Linkin Park in Boston – July 31, 2025

In 2017, the Legacy of Linkin Park came to a screeching halt, when frontman Chester Bennington took his own life. The band was scheduled to begin a tour right here in Massachusetts, a mere week later. As Linkin Park laid dormant, seven years went by. Co-frontman Mike Shinoda has had other projects in that time, but rumors began to swirl that Linkin Park would rise from the ashes. One rumor was that instead of trying to find a direct replacement for Chester, the band would bring in a female vocalist. That turned out to be true, and in September of 2024, the band announced that Emily Armstrong, who’s other band Dead Sara we covered back in 2012, would be joining the band. They played a handful of shows very soon after the announcement, and a couple months later released a new album, From Zero.

That brings us to 2025, as the band embarks on their first full North American tour with Armstrong. The band rolled into Boston with two shows at TD Garden. The band first announced August 1’s show, which sold out almost immediately. They followed up, adding a show the night before, and while it did not quite sell out, the building was very full.

The show kicked off with PVRIS, who as a Massachusetts based band, gave special attention to how great a tour this was to play on, and how special of a night it was to play at the Garden. 

Around 9 o’clock, Linkin Park hit the stage, with their iconic hit “Somewhere I Belong.” They followed that up with “Crawling,” which was the first song that really gave Emily a chance to sing leads and show us what she’s got. I was a little disappointed, as she let the crowd sing most of this song. I get it, as we all want to sing “Crawling” anyway. A song like “Given Up,” which they played much later in the night, she sang every word, and rocked it, may have left a better first impression.

All that said, when she was singing, I thought she did a great job. It’s very different from the Linkin Park that many of us grew up with. I am glad they didn’t pick a Chester soundalike from a Linkin Park tribute band, and decided to go this different direction.

The setlist feature a good mix across the band’s catalog, with their original hit “One Step Closer,” newer singles, like “The Emptiness Machine,” and everything in between. The final six or seven songs were especially fantastic, with the encore being a heavy hitter combo of “Papercut,” “A Place for my Head,” “Heavy is the Crown,” and finally, “Bleed it Out.”

The death of Chester Bennington hit me hard, possibly harder than any other celebrity death had. When the new era of Linkin Park was announced, I knew I would be at a show. The only time I ever saw Linkin Park was opening for Metallica in 2003. After high school I grew out of the band for a while, but after a decade or so, I was ready to see them again. When we covered them in 2014, I was out of town and unable to make the show. In 2016 they were supposed to play in Providence, but the tour was canceled when Chester broke his leg. Ultimately, the band never returned to New England. I think I was expecting to feel some catharsis from the show, and for whatever reason, I didn’t really find myself emotional during it. I am glad, however, that I saw the show. That final batch of songs certainly solidified me on the band continuing on like this.

Emily will never be Chester Bennington, I’m sure nobody knows that more than she does, but with the Boston Garden nearly double sold out, it shows that there is still an audience who wants to see these songs performed!

Photos by Brent Goldman for TD Garden