August 21, 2025 - Nashville, TN: From Zero World Tour 2025

Image credit: @rick_kimball927​

After ten years, Linkin Park is finally making their return to Music City! After two dates in Pennsylvania, the band is making their way south to Nashville to headline at Bridgestone Arena. This marks their sixth performance in Nashville, and their fourth at the downtown arena, which they've played on every one of their headlining stops in the city, albeit under a new name each time they've visited previously.

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Nashville also holds a special distinction of being the recording spot for one of the only studio tracks in their catalog recorded outside of Los Angeles. "My December," after being written and programmed by Mike while on tour in October 2000, was recorded in Nashville for the KROQ charity Christmas album The Real Slim Santa while the band stopped to play a show in the city. Using a studio in Midtown Nashville owned by Warner, The Loft, the band finished writing and recording the song to send off to KROQ. They did all tracking and mixing for this song in just the short time they had in the city, with the help of Nashville producer, engineer, and songwriter Joe Hand. Check out the LPAssociation recent retrospective/research piece on this, as in October it will be 25 years since that recording was done!

Photo of the now-demolished building where The Loft recording studio was located, on the second floor. Linkin Park recorded "My December" there in October 2000.​

While "My December" may be the most enduring legacy Nashville has with Linkin Park, there are also several live shows to look back on as well. The tour date that brought the band to Nashville when they recorded "My December" was part of the Kottonmouth Kings Ridin' High Tour. Linkin Park opened for Kottonmouth Kings at the now-defunct 328 Performance Hall, just a block away from the venue where they will be playing tomorrow. Joe Hand, after working the band's session for "My December," also attended this show, and during our conversation with him distinctly recalled a moment at the end of the show when Mike and Chester both dove into the crowd, disappeared entirely, and then reappeared surfing back to the stage. The vocalists had run out of hands for crowdsurfing, but the crowd took care to get them on the ground safely amidst the chaos of the moshing, and then sent them back to the stage to finish out their final song. Nashville Southern hospitality, I suppose!

No official setlist has ever surfaced from the October 10 date in Nashville, but it's very likely that it followed similarly to the band's other shows on the Ridin' High Tour, opening with an abbreviated "Cure for the Itch" leading into "Papercut," and closing with "One Step Closer." Additionally, as this was during the period when the band could not afford to have a second guitar rig onstage logistically or monetarily, it is certain that neither "Crawling" or "Pushing Me Away" would have been performed that night.

Linkin Park's performance on October 11, 2000, in Springfield, Missouri, the day after their performance in Nashville, Tennessee.
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The next summer, in 2001, the band returned to Nashville again for a festival performance at the AmSouth Amphitheatre in South Nashville neighborhood of Antioch. This date was part of the "Big Day Off" series that took place on Ozzfest off days, and featured Linkin Park alongside Slipknot, Papa Roach, Disturbed, and Mudvayne.

Nashville saw the band return yet again for the Meteora touring cycle, moving up from the club stage to the arena scale with the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Now headlining for their 2004 Projekt Revolution tour, the band brought along P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year as support on this tour, and delivered a strong set, opening with an extended intro to "With You" and including Meteora heavyweights such as "Don't Stay," "Lying From You," "From the Inside," and "Numb."

The band's set at this time also included a few dives into their hip-hop side, with full performances of "It's Goin' Down" and "Nobody's Listening." A lucky Nashville fan named Dallas was chosen to play guitar on "Faint" toward the end of the main set, and the band opened their encore with "My December," performed in Music City for the first time a little over three years since it was put together at The Loft. The band closed their Nashville set with a one-two punch of "A Place for My Head" into "One Step Closer," joined onstage by the vocalists of all three of their support bands for the latter.

Linkin Park's full 2004 performance in Nashville, from the LPLive YouTube archive.​

The band again included Nashville on their touring schedule for their 2008 North American tour, returning to the same venue where they previously appeared, though at this point it was now known as the Sommet Center. The band once again performed "My December" during this set, though this would be the last time they'd perform it in the city where it was recorded. This particular live recording of "My December" was officially released by the band on the Songs from the Underground compilation later that year, and then later again for the digital compilation to celebrate ten years of the Linkin Park Underground fan club, A Decade Underground.

The commercially-released audio of the band's 2008 performance of "My December" in Nashville.​

The band's 2008 set in Nashville opened with "What I've Done," featuring an intro listed on setlists as the "AMBO" intro, using the synth harmony parts from the final chorus as an extended intro. Also included in this setlist was the rare "Valentine's Day," and the band once again closed their set with "A Place for My Head" and "One Step Closer." Mike entered the pit during the beginning of "A Place for My Head" to greet fans and perform from there!

"A Place for My Head" performed in Nashville for the 2008 North American tour. Overlaid with soundboard audio.​

Linkin Park would not return to Nashville again for another seven years following their 2008 performance, skipping over the city during the A Thousand Suns and LIVING THINGS cycles. However, with The Hunting Party, the band returned to Nashville in mid-January as the second stop on their 2015 North American tour. The Sommet Center had now become Bridgestone Arena, the name it still holds today, and the band debuted a new rotation set that night. Two notable additions were "From the Inside" and "A Place for My Head," brought into their curated setlist featuring staples from across the band's discography.

The full performance by Linkin Park in Nashville for the 2015 North American tour.​

Now, after 10 years, Linkin Park returns Bridgestone Arena yet again. They have continued their dominance across North America since returning stateside with Chicago last Monday, and at this point it seems the band is sticking to a particular pattern for their setlist rotation. Setlists have followed their standard A-B-C rotation in order, as well as the new rotation for closing songs and for "CASTLE OF GLASS" and "LIES GREED MISERY." Each show the band switches between the two options. Pittsburgh saw the "standard" version we've come to expect so far in 2025, with "CASTLE OF GLASS," as well as "In the End" and "Faint" closing the main set, while "Heavy Is the Crown" and "Bleed It Out" closed the encore.

Linkin Park's performance of "Numb" in Philadelphia, featuring the "Control Colin" gag for the intro.​

Nashville is landing on a Set C rotation and on the alternate setlist switch, meaning it's likely that "LIES GREED MISERY" will be played and "Faint" will close the encore. With Set C, we also typically see "Points of Authority," "IGYEIH," "Stained," and "Let You Fade" rotated in—though Montréal's second night, also a Set C show, did get a rare appearance from "Keys to the Kingdom" over "IGYEIH."

The second night in Boston featured Setlist C, with "IGYEIH" in the "heavy" rotation slot of the main set.​

Linkin Park's show on Tuesday in Pittsburgh featured "Cut the Bridge," "Lying From You," "Given Up," "Good Things Go," and "A Place for My Head" in the set's main rotation slots. One particularly interesting moment came when Mike brought out one of his deepest-cut verses during his solo mashup to date: a verse from "Richard Bachman," from his 2021 mixtape Ziggurats. The crowds in Pennsylvania for the past two shows were exceptionally enthusiastic, and hopefully that energy will continue on to Nashville!

The band opening their Pittsburgh set with a performance of "Somewhere I Belong."​

A few fans are also hoping to see the return of "My December" for Nashville, since it was recorded right here in Music City almost 25 years ago. Both LPAssociation and LPLive have been busy on social media trying to drum up support for this idea—please feel free to join in and tag the band with #MyDecemberInNashville to show your support!

With livestreaming 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!

Are you attending the Nashville show at Bridgestone Arena? Head over to our official LPA Meetup Thread to let us know if so! We would love for you to share your photos and videos with us on Instagram or X @LPAssociation. Be sure to come and discuss with us on our forums!

Upcoming Shows:
Aug. 23, 2025: St. Louis, MO
Aug. 25, 2025: Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 27, 2025: Minneapolis, MN
Aug. 29, 2025: Omaha, NE
Aug. 31, 2025: Kansas City, MO
Sep. 03, 2025: Denver, CO

 

The crowdsurfing anecdote is really cool, another nice piece of history.

Watched random bits of the 2015 show, and got to say, I was surprised again how much Wastelands rocks live. That vintage filter on Mike vocals give them a strong street/old-school hip hop flavor, really cool stuff. Never been my favorite song, but it's got some bones. Would be cool to see it appear once or twice again.

@Christøffer have a proper blast at the show, you've earned it!!

Also, obviously expecting a full review afterwards

 

@Christøffer have a blast! And also: qwertyyyyy

 

Can’t wait for this show tomorrow!

 

Watched the IGYEIH performance, this may be my favorite rendition of the song so far!

 

I had fun!

Finally got the chance to see the band after all these years and it was so good. We were right behind the barricaders on the long side of the stage and were right where Mike came down on the WTCFM/RTN transition. Migrated to the pit after the end of that in anticipation of IGYEIH and that was absolutely the right call. The contrast in energy was night and day (I have some thoughts about our neighbors for the first part of the show...) and that was awesome, even if it sacrificed the view a little. Not sure if I like the 360 setup for the floor experience though tbh.

I took my cousin along who got me into the band (and rock music generally) in 2009 when he showed me Faint. It was his first time on the floor for a show and his first time at any rock show. He was a little uneasy about moshing but the energy of the people where we moved got to him and he hopped in the pit with me for Faint. It was a great full circle moment for both us. He loved it and had zero regrets.

People were talking about My December before the band's set, then it came on over the speakers and the whole arena cheered and started singing it. While I was holding out hope for a performance, it was still an amazing moment. I'm glad they did that. It's Nashville's little piece of LP history.

It sounded great to me. Emily sounded incredible on the bridge and ending. As soon as that countdown hit zero everyone was losing their minds. My friends in the upper seats said it was definitely the most chaotic pit song from their vantage point, more than even Two Faced.

 

This performance is INCREDIBLE. They've gotten a lot better at this song, and shout-out to whoever recorded the video. I feel like they love the song like I do, they knew where to point the camera and when.

 

I mean, IGYEIH didn't get its proshot video on Youtube yet - I think we've got a more than decent contender now.