Image credit: @radnomadvisuals on Instagram Linkin Park returns to Chester's hometown tonight for a show at the PHX Arena! The band is back in the state after nearly 10 years, for the first time since November 1st, 2015 when the band rocked the first (and to date, the only!) edition of the Monster Mash festival in full-on zombie makeup. The band has rocked the PHX Arena 4 times already, back when it was named the "American West Arena", and later "US Airways Center". Their last performance at the arena came in September 2014, on the Carnivores Tour with Thirty Seconds to Mars and AFI. Tonight's performance will be the band's 21st in Arizona, but only the 20th under the name Linkin Park! Here's a photo of Hybrid Theory rocking out in May 2000 during their first show in Arizona, contemplating changing their name to "Plear". Yes, you heard that right. Can you imagine spending time on plearassociation[dot]com? Thankfully, they landed on "Linkin Park" just a few weeks later. Credit: Linkinpedia In April 2003, less than a month after the release of Meteora, the band was already on the Projekt Revolution 2003 Tour - playing new songs in the American West Arena, which they will step back into tonight. The portion of the show before the encore was recorded by a fan in the stands, and you can view it below. A special moment happens before "Papercut", as Mike is warming up the crowd and he tells Chester "...welcome home", sending the crowd into a frenzy. Fast forwarding to 2014, the band was back at the arena, then renamed the "US Airways Center". Check out a video of the show opening with The Hunting Party lead single "Guilty All the Same". Seriously, can we have this one back for a show or two? This song still sticks out as a unique moment in the band's discography 10+ years later. The band's most recent Arizona show came in November 2015, when fans were treated to a wild and unforgettable sight: the entire band decked out in full zombie makeup, tearing through a 90-minute set. The night leaned heavily into The Hunting Party era, packed with the raw energy of that record alongside hard-hitting favorites from their first two albums. Luckily, the moment lives on in full HD — check out this performance of Papercut from that Halloween-themed night! Turning our attention to the present, the band is continuing their world tour, one year and one day after they stepped back onto the stage and Mike greeted us with "it's good to see you again". It was in this moment that we were introduced to the newly regrouped Linkin Park - featuring Dead Sara frontwoman Emily Armstrong on lead vocals, Colin Brittain on the drums and Alex Feder filling in on the guitar for the Big Bad Brad. Remember how new and strange it felt? Only a year later, this new Linkin Park has been around the world, playing all the old favorites and nearly everything from the new album - "From Zero". Take a look back on the reintroduction of the band and the first performance of "The Emptiness Machine" below. At the PHX Arena, the band will likely be playing the "A" version of the setlist that was last seen in Omaha on August 29th. It seems the band has given up (hah!) on the rotation of Lies Greed Misery and Castle of Glass which they've been doing throughout the North American leg of the tour, in favor of the latter, performed along with opening act Jean Dawson. Take a look at the performance of "Castle of Glass" from the band's most recent show in Denver. After tonight, the band takes a well deserved week-long break before heading back to their home state of California for 3 shows in Los Angeles, San Jose and Sacramento. Are you attending the show tonight? Come discuss it in our forums! Upcoming Shows: September 13: Los Angeles, CA September 15: San Jose, CA September 17: Sacramento, CA September 19: Portland, OR September 21: Vancouver, BC September 24: Seattle, WA
One year and one day past the comeback show is nuts, can't believe how fast it went. Going to go on a wild guess, and say that Unshatter could get its debut tonight. Let me be naively wrong but who knows ...
SETLIST: - ACT 1 (INCEPTION INTRO A) - 01: Somewhere I Belong 02: Lying from You 03: Up from the Bottom 04: New Divide - Short Moscow intro 05: The Emptiness Machine - ACT 2 (CREATION INTRO A) - 06: The Catalyst - Shortened (no third chorus; no breakdown) 07: BURN IT DOWN 08: Cut the Bridge 09: Where'd You Go - Shortened (intro, first verse, and first chorus only) 10: Waiting for the End - 2024 intro 11: CASTLE OF GLASS - with Jean Dawson 12: Two Faced 13: Joe Solo - with Colin 14: Mike Solo Medley - "When They Come for Me", "UNTIL IT BREAKS" verse 1 and "Lift Off" demo verse, & "Remember the Name" mashup; with Colin 15: Casualty 16: One Step Closer - 2024 intro & outro - ACT 3 (COLLAPSE TRANSITION) - 17: Lost - Hybrid version 18: Over Each Other 19: What I've Done - ACT 4 (KINTSUGI TRANSITION) - 20: Overflow 21: Numb - "Numb / Encore" intro 22: From the Inside 23: Heavy Is the Crown 24: Bleed It Out - Extended bridge with "Reading My Eyes" verse 1; extended outro - ACT 5 - ENCORE (RESOLUTION INTRO A) - 25: Papercut - Extended intro 26: In the End 27: Faint - Extended outro