Linkin Park Announce N. America Summer Tour Presale

Haha, that's legit that they got security to drag them out.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Imagine Dragons. There were two people next to me who were just being very rude and they only cared for themselves even if they were making others experiences worse.

Also, last year I was at a day "festival" that consisted of Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge, Anthrax, Saint Asonia and a couple other no-name bands. My friend and I were at the concert and my friend went to go buy food so I spread my legs out to save his spot. The show was at an ampitheater and we have lawn tickets. However at the front of the lawn there is a rock walkway and at the top the walkway is a railing, we decided to stand at the railing starting at Saint Asonia. Long story short, while my friend was getting food which took him all of Anthrax's set because lines were so long, this older dude probably in his 50s got mad at me when I wouldn't my leg to let him against the railing. Essentially he kept threatening to throw me over the ledge into the plants below. Dude was a total jerk.

Luckily those were the only two shows I have ever had problems with when it comes to people. But for people who want to get barricade, I highly suggest that you show up early and not move through the crowd. It makes people hate you less.

This is perfect advice, basically do what this guy says. And make sure to show up at least an hour before doors depending on the show. Especially if they let M&G members get in first. I saw a band called Real Friends last November. I was the 3rd person in line for the show but because of VIP ticket holders I barely got on the barricade and had to settle for very right most area of the stage.

 

Honestly if you're trying to push passed people that got there before you, you're kind of the d bag. If you want to be on the barrricade get there earlier than 3 hours before... people that think they should be in front of you, when they got there after you are the worst tbh

 

Even if you arrive very early it doesn't mean you'll get to the first row(s), it's a matter of luck. When I went to the festival in Italy back in 2008, we arrived a couple of hours earlier because the transfer was organised by an agency specialised in taking people to various concerts and festivals. Iggy Pop and Queens of the Stone Age played before LP and, at the beginning, I was a few metres from the stage but as more people appeared they pushed me back and I ended up being quite far. People were crazy, jumping and pushing and I just didn't have enough air and energy to make my way through them. This time I hope it will be different because we'll arive quite early again and I'm smarter than 9 years ago.

 

I can attest to this. I went to the NKOTBSB (New Kids on the Block & Backstreet Boys) show back in 2012 and holy shit they were energetic and great live singers (for real, you can clearly hear them live). And god damn they were gorgeous.

I think that's the case for more rock bands and pop singers/bands. A counter to that for me is Coldplay (sorry for always using this as an example, I went to their concert earlier this month and I'm not over it). A large portion of fans prefer their older songs, but they do the risky thing of performing almost all songs from the album they're promoting, and a large chunk of their sets are from their past 2 albums. They're now only limiting at least 1-2 songs from their first four albums (with the exception of Rush of Blood). The fact that any song from their first four albums other than "Yellow", "The Scientist", "Clocks", "Fix You" and "Viva la Vida" is a rarity. Sure, the resulting the show is energetic and memorable, but a noticeable amount of casual fans don't know much of their newer stuff (or even their older stuff hahaha). Hell, they even had a tour where they completely dropped "Yellow" from the shows.

 

Yeah, I totally understand what you mean. I can find example of both ways. When I saw Taylor Swift, she played 1 or 2 songs from her first three albums. She played 13 out of 16 songs from her brand new album. Another example is Bring Me the Horizon, the second time I saw them they played their most popular song from their second album and that was it for their first three albums. I think they played 8 songs from their new album. When I saw Rise Against, they played a good amount of old music but still heavily focused on their new album (this was 2012 so Endgame was the new album at the time). They played 7 songs from Endgame.

However, when it comes to both Taylor Swift and Bring Me the Horizon, all I see is hate on their setlists. A vast majority of people hate the setlists. Especially with BMTH, all the comments online are complaints. So when a band does what Coldplay did, there is a huge risk and it often turns people away. Because they are Coldplay, they will still sell out always but bands like BMTH and even Linkin Park don't have that luxory. I've seen a lot of people saying they won't go to the new shows because of One More Light but these same people don't even realize they play a lot of songs from their first two albums.

 

Went to see them in Houston a few years ago and had the same experience on the lawn. People want their space and usually take more than they need and will get mad if they don't get their way.
Thank you for your advice. I've always just settled for lawn with bigger concerts, but not this time.

 

No problem!

It depends on the show for me. If it is a show that has seats/lawn I'll usually do one of the two because A) It's cheaper and B) I can go to the bathroom without losing my spot which means C) I don't have to starve and dehydrate myself like I do for all my GA concerts. I know a lot of people don't like seats but I've come to appreciate them so much and usually prefer it these days.

 

Me too, I've opted for seats a couple of times for basically this very reason. The comfort of knowing you won't lose your spot is key. I've even chosen seats for Linkin Park, despite being my favourites, because I just felt more like relaxing and listening to the music than I did being right up front. Seats can be underrated. If you get them not too far away, you still have a good view, a similar feeling to what people standing say 15-20 or so meters away on the floor are experiencing (just from the side of the stage instead) and you can still get good photos and videos, sometimes better ones because you're not being bumped by others. It's just generally more relaxed and sometimes that's really nice to have. Chester and Mike also do a good job of 'visiting' the sides of the stage so those people don't feel excluded.

For this upcoming show I heavily considered seats, but will probably go GA because a friend badly wants that and only that, and I'm pretty lenient.

 

I agree with all of this. I've only seen Linkin Park once but I went seats and it was a great idea. another issue I forgot to mention earlier is with Seats I can usually see whereas in GA I run the risk of being behind someone tall since I'm only 5'7"

Seats definitely make everything easier even if means you aren't as close.

 

I personally like seats because I could leave my stuff in my chair while standing up, go to the bathroom at any time, and sit down once in a while. Standing really hurt my back for a while but it does feel refreshing especially if the air is cool.

I understand. Linkin Park doesn't have that luxury because, unlike Coldplay, almost every single from HT and Meteora was successful. "Yellow" was the only international hit from Parachutes (their debut album) and even the band has come to say they dislike the album. To be honest, they're playing a lot more deep cuts in their acoustic set in their shows ("Warning Sign", "Ink", "A Rush of Blood to the Head, "A Message") based on Instagram requests to cater to the older fans.

I guess we gotta go with what they feel like playing, and watching the OML shows will be interesting. I can't wait for their first shows.

Actually not, their starting shows suck (see: Rock in Rio 2014).

 

True. Each person has to weigh the pros and cons and decide what they're looking for in the concert experience. When I was younger I always went GA/Pit at Linkin Park shows. Now that I'm older I rarely go GA/Pit at any show. One, because I like the convenience of knowing my spot is saved if I have to get up and move. Also, the pit doesn't play very well when you have epilepsy.

 

I'm just curious when these dates will be announced. I expected them to be announced today. The day is still long from over though so who knows. Here's to hoping!

 

From my experience, which consists of 4 shows: 2011, 2012 (seats), 2014 and 2015 (floor), I'd say the former two concerts were much more memorable for me as far as the band itself and the songs they played, though that can probably be partially attributed to the fact that they were still doing DSPs back then so I've been able to relive those shows numerous times.

In 2015 when I saw them at Rock On The Range, I was able to move up in line with my friend between RIse Against and LP's set by....... puking. See, these ribs I had gotten fucked up my stomach, and I could tell that I was about to throw up. Like the dumbass (or smartass?) I was, I put my head down and tried puking into my water bottle instead of just onto the ground. But I wasn't able to close my lips around the bottle in time so instead the puke hit the rim of the bottle and ricocheted off of it, hitting nearly everybody around me in a 360-degree circle. Needless to say, a bunch of them got fucking PISSED and forced me and my friend to go to the front of the pit so that security could remove us. We didn't really have much choice because they were pushing us and everyone around us was super pissed. However, when we got to the front and the people trying to "get us gone" stated their case to the security guards, the guards asked me if I was okay; I said yes, so they let us stay. The people who pushed us were fucking infuriated, despite how many times I shouted "I'm sorry!" and some of them conspired to kick my ass in the moshpit, but my friend and I heard them and stared them down and that luckily didn't happen lol.

Anyways, while seeing them up close was super awesome, I can pretty confidently say that I enjoyed the 2011 and 2012 shows more. I could hear them much clearer and gauge how well Chester was singing much more easily (for those like me who are super-critical of Chester lol) But then again, in addition to being able to relive those shows through DSPs - which may be biasing my memory, those shows were also in arenas, which I'm guessing was part of the reason I could hear more clearly.


Regarding their setlists from shows I've been to, I probably liked 2011's the most. Yeah, they played a lot of songs off ATS, but I actually liked that, because when Numb, Papercut, Crawling, and Faint started, it was so much more exciting. Maybe that's just because it was my first LP concert, but I feel like the band should be pushing their newest albums harder like they used to (idk about OML though, I need to hear it in full first), and play a bit less of their older material BUT choose it more carefully. That makes the older songs feel more "special" and by the time they start playing everyone is ready for them.

Back on track, seeing Cleveland on the list of potential cities has me literally losing my mind, as the band has somehow managed to not only skip Cleveland, but play nowhere within 3 hours of it, since 2007. (I didn't become a fan till '08) Not that that's exactly stopped me, but seeing them in CLE has still been a dream of mine.

Just my two cents.

 

I've seen Linkin Park a lot in the past, and I've also been to a lot of other concerts in my life. I don't find Linkin Park shows to be any different than other bands or artists. A concert is a concert, you know what to expect before you even go, unless it's your very first time. There will be large amounts of people, loud music, people drinking, people smoking pot, the occasional a**hole who fights with people, overpriced merchandise, overpriced food and drinks, etc. I haven't been to a concert in years because I learned that I never actually genuinely liked concerts. I think I just went to a lot of them because all my friends went to them and so I went with them, etc. I hated standing on my feet for hours upon hours (although I do have back issues) and the heat always got to me more often that not (I'm a bigger guy). I also never really got into jumping around or singing along, etc. I prefer to listen to music at my house or while driving and stuff like that. But it's definitely an experience and everyone reacts to music differently. I know some guys who swear by live music and listen to nothing but live music and go to tons of concerts, etc., one of my old buddies is that way. So I'd say if you're thinking about going to your first concert, just go, and you'll decide whether you like it or not when it's over, and know that each concert is probably the same experience each time after that. You either love it or you hate it.

 

Saw this on Riverbend Music Centers Twitter, but it disappeared. Haha

 

I think this gives us a better time frame of when the dates will be announced, maybe people already knew this.
Yesterday, when I checked the pre-sale site it said the same thing it always does. This morning it said something totally new:

 

who gonna be supporting linkin park in England??

 

The only thing that bothered me was standing, waiting for hours and listening to other bands before the reason I bougt the ticket came on stage but it was the only wat to see them live. I think that was the reason for my tiredness and although I did jump and sing I just didn't have enough strength and it seems most crowd was tired as well. We were in exctasy but the response wasn't like I expected. However, I'd always rather pick a pit than seats.