Words: Ben Kelly
Linkin Park, they are finally back and what an incredible way to do it. After confirming their comeback on September 5th a 6 date tour was announced with one date in the UK being at London’s O2.
However, with the unfortunate passing of band member Chester Bennington it was obvious that some changes would have to be made, and a new vocalist would be needed. This led to Emily Armstrong being bought in from her previous band ‘Dead Sara’. This sparked a lot of controversy with a lot of fans being worried that she wouldn’t live up to Chesters’s legacy, but what a spectacular job she has done at proving them wrong. Throughout their London set you could sense the pure emotion and energy she was putting into it even being spotted shedding a few tears at some points. Great levels of crowd involvement were also provided during the set with both Emily and Mike Shinoda continuously moving around the stage with Emily even going into the crowd for their biggest hit ‘In The End’.
Aswell as playing all their biggest hits from the past, two songs off their upcoming album ‘From Zero’ both ‘Emptiness Machine’ and ‘Heavy is the Crown’ (released the same day) were both played by the band. If these two songs are anything to go off, we are in for a treat when the album releases on November 14th .
Something else a lot of people were impressed with, including myself, was the
incredible stage setup with it being placed directly in the centre of the arena. This
allowed for it to feel a lot more intimate for anyone in the standing pit with a good
view of the band no matter how far back you were, with a majority of the seating also
giving a great view.This is just the start of something new and extremely exciting for Linkin Park with so much more to come. What can we see being announced next? A new tour? Festival announcements? Who knows but whatever it is we can’t wait.
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