After attending the 8 March Linkin Park concert with Nadia, I attended the 10 March concert by myself. A lot of the folks around me had done exactly the same: attended the first show with their partner and were now attending this second show on their own :)
Since I’d already seen most of this show once – there was a six-song difference between day one and day two – I took more photos and videos during this show than I normally would. Here are some of them.
tl;dr
I only recorded small bits of some of the songs that Linkin Park played because I wanted to spend the rest of the time in the moment. I’m much happier listening to these songs being played live in front of me than focusing on what I’m capturing my phone’s comparatively tiny screen. Anyway, I’ve compiled those clips into a single video.
LPU early entry
I’ve been a member of Linkin Park Underground (LPU), the Linkin Park fan club, since 2010, skipping only the 2022-23 year because that was when we bought a house and got a mortgage, and so I cancelled literally all my subscriptions. (Including my other long-term subscription to Feminist Frequency, which I’d had since 2012.)
One of the benefits of an LPU membership is that, if you have a General Admission (GA) ticket, you can apply for early entry to Linkin Park’s concerts. Only the first 100 LPU members with verified GA tickets who apply are selected and, because I was a little late in applying, I was #74 on the list.
Still, that meant I got to queue up with VIP ticket holders and other early-entry LPU members at 5pm on Tuesday. Doors opened for everyone else at 6:15pm, openers Polaris kicked things off at 7:30pm, and Linkin Park’s set started at 8:45pm.
Waiting in the early entry line at Rod Laver Arena
Photo of a pull-up banner outside of an arena that reads, “LPU early entry”.
We were escorted into the empty Rod Laver Arena floor at 5:30pm, a full 45 minutes before gates opened to the general public at 6:15pm – which was super cool.
Empty Rod Laver Area floor, before doors open to the general public
Photo of a large arena prepped for a concert that that is currently completely empty of attendees.
The Linkin Park team makes an effort to recognise its fan club members so, while we went about arranging ourselves along the barricade at the very front of the arena floor, our LPU avatars were being displayed on the big screen at the back of the stage.
Avatars of early-entry LPU members on display
Photo of a large screen at the back of a massive concert stage. Displayed on the screen is a logo, the text, “Welcome LPU”, and twenty stylised avatars of members of the Linkin Park fan club.
In case you’re wondering, mine is the blue one in the bottom-right corner of this photo :)
Early-entry LPU member avatars on display behind the stage
Photo of part of a large screen at the back of a concert stage. Displayed on the screen is a logo, the text, “Welcome LPU”, and ten stylised avatars of members of the Linkin Park fan club. In the bottom-right corner is a blue-skinned character with a beard and eyeglasses who is wearing a khaki-and-orange industrial-looking hoodie.
A new era for Linkin Park
One of the coolest things about the latest evolution of Linkin Park is how their audience has evolved right along with them. When I attended their show the last time they were in Australia, which was in December 2010, I think around 40% of concert attendees were women. In this new era of Linkin Park, easily 50% of attendees were women or non-binary. That was true on the arena floor as well.
There was also a difference between the Sunday and Tuesday shows. When Mike Shinoda asked for a show of hands on Sunday, about one-third of the crowd indicated they’d attended a Linkin Park concert before, while two-thirds were attending their first one that night. He didn’t repeat this question on Tuesday, but it felt like those numbers were reversed and we had a greater proportion of long-term, die-hard fans in attendance. (Tuesday being a school night also meant there was fewer children there.)
The vibe was different enough on Tuesday that there was a good amount of crowd surfing going on. Even Emily Armstrong crowd surfed for a bit :) I hadn’t noticed any crowd surfing on Sunday, thought that might have just been me not paying enough attention.
Concert etiquette, behaviour, and security practices have come a long way since 2010 because, when Linkin Park performed in Melbourne back then (which was also at Rod Laver Arena), there were clear signs telling us that, “Moshing and Crowd Surfing is NOT PERMITTED”!
Photo of an area with seats rising up to the back wall. A sign attached to the barrier at the front of the seating area reads, “Moshing and Crowd Surfing is NOT PERMITTED”.
Fast forward to 2026 and concert security were constantly making sure folks on the arena floor stayed hydrated at all times – regularly passing down water in paper cups, for example – and they were super efficient at helping crowd surfers get down safely once those folks had made it all the way to the front.
Before the event kicked off, tour management also came by and talked to us about what to expect during the show – like the mosh pit that’s formed during Two Faced – and what to do if we weren’t feeling well.
All told, it was an excellent experience on the arena floor. But then – much like the members of the band itself – Linkin Park’s fans are, on average, more considerate and, frankly, nicer people. At least in my experience.
Video show-and-tell
Speaking of how things have changed from 2010 to 2026, I made a video to show some of the differences between the two live performance.
Aside from the permanent line-up changes – with lead vocalist Emily Armstrong replacing the late Chester Bennington and drummer Colin Brittain replacing Rob Bourdon – their songs are now played in a different key to suit Emily’s vocal range and Alex Feder is their touring lead guitarist because Brad Delson prefers not to go on tour.
Just like the band’s concert technology, my filming technology has also received a massive upgrade. Back in 2010, I was recording video in 720p resolution on a 2000s-era Canon IXUS 120 digital camera. In 2026, I’m recording in 1080p using my Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone.
The 2010 audio from my Canon camera was completely unusable, by the way. Its tiny microphone could not handle the concert volume and absolutely could not handle the bass! Fortunately, back in the day, LPU members who could show evidence they’d attended a particular concert were able to purchase an audio recording of that show. This was audio recorded straight off the mixing console. This approach obviated the need for any bootlegging recordings and also made the band a bit of additional revenue. I’d bought this recording for the show I attended in 2010, and so I was able to used this in my video instead of the crappy in-camera audio :)
One of the best shows I’ve attended
Here, finally, are some of my photos from Linkin Park’s performance.
Mike singing
Photo of musician Mike Shinoda on stage with a guitar slung across his back while he sings into the microphone that he is holding.
The massive video screens directly above us
Photo of two massive rectangular lighting rigs attached to the roof of an arena. Along the side of these lighting rigs are massive video screens that are showing members of the band that is performing on the stage below.
The joy of standing so close to the confetti canon
Photo of an arena showing a wall of pink and purple confetti that has just been blown out of confetti canons arranged in front of a massive stage.
Those canons really do launch that confetti across the whole arena!
Photo of an arena showing a wall of pink and purple confetti that has been blown out of confetti canons arranged in front of a massive stage. The confetti is floating above the thousands of people standing on the arena floor.
Emily and Mike encouraging fans to sing along
Photo of musicians Emily Armstrong and Mike Shinoda standing on platforms built on top of a stage at an arena concert. Emily is singing into the microphone she is holding while Mike is pointing his microphone at the crowd in front of him, encouraging them to sign along.
Joe taking photos of the crowd
Photo of musician Joe Hahn taking photos of the crowd while his fellow band members perform on stage at a arena concert.
Me in the background of Joe’s photo
I only took a couple of selfies at the show but neither turned out very well. Happily, you can see me (wearing the black face mask) in the top-left corner of this photo that Joe Hahn took and then posted on his Instagram account.
Photo of a woman screaming in delight while wearing a Linkin Park hat. The woman is standing at the barricade at the very front of an arena floor. Directly behind this woman is a bald man wearing glasses and a black face mask who is looking up at musician Mike Shinoda as he raps into his microphone.
The main focus of Joe’s photo is Irene, the LPU member who was gifted a Linkin Park hat signed by the entire band. I was right behind her when this happened and took a video of it, which I later sent to her and she posted on her Instagram :)
Mike rapping while standing on the barricade directly in front of us
Mike is the one who presents this gift to a fan every night, and here’s the photo I took of him rapping to start the next song. Yes, he is standing on top of the barricade that’s directly in front of us.
Photo of musician Mike Shinoda rapping while standing on top of the barricade at the front of an arena floor.
The whole band in one photo
Photo of musicians Mike Shinda, Emily Armstrong, Dave Farrell, Joe Hahn, Alex Feder, and Colin Brittain performing on stage at an arena.
Fantastic laser light show
Photo of a three-dimensional laser and large-screen light show around the stage at an arena concert.
Dave doing his thing
Photo of musician Dave Farrell playing his bass guitar on stage at an arena.
Emily doing her thing
Photo of musician Emily Armstrong singing as she looks down into members of the audience from an arena concert stage.
Bass, rhythm, lead guitar
Photo of musicians Dave Farrell, Mike Shinoda, and Alex Feder – bass, rhythm, and lead guitarists, respectively – performing at the front of an arena stage.
Emily connecting with at a fan
Photo of musician Emily Armstrong pointing at a fan as she walks towards her during an arena concert.
Lights turned all the way up after the end of the show
Photo of a massive arena stage with all its white lights turned on. The concert has ended and all the musicians have left the stage.
The crowd behind me, right after the show ended
Photo of thousands of people standing on an arena floor at the end of a concert, with several thousand more seated in chairs all around the arena. Rod Laver Arena can hold over fifteen thousand attendees during concerts.
Confetti’s gonna confetti
Photo looking down at an arena floor that has no people on it, but is full of pink and purple coloured confetti. The photographers shoes, legs, and shorts are visible in the bottom of the photo frame.
So that’s that.
I’ve been in GA crowds several time over the years, but this was probably the most fun that I’ve had in one. It helped that all of us early-entry people were avid, even nerdy, Linkin Park fans and we quickly made friends with the folks around us. When you’re jumping up and down, squeezed between your neighbours, with the bass pounding and confetti flying, it’s good to know the names of the folks around you and that you’ll all look out for each other over the course of the night :)
