Live Review: Linkin Park – ‘From Zero’ Live Stream – RED Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles

Following the unfortunate passing of Chester Bennington back in 2017, it really felt like the end for Linkin Park. Over the course of the band’s hiatus since, lead rapper Mike Shinoda – while not dismissing the idea of a reunion – stated that finding a new singer would have “to happen naturally” and not “feel like we are replacing Chester”. It was only at the start of the year that rumours started brewing that the band might be working on something when Jay Gordon, vocalist of 90s alt-rock outfit Orgy, revealed that the band were “still going for it”. While the band didn’t stop releasing music during the 7 years, the little bits fans did get were merely previously unreleased demos. Today, the band shared the news that they were back, with a live-streamed show and the release of a new single, all including their new vocalist Emily Armstrong (Dead Sara). Here’s what we thought.

In the lead-up to the show, the stream set the ambience with the chatter of the room, beams of blue light, almost appearing as a cage, surrounded the stage, as both those in attendance and the audience online waited intensely to hear the first note. As the lights went down, the audience screamed in anticipation, which quickly turned into a silence, interrupted by the electric sound accompanied by a laser beam in the centre of the stage, feeling like a new pulse being shot into the band. This was accompanied by a Requiem featuring elements of ‘Castle of Glass’ and ‘One Step Closer’. More cheers could be heard as the figures of Mike Shinoda and co entered the stage, quickly seeing the band seamlessly blend in the first riff of the band’s brand new single ‘The Emptiness Machine’.

“It’s good to see you again,” Shinoda proclaimed as the first words of this new era began. With the first verse of this song, you could have easily forgotten that the band had been away at all. It felt fresh but nostalgic at the same time, keeping that Linkin Park magic. Emily’s first appearance happened just before the second verse, kicking the live stream chat into overdrive, going faster than you could read with excitement at the prospect of the new female lead.

Armstrong’s gritty yet powerful vocal range was on full display throughout the rest of the song, feeling right at home nestled into the Linkin Park sound, and creating beautiful harmonies when put against Shinoda’s cleans. I really feel like there was no better way to reintroduce the audience to the band than with this song laying down solid foundations for the rest of the set, but now it was finally time to see if Armstrong would be able to prove herself with the Linkin Park back catalogue.

While it’s impossible not to hear these lyrics in Chester’s vocals – and therefore easy to directly compare them to it – Emily gives it her all as the band launch into ‘Somewhere I Belong’, looking both nervous and excited, she provides the audience with a fresh reimagining of the song. If this was your first introduction to Linkin Park, I find it hard to imagine anyone would be able to tell that this person hasn’t been touring with the band for the last twenty-five years.

Before the band launched into ‘Crawling’, Mike took a moment to reintroduce the members of the band to the world, notably announcing “In the role of Chester Bennington this afternoon is each of you”, this truly shows that even the band are not replacing the late musician with the new line-up, and that they understand that this is a band moving forward but not moving on. Chester will live on in the memories of every fan.

Every highlight of the band’s twenty-year career was hit over the course of the hour-long show, seeing the band diving headfirst into every song. While some of these songs will take longer for some fans to get used to in their new forms, I have no doubt that over time, fans will come to appreciate both new and old Linkin Park in different but equally meaningful ways. It was therefore extremely disappointing to see the live comments filled with those not even willing to give the band a chance in this new form. While I’m sure this is just a loud minority, I do hope Emily doesn’t get scared off by these people not willing to embrace change and give the new sound a fair chance.

Linkin Park have done the impossible, respectfully not replacing Chester, whilst still finding a new vocalist who can sing the band’s mega discography with a delivery that feels as powerful and soul-filled as her predecessor. Chester’s missing presence will never go away, but he’ll once again live on at Linkin Park’s show through his past words. I can’t wait to see this band live again, and check out what the new music they’ve been cooking for us. I’d highly recommend checking out the V.O.D. of the livestream on the bands YouTube for yourself.