May 10, 2025 - Columbus, Ohio: Sonic Temple 2025

Credit: @amigoandco on Instagram​

Linkin Park has just wrapped up another leg of arena shows and is now heading into their big festival run for the summer! Until their US arena show in Brooklyn on July 29th, the band will be playing multiple festivals in Europe, while playing sets of arena shows in between.

However, before Linkin Park heads over the Atlantic, they have two festival dates in the United States. These will be their first US festivals since the band's return—though originally this was to be with the ill-fated Sick New World festival in Las Vegas in mid-April, which was cancelled. Instead, the band's US festival comeback will be with Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, hosted in Columbus, Ohio, and put on by Danny Wimmer Presents, the same promoter/organizer responsible for US rock and metal festivals such as Louder than Life, Aftershock, and Welcome to Rockville. Welcome to Rockville will also be the band's next stop after Sonic Temple, before heading to Germany to perform in München, Bayern (Munich, Bavaria) for the 2025 UEFA Champions League final kickoff at the end of this month.

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The band is headlining day three of the Sonic Temple festival. They will follow previous night headliners Korn and Metallica, the latter of whom will also be playing a second headlining set for the final night of the festival, advertised as "no repeats" from their first set as with the current M72 World Tour. Also of note is that Incubus, slotted to play just before Linkin Park on the main Temple Stage, very recently cancelled their performance for the festival due to an illness in the band. It remains to be seen if this shift will affect Linkin Park's time slot at all.

While this is Linkin Park's first appearance at Sonic Temple, they have performed at the festival's direct predecessor, Rock on the Range, previously. Danny Wimmer Presents replaced Rock on the Range with the new Sonic Temple festival starting in 2019, with a break during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning in 2023. The band performed for the 2015 edition of Rock on the Range while supporting The Hunting Party.

That 2015 performance, which introduced a new full-length setlist, fired off with a "Papercut" opener, followed by the return of "Rebellion." The band also debuted a shortened live version of their second collaboration with electronic producer Steve Aoki, "Darker than Blood." Notably absent was Brad Delson for personal reasons, with his spot filled in by his guitar technician Benjamin Chandler.

"Rebellion" performed at Rock on the Range 2015, featuring Benjamin Chandler filling in for Brad Delson.​

Outside of Danny Wimmer festivals, the band hit Columbus many times in their early history, starting in December 2000 as opener support for Papa Roach's Master Bay tour. The band performed in Columbus a total of seven times throughout the Hybrid Theory and Meteora cycles, and then once more in 2008 supporting Minutes to Midnight. At this February 2008 show, Chester performed the full "Given Up" scream for the last time in his tenure with Linkin Park.

Fantastic edit syncing DSP audio of Linkin Park's full 2008 Columbus performance with fan videos.​

This past US leg of the From Zero tour has been full of surprises and debuts so far. Over the course of the past six arena dates, the band has debuted the remaining three full-length songs off From Zero. "Cut the Bridge" debuted in full in Tulsa, after its bridge had been used in an extended "Bleed It Out" bridge section in late 2024; "Stained" was played for the first time in Baltimore; and "IGYEIH" was debuted in Raleigh, with Emily performing the bridge from within the crowd, right in the middle of a moshpit.

A recording of the "IGYEIH" debut in Raleigh from the seats; you can see Emily in the crowd a little better!​

"Up from the Bottom," the lead promotional track from the upcoming deluxe edition of From Zero, also debuted at the beginning of this arena leg. It has been a setlist staple so far, performed at all six previous dates.

"Up from the Bottom" from Grand Rapids, Michigan.​

Other notable additions to the set for this past leg have included a shortened version of the Fort Minor single "Where'd You Go," as well as the addition of several different Mike verses into his solo medley, including Fort Minor's "Petrified," his verse from the Nick Catchdubs remix of "SKIN TO BONE" featured on Recharged, and "Step Up" from the band's 1999 EP. Long-time live staples have also been rotating in and out fluidly, such as "Lying from You," "Points of Authority," "Given Up," and "A Place for My Head."

Hot off the heels of many Linkin Pork tacos, the band delivers a well-cooked "Lying from You" in Austin, Texas.​

Tracks off From Zero have also been in rotation, with "Over Each Other," "Stained," and "Good Things Go" all switching places; "Cut the Bridge" swapping with "Lying from You" and "Points of Authority;" and "Casualty" switching with "Given Up," "Keys to the Kingdom," and now "IGYEIH."

The live debut of "Stained" in Baltimore, Maryland.​

As this is only the band's second festival date since returning to touring—the first being Soundstorm in Saudi Arabia this past December—it's hard to predict what their setlist at Sonic Temple will look like, especially with all the changes they've made in just under a month. Linkin Park may do something similar to the shortened set for Soundstorm, dropping some of their more mellow or unconventional pieces such as "The Catalyst," "CASTLE OF GLASS," and the Mike and Joe solo segments. They certainly have rehearsed a lot of material they can choose from!

Remaining Shows for this Run:
May 17, 2025: Daytona Beach, FL - Welcome to Rockville

With livestreaming becoming more accessible than ever, fans at home have been able to watch shows on social media via YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram livestreams from attendees. While we are not asking our readers to livestream the show, if anyone reading this finds a stream or is streaming it themselves, let us know so we can tune in with you!

Are you attending Sonic Temple and catching Linkin Park there? Are you attending any other shows this year? If so, have you let people know in the meet-up thread? Come discuss in our forums.

 

Awesome post!

Arena shows > festivals, let's see how rock / metal gigs welcome the new LP.

That said, the good part is that we'll get proshot livestreams soon enough (if not now, in June I guess)

 

They didn't cut very much from the setlist! Pretty awesome.

Missed opportunity to bring "Heavy" back out to troll another rock and metal festival

 

Leaving this one here, as display of the crazy pits, and how Mike was really fueling it as well.



I love how this era keeps killing it with the live shows.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/SonicTempl...e_else_think_linkin_park_was_fucking_amazing/

Another good review from Reddit!

Apparently the crowd was extremely rowdy too, from what I'm reading. Shorter people were not happy.

 

So apparently Mike gave a little speech before "Casualty", talking about how records label usually have certain ideas about what songs they think should be singles, but he and the rest of the band had a favorite they really wanted to play live, a "chill, really mellow ballad, that Emily is going to sing for you now".

Classic troll Mike

 

They did an interview while there, just Colin and Mike. A lot of the same things that have been said before, like about the band's origins and the double entrendre of the name of From Zero. Joe pops in to say he doesn't like interviews. A pre-chorus shaker sample on "Points of Authority" is apparently a sugar packet. Little bit of talking about Colin's current production role versus Mike's and discussion on Emily's drum kit-diving history as well, as it relates to her antics for the "IGYEIH" debut.