Linkin Park Announce N. America Summer Tour Presale

Their setlists are pretty high energy and they still play a lot of songs from the first two albums and MIke said they aren't replacing the old stuff with the new stuff.

 

Goodness, since when did people become so touchy about even jokes. Learn to lighten up.
Seems like one cannot even make jokes these days without someone getting all uptight about it.

 

I went to Coldplay's concert earlier this month, and Coldplay is a pop rock band lately largely leaning on pop & R&B. And I can for sure say it was energetic, fun, beautiful and one of the best concerts I've been to. Chris Martin has been in the gig as long as Chester's been singing, and sure their voices have aged and weakened, but Chris still sounds fairly good despite having lots of falsettos in songs compared to Chester's voice damaged by yelps and screams.

Now, I know that Linkin Park is still great live (as evidenced by their recent performances, esp that Echo Awards performance wow), but I'm just saying pop concerts can still be enjoyable. Going to a pop concert is a completely different experience from going to a rock concert, and it's largely based on preference. So yes, it's ok for you to think that pop concerts and their new album are lame, but it's not cool to just insult them by telling them to "shove it" and brushing off pop concertgoers like me as nonexistent. They don't owe you anything.

Also I'd like to give props to the band for promoting a heavy alt-metal album like The Hunting Party with a DJ set, several EDM songs (Castle of Glass, Robot Boy), a hip hop set (RTN, Welcome, Numb/Encore), and kicking off their encore - typically reserved for their biggest songs - with "Waiting for the End". Also same goes with their 2014 sets with Blackout, DOYS/Lying from You and Wretches and Kings/Skin to Bone. It seems that for a tour set for heavy shows, that's the time they decide to incorporate as much non-rock elements into the show (which was the total opposite of the LT tour imo).

 

As much as I'd love the band to drop some of their hits and play more new songs and deep cuts, I have to admit LP's sets recently have been really well constructed. Mike's definitely right when he says you "get a bit of everything" at LP's concerts.

 

I had pit tickets along with a meet & greet. Yet I did not pay no where near $400. You're doing it wrong.

 

It's pretty good, but I still think they rely too much on trying to put in as much HT and Meteora tracks as possible. Mike's statement saying that they're not replacing the old stuff with new stuff both relieves and worries me. Sure, that was really cool during the LT tour, but it wore out its welcome (for me, not for casual listeners I guess), especially when it took over spots usually reserved for LT songs. Heck, the THP tour even dropped a lot of things in their 2015 shows that made the 2014 shows unique imo. I was in awe when the resulting tour from their heaviest album in years featured freaking bits of Catalyst, Blackout, Wretches and Kings and even songs we haven't heard live like Skin to Bone and Robot Boy.

I know it's to cater to those who love their older material more, but it'll sacrifice tracks that could show how diverse LP has become. They've cut too many ATS and LT songs (although they were lucky they only had 4 singles each). I'm afraid that this would be the case with the OML tour, especially since this will be a pop album with no screaming (and honestly I have no idea how the OML songs will blend with the other songs).

But look at the ATS tour, as well as their other shows. Many THP shows survived with only Faint and Numb from Meteora. They've had full shows without One Step Closer. Heck, they've even had tours without Crawling and Points of Authority. But such is the burden when almost every single from HT and Meteora were big hits.

 

Eh, LP crowd sucks in general.

 

They don't imo Everyone from each era of LP deserves to have a great show. I don't blame them on why they do so. It's just a burden to have to live up to their nu metal past when their recent albums have been wildly different from one another, only retaining the usual LP song structure.

 

You've obviously never been to a Backstreet Boys show.

 

I visited 3 LP shows to this day. 2010 (i was 15 and had a seat, no pit so that dont count), 2014 and 2015 both on THP cycle. Every other concert i visited had more moving then this crowd, especially the german bands. Even to the heavier stuff, there was just not enough energy from the fans imo. i mean the band was great though, but the fans. ehhh

 

They've said countless times they still play music from all of their albums, and fan favourites. They also only played 4-5 songs from The Hunting Party at several shows despite promoting The Hunting Party.

You say, "Who wants to.." as though you speak for others, yet you're the first person I've seen here who isn't trying to get tickets to this tour.

They say, "Who cares if one more light goes out.."

(...couldn't resist throwing that last part in)

 

Does anyone have any experience with choosing tickets? How do you make sure to get front and center on the barricade, is that typically just GA/fight to the front/camp out kind of deal? My GF is very short so we always try to get barricade.

I've been a fan for a decade now and still haven't been to a concert, very excited for my first one!

Edit: Also, in the past, what's the limit on tickets we can buy during the pre-sale?

 

Do they really expect demand to be this high for the tour? I don't remember any date of the 30STM tour selling out but that may just be me remembering it wrong. Although reading through the thread, trying to make sure the best seats go to real people instead of bots makes sense.

 

So to get to the barricade the best way to do it is just get there early. I've been at Barricade for 5-10 shows roughly and every time I was it was because I got there early. For example when I saw Rise Against, I got to the venue at 4pm and the show started at 7.

You could always try to push to the front but that's not a guarantee. A lot of people are dbags at shows and you can't get anywhere. For example, my friend crowdsurfed when we saw Yellowcard in March. We were a group of 4 and he was literally just trying to get back to his friends, and no one would let him. So he had to finish the show in the back.

A lot of bands do this, because they know a lot of fans want to hear the old work.

Examples that I have personally seen:
Distrubed(2016)- 4 songs from The Sickness [Tied with their new album Immortalized for most by an album in the setlist.]
Breaking Benjamin(2015)- 4 songs each from We Are Not Alone and Phobia (Their two most popular albums). [Tied with 4 songs from new album]
Brand New (2016)- 6 songs from The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Us (Their most popular album)
Modest Mouse (2016)- 5 songs from Good News for People Who like Bad News (Their most popular album) [Tied with 5 songs from their new album]
Red Hot Chili Peppers (2017)- 3 songs each from Californication and Stadium Arcadium (Arguably their two most popular albums) [Tied with 3 songs from their new album] [Fans were pretty dead during the new songs and Aeroplane from One Hot Minute]
The All-American Rejects(2016)- Out of a 7 song setlist as an opening act, they played 3 songs from Move Along (Their most popular album)

I can go on but I'll stop at 6. It's normal, and while you may not like it, sometimes it's necessary for bands who have been around for a long time where some people might go purely on Nostalgia. When I saw Taking Back Sunday last year, they commented on the fact that they knew the crowd was here for nostalgia. They played two new singles and it felt like I was the only one who knew the songs.

If the tour is in fact a co-headlining tour with Blink-182 like it's rumored to be, the tour will do well. Blink-182 tour in 2016 did really well and they played a mix of stadiums and ampitheaters.

 

I was at a show last weekend for NF, couple D-bags shoved their way to the front. Even after they pushed their way up, they were still being very violent with everyone around them, I had mosh pit flashbacks, and this was a rap gig. Everyone around them were very nice though, didn't start a fight. Just got security up there to drag them off kicking and screaming. Sometimes fans are the best. High fives were had all around.

 

It's definitely first come, first serve. Get there early if this is what you're hoping for. Also, get merchandise buying out of the way as early as possible, as well as bathroom breaks, because as it's been mentioned, sometimes it can be very hard getting back to the front. Even if you hold a spot and your girlfriend goes to the bathroom, or vice versa. You still run the risk of people not believing you "just want to get back to your girlfriend" to enjoy the show together.

After opening acts finish, there's usually some breakaway from the crowds as people take that as their time to go to the bathroom, get merchandise or drinks, etc. So let's say hypothetically it's only Blink-182 and LP this show, no third, pre Blink act. After Blink you'll see people both fading away from the front as well as people pushing up closer, knowing that Linkin Park is up next. But if I were you and you want/need the barricade this badly, I would get to the front from the start of the show, before even the first act hits the stage, and basically just stay there...

I've never been as close as the barricade, as I've settled for what I felt was more than close enough, but I'm still confident in this advice. I have a good amount of general concert experience, and there isn't much I haven't done or tried.

 

^Good advice. It's what I've done. Made sure to use the bathroom before and never leave your spot, take advantage of people coming/going and you'll move to the front eventually.