2018.10.11 - Toronto, Ontario

[RogueSoul]

And we're off! After kicking off the North American leg of the Post Traumatic Tour / the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour last night, Mike Shinoda and co. are pushing ahead on their tour, tonight played at the second and final stop in Canada in Toronto!

 

The tour started off yesterday in Montreal, Quebec with an awesome show. Full of fresh Post Traumatic songs like 'Hold It Together' and 'Ghosts' (NOT 'Can't Hear You Now,' though - sorry about that, there was a false report of it yesterday), while staples like the run of 'About You,' 'Over Again,' and 'Papercut' as well as 'Roads Untraveled.' The set still came with its surprises, even though it was only the first show! Firstly, after a request at the LPU Meet and Greet, Mike rapped a tease of 'High Voltage' over the extended bridge of 'Sorry For Now.' This was the first time a verse from another song has been rapped over the song - typically, it's either just the demo verse or Dan's drum solo. Next, Mike took a crowd vote between 'Cigarettes' and 'Heavy,' which the latter one. From there, Mike played piano versions of 'Heavy,' 'In The End,' and 'Numb.' 'Kenji' was played in place of 'High Road,' which was written on the physical setlist. Not even one show in and Mike is already flipping things up on us!

 

Watch Mike give an emotional speech before diving into powerful performance of 'In The End' with the crowd!

 

It hasn't been too long since Mike was last in Toronto. Just last year, Mike and Chester performed a piano version of 'Heavy' for the very first time while doing press there for One More Light in March. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Mike has been playing shows in Toronto from the very start. A show in Toronto in 2000 was Linkin Park's very first show in Canada, a free show that was held by a local radio station. The band returned in 2001 for the Ozzfest, playing a blistering set that opened with 'With You' and 'Runaway.' The band played a second 2001 show there on the Family Values Tour, where the X-Ecutioners did a pre-song DJ set before 'One Step Closer.' It wasn't until 2003 on the Meteora World Tour that the band returned, playing a show in Toronto towards the start of Metallica's 'Summer Sanitarium' Tour. The band returned again in 2004 during their North American Tour, playing a packed set featuring rarities like 'My December' and 'P5hng Me A*wy.'

 

Linkin Park didn't return to Toronto for a few years as the band members worked on other projects between the Meteora and Minutes To Midnight cycles, but that route ended up bringing Mike right back to Toronto in 2006 with Fort Minor - the only Fort Minor show played in Canada! Linkin Park came back to Toronto in 2007 for Projekt Revolution, the only Canadian date on the tour. In 2008, Linkin Park visited Ontario twice: once at the start of the year in London (not the one in England), and once again later in the summer for the infamous Edgefest, where delays caused Mike and Chester to open the set along with piano versions of 'Breaking The Habit' and 'Pushing Me Away' (this was the only time the piano version of 'Breaking The Habit' was ever played). The band returned in 2011 during the A Thousand Suns World Tour, the last show before the band had to cancel the following 5 due to Chester being sick. Linkin Park didn't make it to Toronto on the Living Things tour, but did return in 2014 on the Carnivores Tour during The Hunting Party cycle. It's been over three years since Mike's last real show in Toronto, and the crowd will definitely deliver!

 

A classic moment in Linkin Park live history: Mike and Chester opening their show at Edgefest 2008 with a piano version of 'Breaking The Habit.'

 

As with any other show on this tour, all we can do is expect the unexpected. We are up to four potential openers now: 'Petrified,' 'Welcome,' 'Remember The Name' (which opened one show in Milan so far), and 'When They Come For Me,' which hasn't been used as an opener yet but was scheduled to at Mike's Leeds performance. Any number of rarities could be played, from 'It's Goin' Down,' 'In Stereo,' 'Until It Breaks,' or perhaps 'Cigarettes' will get its redemption. We're still missing a couple of key songs from Post Traumatic; even though it was a false alarm, people were very excited for 'Can't Hear You Now,' and many people have been requesting 'Promises I Can't Keep.' Plus, after teasing 'High Voltage,' fans will definitely want to hear the full song soon. There are hundreds of possibilities for tonight's set, and we won't know what happens until the show!

 

Who's going to this show? After Toronto, Mike finally hits the United States, starting with shows in New York City and Philadelphia. I'll be at both of those (+ at the meet and greet for New York), so if you'll be there, keep an eye out! From there, Mike keeps heading down the east coast with another stop in Pennsylvania and others in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

 

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.

[PeppePark]

In The End was full in Montreal, not shortened!

Fingers crossed for a real debut of Can't Hear You Now and the return of High Voltage!

[linkin_boss]

I'm in the line, hopefully I'll be able to keep some notes from the setlist