Linkin Park Showcase New Direction While Staying True to Their Past

On Tuesday night, California alternative rock band Linkin Park brought their A Thousand Suns U.S. tour to Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.

The tour is their first since 2008 and the band pulled out all of the stops in a 100-minute set that showcased the new direction they went in on the A Thousand Suns album as well as their early material.

Supporting Linkin Park on this leg of the tour was England's Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Australia's Pendulum.

Linkin Park is known for selecting unique stage partners and this time they went with bands who strive for a rock/electronic mix that they themselves moved towards on A Thousand Suns.

Those unfortunate enough to get there early were subjected to Does It Offend You, Yeah's rather bland version of dance and punk.

At times their electro-hooks provided some entertainment but the band was not very enthusiastic which made it hard to get into.

However, the evening took a much better turn once Pendulum took the stage.

Their mix of dance beats with a metal edge was a nice surprise and made the crowd sit up and take notice.

Vocalist Rob Swire has an amazingly versatile voice that fit in well with the music's ever changing bass lines and drum beats.

Song "Witchcraft" was a highlight as the crowd swayed and sang along.

Linkin Park has always strived to provide the best live shows that they can and this tour is no exception featuring an innovative stage design in the form of a triangle geared toward showcasing the "industrial" feel that the band's latest music imbodies.

Tuesday night, the band took to the stage to the strains of "The Requiem" as the center of the stage rose and the members came out and were met with an instantaneous explosion from the crowd.

They opened the show with one of their newer songs "A New Divide" and then moved into one of their older songs "Lying From You".

The early part of the show focused on many of the band's biggest rap-heavy hits featuring the strong interplay between soaring vocalist Chester Bennington and rhymer Mike Shinoda.

This portion was highlighted by a fist-pumping performance of "What I've Done".

Throughout the evening it was obvious that the entire band was enjoying being on stage and both Bennington and Shinoda spent time out in the crowd and took time to thank everyone for coming out and supporting them and the other bands.

The middle of the show mostly featured Bennington as they performed a number of their newer songs highlighted by the moody "Waiting For the End" and "Iridescent" which found Shinoda slowing things down with his beautiful intro.

The final half of the show saw a return to the frenetic pace that the band became known for as they pulled out hit after hit including "Numb", "Bleed It Out" and "In The End".

This portion of the show also saw them perform their popular A Thousand Suns single "The Catalyst".

The band then returned for a five song encore featuring the final trifecta of "Crawling", "Faint" and "One Step Closer" which remain their best and most popular songs.

Linkin Park setlist:

The Requiem
New Divide
Lying From You
Given Up
What I've Done
Empty Spaces
When They Come for Me
No More Sorrow
Jornada del Muerto
Waiting For The End
Wisdom, Justice, and Love
Iridescent
Numb
The Radiance
Leave Out All The Rest
Fallout
The Catalyst
Shadow Of The Day
In The End
Bleed It Out

Encore:

Blackout
Papercut
Crawling
Faint
One Step Closer