Linkin Park officially kicked off its comeback mini-tour Wednesday night on September 11 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The show featured the band performing a two-hour set in a very rare 360-degree circular setting, allowing for a unique production as well as a greater-than-usual number of tickets sold at the venue. However, vocalist Mike Shinoda had a blooper.
Mike Shinoda blooper
A video clip has surfaced on social media where Shinoda ran into a mic stand in one solo vocal spree during the medley “When They Come for Me/Remember The Name.” The performer took his own energy as a positive.
“That was my favorite part of the night,” Shinoda said, smiling.
Linkin Park’s September 5 one-hour global livestream of a concert in Los Angeles, the Kia Forum gig had introduced new singer Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, who have joined returning members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and Joe Hahn in the band’s new lineup.
Guitarist Alex Feder was filling in for Delson for the livestream and the Kia Forum show and will continue to tour with Linkin Park for the foreseeable future instead of Delson.
Armstrong, the co-founder of alternative rock band Dead Sara, showcased an impactful performance with her raging vocals, fearless stage presence and black booted-stage strut from the fittingly titled first song, 2003’s “Somewhere I Belong” to OG Linkin Park classics “Crawling” and “Lying from You.”
During “The Emptiness Machine,” Armstrong held her microphone to the air to exhort the crowd to sing along with the new lyrics. During “Burn It Down,” Armstrong smiled as if she had been performing the song forever.
Linkin Park’s 26-song set at the Kia Forum kicked off with “Meteora” cut “Somewhere I Belong” and included “Hybrid Theory”-era track “My December” and “Keys To The Kingdom”, the opening song from 2014’s “The Hunting Party” album.
The band also played its new single, “The Emptiness Machine”, which was released last week. The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album “From Zero”, which will arrive on November 15 via Warner. It will mark the band’s first full-length effort since 2017’s “One More Light”, which was the last Linkin Park album before the death of lead vocalist Chester Bennington.
The setlist for the Kia Forum show was as follows:
01. Somewhere I Belong
02. Crawling
03. Lying From You
04. Points Of Authority
05. New Divide
06. The Emptiness Machine
07. The Catalyst
08. Burn It Down
09. Waiting For The End
10. Castle Of Glass
11. Joe Hahn Solo
12. When They Come For Me / Remember The Name
13. Lost In The Echo
14. Given Up
15. One Step Closer
16. Lost
17. Breaking The Habit
18. What I’ve Done
19. Leave Out All The Rest
20. My December
21. Friendly Fire
22. Numb
23. In The End
24. Faint
Encore:
25. Papercut
26. Keys To The Kingdom
27. Bleed It Out
