarked on another Australia run after releasing third album Minutes to Midnight earlier in the year. This time, they triumphantly filled out Rod Laver Arena for their own headline shows, playing back-to-back sold-out nights on October 14 and October 15. At this point, the band was using different setlists night-to-night, delivering mostly the same songs in different orders. They tapped the Chris Cornell to open for the entire Australia / New Zealand run that year.

The first night saw the band start off with "No More Sorrow", and featured Hybrid Theory instrumental cut "Cure for the Itch" as part of the encore segment; the second night kicked off with "One Step Closer", featuring its own show-starting intro and extra rhythm guitar muscle, and saw the band take a moment to celebrate the birthday of their front-of-house engineer Ken "Pooch" Van Druten.

But, of course, we all know what you really came to see:


During the "Papercut" intro, just a few songs into the second Melbourne set, frontman Chester Bennington leapt off the upper support stage as the band kicked in. The jump went wrong as his foot got caught in the stairs, causing him to land on his wrist and injuring it. The show was paused, and, as the resulting LPTV episode shows us, Bennington settled for just an ice pack and came back out to finish the show, going above and beyond for the audience. "Shadow of the Day", a song that required him toplay a rhythm guitar part, was cut from the night's planned set to accommodate his injury. Bennington performed the remaining shows of that year wearing a distinctive red cast.


At the end of 2010, Linkin Park returned to Australia on the back of releasing A Thousand Suns, once again doing back-to-back shows at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne as part of the itinerary. Playing support on this run was Queensland prog rock band Dead Letter Circus.

This time, the differences in setlists were a little more substantial: "Lying From You", "From the Inside", and A Thousand Suns deep cuts "Iridescent" and "The Messenger" were among the various songs rotated in and out between the two shows. The second Melbourne show on October 13 is, even today, still one of the very Linkin Park shows not to include the Hybrid Theory favourite "Papercut", a true rarity.

Most significantly, however, was the two live debuts during that second show. A Thousand Suns highlights "Blackout" and "Burning in the Skies" were both performed in full for the very first time. Elements of "Burning in the Skies" had appeared previously in the Australian tour, during the extended bridge of "Bleed It Out" during the first Sydney show, perhaps teasing its addition to the set just days later. Thankfully for us, these earliest performances of the songs were captured in the Digital Souvenir Packages the band offered at the time.


In 2013, during the LIVING THINGS touring cycle, Linkin Park headlined Australia's Soundwave festival tour, stopping in various major city venues including Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse, an outdoor race-horsing venue best known for being the venue for the world-famous Melbourne Cup Carnival every year. The band performed their own headline sideshow (branded a "Sidewave") for each stop in the Australian run, with support from another Soundwave act, Stone Sour. For Melbourne, this meant a Linkin Park show at Rod Laver Arena on February 27, a few days ahead of their festival performance. This show kicked off with "Tinfoil" and "Faint", leading into "Papercut", "Given Up" and "With You"; the setlist also featured LIVING THINGS ragers "LOST IN THE ECHO" and "VICTIMIZED" at one extreme, and the piano-driven "Leave Out All the Rest" / "Shadow of the Day" / "Iridescent" medley at the other.

That seems fairly stock-standard as a variant of the LIVING THINGS headline show, and you might think Linkin Park had run out of ways to make these Melbourne shows distinct, but you would be wrong in this instance. During the encore segment, the band gave the crowd a chance to choose between Hybrid Theory songs "In the End" and "A Place for My Head". When the audience seemed to show more support for the latter, "In the End" was absent from a full Linkin Park show for the first time since 2001. Mr. Hahn did, however, reference the song as "A Place for My Head" drew to a close.


March 1 then saw Linkin Park performing at Melbourne's Soundwave event, delivering a setlist specifically designed for festival shows which kicked off with an even more punishing run: "A Place for My Head", "Papercut" and "Given Up". The set's ending featured the trifecta of show-ending numbers, with "Bleed It Out", "Faint" and "One Step Closer", each with extended endings. And, yes, "In the End" was back in there.

After a few tour cycles in a row where Australia unfortunately did not get Linkin Park shows for some reason or another, the band is in the midst of an Australian run after 13 years, and they did not come to mess around. This tour leg started of in Queensland, with the band playing two shows at Brisbane Entertainment Center in Brisbane (natch) on March 3 and March 5. This marks the first time Linkin Park has done two nights in the city. Some highlights from the setlist of the Australian tour's very first night include rotation cuts including"Points of Authority", "From the Inside", "Casualty" and "CASTLE OF GLASS", the latter two getting their first performances for this year. Conspicuously absent, on the other hand, was "From Zero (Intro)", usually preceding "The Emptiness Machine".


Colin Brittain also got some assists during the extended "One Step Closer" intro, while Mike Shinoda drew some interesting art for a fan's tattoo design upon request ...

On March 5, night 2 saw its own rotation cut highlights like "New Divide" and "LIES GREED MISERY" ...

... but, obviously, the biggest thing to be talking about is the performance of "Unshatter" (!!) - a massive surprise for many fans in the second half of the show, marking the song's first appearance in a setlist since last September, during 2025's U.S. run.


There are quite a few songs that have appeared only sparsely on the From Zero tour setlists over the years, and "Unshatter" is certainly one. The upcoming two Melbourne shows could have room for further surprises. From Zero cuts like "Let You Fade", "Good Things Go" and "IGYEIH", as well as older songs like "Given Up" and "A Place for My Head", are all expected to appear throughout the remainder of the Australian shows. We will be finding out soon what the band has had in store for their fans in Melbourne, but, looking at the performances they've delivered in Brisbane, one thing is clear: Linkin Park is bringing their A-game to the stage for the Australian audiences.

After the two nights in Melbourne, Linkin Park moves on to a single show in South Australia capital Adelaide on March 12, before playing two nights in Sydney, where the band's entire Australia tour history started off ...

In the meantime, you can also keep up with Linkin Park Association on Instagram and Twitter, and discuss the Melbourne shows on our message board.

© 2016 The Linkin Park Association

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