When lead vocalist Chester Bennington died in 2017, many people expected that his group Linkin Park would call it quits.
Instead, the group took a prolonged break from the public and tried to figure things out.
The SoCal nu-metal act would re-emerge in September 2024 — things very much figured out — with the addition of Dead Sara co-founder Emily Armstrong sharing microphone duties with Mike Shinoda.
Linkin Park then followed two months later with “From Zero,” the group’s eighth studio outing — and its first with Armstrong — which has been both a critical and commercial success.
The Linkin Park comeback continued with a winning show at SAP Center at San Jose, which drew a massive crowd of some 17,500 fans — a good 2,000-3,000 more than a typical SAP sold-out concert — on Monday night (Sept. 15). The added capacity was made possible by the group’s decision to go with a 360-degree “in-the-round” setting, which allows for seating on all sides of the stage and vastly more tickets sold.
Of course, all eyes were on Armstrong in San Jose to see how she would attempt to fill the huge shoes of Bennington, the famously shrill-voiced vocalist who died by suicide.
Wisely, Armstrong didn’t overtly try so much fill Bennington’s shoes as she did attempt to cut her own distinct path on vocals during the group’s 26-song set. She adopted a much-more melodic approach to the vocals, especially earlier on in the show, than what one got from Bennington. As the evening went on, however, she’d up the ante and deliver her own brand of howls and screams to some of the band’s best-known songs.
As powerful as Armstrong was on the microphone, however, she just couldn’t top the chorus of voices from the crowd. At times, it felt like all 17,500 people in the building were chanting along, at top volume, to the music, underscoring just how strongly these songs of angst and alienation continue to resonate with generations of listeners.
There was a strong contingent of 30-and-40 somethings, people who likely bough Linkin Park’s classic rap-rock debut — the diamond-certified “Hybrid Theory” — on CD when it first came out in 2000. But there were also a bunch of younger fans in attendance, ones who have latched onto the band due to its continued relevance and popularity in the mall-rock world.
Taking the stage just after 8:30 p.m., Linkin Park started out in the past, powering through solid versions of “Somewhere I Belong” from the multiplatinum-selling sophomore effort “Meteora” from 2003 and the “Hybrid Theory” cut “Points of Authority.”
The group — which consists of Armstrong, vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ Joe Hahn, bassist Dave Farrell and drummer Colin Brittain — then zoomed forward to the present for “Stained,” one of nine numbers performed from “From Zero.”
In general, the new offerings — including “The Emptiness Machine,” “Two-Faced” and, especially, “IGYEIH” — sounded every bit as strong as the older material. Of course, there were some notable exceptions — in large part due to the way the crowd energy would propel the music to incredible heights on such fan favorites as “One Step Closer” and “Faint.’
The stage setup was fairly straightforward and, by today’s standards, simple — basically just a rectangular space, beneath two large video screen blocks, allowing for unobstructed views of the band from all sides. There were some neat, but somewhat underutilized, laser effects, but nothing that really impacted the overall show.
The musicians were pretty stationary for much of the night — which, of course, makes total sense when it comes to a drummer stationed at a kit or a DJ at the turntables, but not so much when you are talking about a pair of singers. Armstrong and Shinoda did far more roaming later in the evening — especially the former, who spent the last quarter of the show really racing up and down the stage.
I have been watching Linkin Park in concert ever since the band’s very first headlining tour, which brought the group to the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco in January of 2001. What I remember most about that first show was not the music, but the way the group treated its fans — spending time signing autographs, shaking hands and taking other measures to make these attendees feel important and valued.
Some 100 million albums sold later, Linkin Park is still going out of its way to prioritize its connection with fans. That was evident in San Jose when Shinoda went out into the pit, between the stage and the crowd barriers, and walked about touching hands and sharing moments with the audience. He’d even give one six-year-old fan a signed hat.
The group closed the main set with a flurry of terrific tunes, sandwiching in the new album stand-out “Good Things Go” between the all-time faves “Numb” and “In the End” before finishing off with a towering “Faint.” Linkin Park then returned for a three-song encore highlighted by the “Hybrid Theory” gem “Papercut.”
By the end of the show, one thing was perfectly clear:
This rebooted Linkin Park appears to just be getting started.
Linkin Park setlist:
1. “Somewhere I Belong”
2. “Points of Authority”
3. “Stained”
4. “New Divide”
5. “The Emptiness Machine”
6. “The Catalyst”
7. “Burn It Down”
8. “Up From the Bottom”
9. “Where’d You Go”
10. “Waiting for the End”
11. “Castle of Glass”
12. “Two Faced”
13. “When They Come for Me”/”Remember the Name”
14. “IGYEIH”
15. “One Step Closer”
16. “Lost”
17. “Unshatter”
18. “What I’ve Done”
19. “Overflow”
20. “Numb”
21. “Good Things Go”
22. “In the End”
23. “Faint”
Encore:
24. “Papercut”
25. “Heavy Is the Crown”
26. “Bleed It Out”
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.
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