It’s been seven long years since the tragic passing of Linkin Park vocalist and music legend Chester Bennington. For fans, it’s been seven years of grief, uncertainty, and swirling rumors concerning the future of the band and who might be up to the task of taking Bennington’s place. But this September, Linkin Park officially came back in a big way, with the surprise announcement of a new lineup, new music, and new shows booked all the way through into the next year.

Emily Armstrong of Los Angeles rockers Dead Sara is the new vocalist of the band, joining founding members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, and Dave “Phoenix” Farrell. Original drummer Rob Bourdon is the only member who opted not to return, being replaced by Colin Brittain, while Delson will not be performing live with the band, choosing instead to stay behind the scenes while Alex Feder takes over guitar duties onstage.

It’s certainly been quite a shock to both casual listeners and even hardcore fans of the band, and it naturally hasn’t come without its fair share of controversy and comment section wars. But this new era of Linkin Park is already all in and forging straight ahead, with their first song featuring Armstrong and Brittain, “The Emptiness Machine”, earning them their highest-charting single since 2009’s hit “New Divide”. A new full-length album is also coming sooner than anyone might’ve expected: From Zero, the first Linkin Park album in seven years and the first without Bennington and Bourdon, is scheduled to release on November 15th of this year. 

As a final surprise for everyone, the band also announced the first batch of concert dates for the ‘From Zero World Tour’, all of which have been selling out within minutes. Starting with a secret show exclusively for their fanclub, Linkin Park Underground, on September 5th that was live streamed across various platforms, the band played to a packed house at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles less than a week later on the 11th, followed by an equally historic gig at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on the 16th.

The shows gave fans their first chance to see the brand new lineup and music in action, accompanied with one of the most impressive stage and lighting designs of the band’s illustrious career. The arena productions are entirely in the round, allowing audiences to watch the band from every angle, and thanks to a smart placement switch halfway through the show, there really is no bad seat in the house. The sets themselves are also some of the longest the group’s ever played, with everything from Hybrid Theory classics to rare B-sides and beyond stretched across the two hour show.

Linkin Park’s stop in Brooklyn was especially notable, as despite the band playing dozens of concerts across New York throughout their various tours, they had somehow never played its most populated county before. Fans basically took over the entire block around Barclays Center as they poured in from all over, emerging out of subway tunnels and Ubers to either line up early, grab some exclusive merch, or hit up one of the area’s many bars.

Shirts, hats, pants, pins, tattoos, and more from every era of Linkin Park covered the streets and surrounded the arena. For the thousands there, many of whom had even traveled from overseas, communion was finally about to be back in session. While the diehards had their treasured list of LP shows they’d attended throughout the years, for many others this was their first ever chance to see their favorite band and songs performed live, original lineup or not. They might’ve been the most excited of all.

The doors opened and grandson got the evening warmed up with a fun set that included the Mike Shinoda track he featured on, “Running From My Shadow”, as well as favorites from across his discography like “Riptide” and “Blood // Water”. “Are you ready to be a part of music history tonight?” he asked the crowd as they began to fill the building from top to bottom. Once grandson was done and the audience properly hyped, the main event had arrived.

The lights went down and after an emotional opening salvo of “Somewhere I Belong” and “Crawling”, the newly revived Linkin Park launched things into the stratosphere with heaters like “Lying From You” and “Points of Authority”. The crowd was ready to sing their hearts out to every single word. Even the nosebleed sections made themselves heard as the band went through their numerous hits and fan favorites, including a surprise performance of “A Place For My Head” that got several mosh pits revved up across the floor section.

The new members of Linkin Park brought much more to the table than simply performing the songs well. It’s refreshing to see Armstrong, Brittain, and Feder allowed to let their own personalities shine onstage rather than just being used as hired guns. Armstrong proved any doubters wrong that night with her immense talent and positive energy, strolling across the stage with a smile on her face as she took in and experienced the passion of a Linkin Park crowd. She nailed the variety of difficult vocals that a lot of the band’s songs require as well, screams and all - the kind of powerhouse voice that you need to even get close to matching what Bennington brought every night.

Brittain, meanwhile, delivered a number of nasty fills throughout the set that showcased his particular groove and beat, even collaborating with Mr. Hahn for a jam session at one point and adding a ton of flair to the usual tightness that LP drums have. He’s a far showier performer than Bourdon ever was, which might make the songs sound different but also provides them with a bit more energy. The same goes for Feder, who offered up some fun onstage moves that showed the musician was unafraid to get down and take center stage more than once. If anything, his guitar needed to be turned up louder.

“Thank you guys so much for your support on the new music.” Shinoda said to the audience during a brief pause. “We are dying to play more of it for you but we can’t tonight, we can only play you one song. Because of you this song has jumped to the top of our Spotify, Apple, everything so thank you, your support has been mind blowing.” And with that they launched into “The Emptiness Machine”, the New York crowd already singing along to the brand new song and cheering for Armstrong when her part came in.

There were countless cathartic moments to be found that night in Barclays Center. From proud parents bringing their kids to their first Linkin Park show, to old friends reuniting in the mosh pits after years spent apart, to deafening sing-a-longs with iconic songs like “In the End”, “Faint”, “One Step Closer”, “What I’ve Done”, and so many others. It was always going to be an emotional evening, but the sheer range and amount of passionate responses to the band and their music - cheers, tears, laughs, screams, and everything in between - was almost overwhelming. The opening notes of “Numb / Encore” were even dedicated to the city of Brooklyn, which was met with plenty of enthusiasm.

“We had an amazing time with you tonight.” Shinoda shared as the night began to reach its end. “We have a new record coming out and we can’t wait for you guys to hear it. We put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this and we’re looking forward to this next chapter. We are so grateful that you’re here tonight and already a part of it.” He took in the sold out arena one last time. “We love the signs, we’ve got welcome back signs, shout outs to Chester…” the frontman suddenly spotted a fan in the front waving something. “Is that your art? Can I see it?” He brought it onstage for everyone to see: a drawing of Bennington, singing into the microphone. The crowd let out a roar, and the band closed out the show with a high energy, impassioned performance of “Bleed It Out”.

The sounds of Linkin Park fans partying and shouting the words to the same old songs could be heard for hours afterwards. Every TouchTunes within a ten mile radius must’ve been queued up with Linkin Park tracks for the next week. The celebrations were so raucous that Shinoda himself began sharing videos of fans dancing and singing outside of the venue, encouraging his followers to send any more his way. The community that this music has created has grown far larger than the band themselves at this point, something that’s stretched across the entire globe and brought people together from all walks of life. That day in Brooklyn was a strong testament to that fact, and an even stronger indication for just how bright the future of Linkin Park might shine.

Linkin Park continues their ‘From Zero World Tour’ with shows in London, Seoul, and Bogotá this year with more dates set to be announced for next year.

From Zero will be released November 15th.