Linkin Park's FROM ZERO World Tour: A First Timer's Experience - Auckland 2026

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 …

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!)

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And of course, there was the indoor merch stand.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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.

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"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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

 

It was very nice meeting you! And thank you for taking the courage and singing with me on stage, I'm sorry if my terrible singing threw you off

 

I barely even heard either of us up there! The crowd was so loud!

 

NGL, there were a couple "Almost"'s' with the raffle that left me on edge until it was over! I'm happy the luck got spread around, though, lmao.

I did make sure not to go with my cap, though, just in case...

 

A first show is always special. What a way to enter that world. Memories for a lifetime for sure.

 

Damn, it seems like you had a blast of a time. I am so happy for you. As someone who isn't alloweds to complain about not enough gigs its great to see that the band still tries to reach the fans wherever they are (and it is logistical possible).

What a hgell of a first time event it must have been. Meanwhile i am not sure anymore if buying the ticket for Munich isnt a mistake