by Andrew Calvio

Linkin Park returned to Austin Saturday night kicking off the US leg of their From Zero World Tour marking their first visit since October 14, 2000. The night was stacked with hits reimagined through a new voice while still calling back distant memories of the glory years.

Opening the show was Canadian rap rocker Grandson. His high energy set was marred by an unfortunate short somewhere in the sound system which kept feeding static into the speakers. To add to the technical issues, the placement for the video screens was not well thought out. They were placed directly behind the large columns of speakers that hang down from each side of the stage. If you were not directly in front of the stage, then you could not see. Issues aside, Grandson put on a great show that got the crowd moving and laid the foundation for the headliners to build on.

Linkin Park came out swinging in Act I with hits “Somewhere I Belong” and “Lying From You” from their 2003 album Meteora. Stepping into the arena that night many fans were curious to what the new Linkin Park would sound like. Would singer Emily Armstrong try to imitate Chester Bennington or would she be able to stand out and form her own identity? Respectfully, as the chorus for “Crawling” came, she pointed the mic into the audience and the whole arena took over from there. It was a good sign that there would be a compromise that fed everyone in the building. Mike Shinoda expressed it perfectly between songs saying “different is hard for some people.”

The second act of Linkin Park’s set had even more beef. It started with “The Catalyst” which sparked an unprompted lighting of the arena with cell phones as Shinoda and Armstrong sang “lift me uuuup, let me gooo.” It was one of those moments that made you stop to soak it all in. During this portion of the show Emily mentioned that it was her “Austin debut” marking her first visit to the capitol city. As a little treat, Shinoda announced the next song was added to the setlist by request before they moved into a cover of Fort Minor’s song “Where’d You Go.” Here, Armstrong was able to showcase her talent by demonstrating her ability to be sweet without growling.

In order to keep the Linkin Park brand young and fierce, the crowd was encouraged to open the pit during “Two Faced.” Naturally they obliged and bodies started smashing around joyfully causing temporary chaos. The old fans in the seated areas looked on and smiled while remembering how much fun that once was. They closed Act II with the song that launched Linkin Park into mainstream success “One Step Closer.” This was probably the loudest portion of the night as everyone had their moment of pleasure belting out the lyrics “Shut up when I’m talking to you!”

Act III and IV were much more compact while still packing a punch. A good mixture of classics with new songs sandwiched in between closed the night. The highlight was when Shinoda asked a front row attendee for a number between 1 and 10. The response was seven which indicated how spicy the drum intro for the song “Numb” would be. Drummer Colin Britain did not disappoint as he created some pretty crazy fills to roll into one of their most well known songs. To keep momentum, they finished with “In the End” and “Faint.” This was their classic peekaboo moment where rock bands walk off stage leaving everyone craving more. After a couple of minutes of aggressive cheering, they came back to put a seal on the evening. The band played a four song encore, finishing with new song “Heavy Is The Crown” followed by “Bleed It Out” from 2007’s Minutes to Midnight.

Love them or hate them, Linkin Park put on an unforgettable show at the Moody Center. The stage lighting and the use of lasers to interact with the video screens was top tier. Emily Armstrong will probably never be able to fill Chester Bennington’s shoes, but that’s OK. Tonight she showed the world that she doesn’t have to be like anyone else. She can be comfortable being herself as the front woman of Linkin Park. We appreciate that.

“But In the end, it doesn’t even matter.”
RIP Chester.

Setlist

Act I:
Somewhere I Belong
Lying From You
Crawling
New Divide
The Emptiness Machine

Act II:
The Catalyst
Burn It Down
Up From The Bottom
Where’d You Go (cover)
Waiting For The End
Castle Of Glass
Two Faced
Joe Hahn Solo
When They Come For Me/ Until It Breaks/ Remember The Name
Casualty
One Step Closer

Act III:
Lost
Over Each Other
What I’ve Done

Act IV:
Overflow
Numb
In The End
Faint

Encore:
Papercut
A Place For My Head
Heavy Is The Crown
Bleed It Out