2018.08.29 - Köln, Germany

[RogueSoul]

Mike and the crew have been on a well-deserved break for the last few days after delivering three incredible shows in three days at Rock En Seine in France and the Reading and Leeds festivals in England. It's time for the real fun, though. Mike's performing the first headlining stop on his Post Traumatic European Tour in Köln, Germany at the Palladium on August 29, 2018.

 

Mike's no stranger to Köln - we all know Linkin Park loves Germany, and by extension that means they love Köln. They last performed there in 2014, on The Hunting Party World Tour. This was the largest show in Germany they played on that tour, and boy, did they play a lot of them (a whopping nine shows that tour in Germany alone)! Tracks like 'Rebellion' and 'Guilty All The Same' were performed fresh of The Hunting Party. While not playing a full show in Köln on the Living Things tour due to a lack of a proper European tour, the band did perform 'Burn It Down' at the TV Total Autoball EM show in Köln - one of the only known performances where the band likely lip-synced to some degree (likely due to the show being televised). The band's show there in 2010 on the A Thousand Suns World Tour was a special one for us - the band added 'Lying From You' and 'Leave Out All The Rest' into the setlists completely unrehearsed after reading one of our posts about the lack of setlist diversity. Thanks, guys!

The band visited Köln twice on the Minutes To Midnight tour - once in 2008, a full show featuring the live debut of 'In Between,' and once at the very start of the tour in 2007, performing 'What I've Done' for TV Total. And while Linkin Park didn't make it to Köln on the Meteora tour, they delivered two blistering shows there in 2001 on the Hybrid Theory tour, once opening for the Deftones on their 'Back To School' Tour and returning later in the year on the Hybrid Theory European Tour. Both of these shows took place at the Palladium, where Mike is playing.

This is about as old-school as it gets. Watch Linkin Park perform 'With You' in Köln, Germany in March 2001 on the Deftones' 'Back To School' Tour.

Looking back at the tour, it's pretty much impossible for us to say what will happen at this show. We're at the point where we really can't make any guarantees about the set. We can't even tell you what song will open the show - we're literally at three different options now. 'Petrified' has been the opener for the last couple of festival shows, as well as one headlining show in Singapore. 'Welcome' opened all the shows prior to that, but is now the encore opener (swapping places with 'Petrified'). And while we haven't seen it in action, 'When They Come For Me' is now a potential set opener, as it was slated to open the Leeds set. Due to rain delays, Mike had to redo the entire set and he ended up opening with 'Petrified' instead. Regardless, it's a possibility now. We're inclined to say 'Petrified' will open this show, but anything's on the table now. We're about ready to start listing two different setlists on the show pages, but he really hasn't done a setlist "rotation" yet, so we're holding back to see if he does.

As far as the body of the set... we have no clue about that, either. The exciting thing about this tour has been its unpredictability. If you told us that before the Singapore show, Mike would perform 'Hold It Together' for the first time ever and 'High Road' for the first time on the tour, we wouldn't have believed you. Yet, it happened. All Mike needs to do is rehearse the songs with Dan and Matt during soundcheck and it's good to go live. Mike has been surprising us at every single stop of this tour, whether it be randomly adding new songs to the set ('Introduction' and 'Petrified' in Bangkok) or changing up the verses over the intro of 'Kenji' ('It's Goin' Down' in Beijing and 'Until It Breaks' in Shanghai), every show has been its own unique experience. Every setlist has been different in some capacity, whether in big or small ways. The only sets that have been pretty much the same in selection are Summer Sonic Tokyo and Reading - and even then, Mike changed it up slightly by singing the 'Good Goodbye' chorus instead of the 'Bleed It Out' chorus during the mashup at Reading. He was even about to change the opener at a festival set. Anything is possible on the tour.

Reading and Leeds were very special shows, and here's something else that was special about them: Mike joined Sum 41 for their cover of 'Faint,' and absolutely killed it and both shows!

We've been discussing the potential songs Mike could whip out on this tour, and we've come up with a pretty comprehensive list. Songs the fans want to see the most: 'High Voltage,' the 2015 Remix of 'Cigarettes,' and 'No Roads Left.' Personally, I'd love to see 'It Goes Through' from the MALL Soundtrack be performed. Everything Mike's played so far on the tour has been on the playlist he posted back in May, just before the very first shows of the tour, so it seems like that playlist is the best bet of the songs we're most likely to see on the tour. You never know, though! Click the link above to see what songs are left on the playlist to be performed, and feel free to pitch in about what songs you want to see on the Post Traumatic Tour!

Köln will be a show of many firsts, but something else special happening at this show: we have an opening act! For the first time on the Post Traumatic Tour, Mike will be performing after another artist. For both shows in Germany, the English rock band Don Broco will be opening. They're currently touring in support of their new record Technology, featuring big singles like 'Everybody' and 'Come Out To LA.' Their most popular songs are the giant 'You Wanna Know' and energetic 'Priorities.' The band will certainly deliver an epic show that'll pump up the crowd for Mike's set.

Is anyone going to the show? This is the first of several headlining shows Mike is playing on this tour. Additionally, he'll be returning to Germany in September for a show in Offenbach. After this show, Mike heads to Russia for two shows in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The tour ends with Mike opening for Thirty Seconds To Mars at Milano Rocks in Milan, Italy. Mike will take a month's break before returning for an extensive North American run on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour.

We'll be keeping you updated on everything that happens at this show, so be be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, and join the LPLive Discord for discussion with fans around the world (a couple members from the Discord will be at this show - be sure to say hi)! We just launched the new LPLive Archive YouTube Channel that is loaded with hours of rare content from the Linkin Park world, and we'll also be uploading videos from the Post Traumatic Tour there, too. Be sure to subscribe!

Check out the rest of Mike Shinoda's touring schedule here.

[RiderSSPU]

Ive seen Don Broco twice. love them! Anyone who is going to show should make sure to catch their set!

 

Also check out their song "Pretty". It's a banger!

[DexLP]

I will unfortunately not be able to join the show due to vacation.

 

But you can be sure, it is going to be amazing. Sold out (4k) in just a few minutes, so we will only have huge fans from all over Europe there.

 

I think we will see some good changes after this little break - I bet either Ghosts is coming back or PIKC is debuting.

 

Hope everyone enjoys it

[SFNL14]

Watched the video on the LPL YouTube. This is the most beautiful concert so far!

[Sand0ry]

I was at this show with my girlfriend and I need to say, this was the best concert I have been ever!

 

We were there about 12 pm, got a place about 4-5 row... pretty close to the front and it was just amazing.

 

So many surprises and the crowd just sang every word! Heavy, Burn it down ... 2 flashmobs at In the End and Ghosts (Mike seemed reallly touched and were close to cry too, that moment!

 

And also Numb the first time he played it after Hollywood Bowl show was just a rollercoaster of emotions.

 

Going to Vienna this week!

 

THANK YOU

MIKE