‘One More Light’ has reignited the conversation about where Linkin Park fit in 2017. Don’t get too close, this is a fierce blaze. Tonight at London’s O2 the answer is vibrantly obvious; they’re the same band they’ve always been.
‘Numb’ into ‘Heavy’ shows a band weighted with the same rapidly beating heart that’s always taken centre stage, it’s just that the perspective has changed and a peace now reigns. Elsewhere an acoustic ‘Crawling’ is the only shift the band makes to tie past to present. The rest of the canvas is left for Linkin Park to do with as they please. And they take great delight in sharpening the edges until they glisten with excited danger. ‘One Step Closer’ is ferocious, still managing to quake the earth beneath us while ‘Castle Of Glass’ topples over, cascading down into a disco rave of euphoria and excess. An acapella chunk of ‘Hands Held High’ is just as damning and powerful as it was a decade ago and a grinning tease of Mike Shinoda’s Fort Minor track ‘Remember My Name’ still bubbles with a wicked sense of rebellious arrogance.
None of the new tracks jar or stick out from the shattered landscape. ‘Battle Symphony’ swells with a sense of longing, a stripped back ‘Sharp Edges’ shows a surprising vulnerability and who needs rallying cries when the title track is delivered face-to-face, arm-in-arm, with the audience. Turns out, the band aren’t afraid to get close. ‘Good Goodbye’ sees them loosen up, readying themselves for the comfort and ease that accompanies Stormzy’ jump onstage and the opening ‘Talking To Myself’ sees Linkin Park fully embrace their rockstar status, only to toss it aside and play outside. It’s carefree and elegant as their rage is dwarfed by the community celebration that found a home within this band long ago.
Linkin Park have never just been the band behind the genre-redefining anthems of ‘Numb’, ‘Faint’ and ‘In The End’ (though all three are played tonight with a stubborn, hyperactive fierceness) and live, their depth in evolution shines. Each of their records is a snapshot, but viewed as one, it’s a masterpiece that’s still growing. With ‘One More Light’, the band refused to stand back and admire their work. Tonight, their desire for new, for fun, for playful adventure, rages more passionately, and more determined than ever before.