2026.06.14 - Download 2026

[RogueSoul]

Linkin Park are returning to the United Kingdom for a headlining performance at the Download festival in Castle Donington, England tonight, June 14, 2026!

 

This will be Linkin Park's fifth time playing the original English edition of the festival (having also performed at other variants of the festival in Scotland, France, and Spain over the years), with the prior performances being in 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2014. Perhaps the most memorable of them all was the band's 2014 performance, where they performed Hybrid Theory in its entirety - the first (and only) time to date the band performed a set promising a full album. They delivered on their promise, opening with 'Papercut' and setting off through the record, with tracks like 'With You' and 'Runaway' being performed in full for the first time on the leg of the tour (having been shortened on all prior shows), and others like 'Pushing Me Away' being performed for the first time since 2008. 'Cure For The Itch' was actually performed for the first time ever in its entirety, with new spoken word vocals from Mike for the performance - the song was last performed in 2011. The biggest comebacks of the night were 'By Myself,' being performed for the first time since 2003, and 'Forgotten,' being performed for the first time since 2002. Most of the rarer songs were only brought out for this show, so if you saw them here you really saw something insane!

 

 

Linkin Park performing Hybrid Theory in its entirety at the Download festival in Castle Donington, England on June 14, 2014. Will we ever see the band do something like this again? Minutes To Midnight 2027 sounds pretty tantalizing...

 

Tonight's show at Download is a historic one for both the band and the festival - with Emily Armstrong now leading the charge, Linkin Park will be the first band with a female lead in the festival's history to headline! We know Emily will deliver on all fronts, and even with a festival-length set of 90 minutes we're sure the band will give it everything they've got. It's possible the band whip out some of the heavier rotations like 'IGYEIH' or 'Casualty,' or possibly 'A Place For My Head' here to amp up the energy, but it's unlike the band to "cater" their setlist to the type of show. Expect all the hits and perhaps a few unexpected surprises in there - we sure wouldn't complain if 'With You' gets some more air time on this tour! 

 

Who's going to the show? It's a somewhat cool day with no rain in the forecast, so stay hydrated and get ready to party! A bunch of other great bands are on today's lineup including Bad Omens, The Pretty Reckless, Bloodywood (who opened for the band on their India tour dates earlier this year), Mastodon, and so many more! After this show, Linkin Park returns to France for a headlining show in Lyon before continuing their festival runs in O Son do Camiño in Spain and Rock in Rio Lisboa in Portugal.

 

As always, we are looking for pictures or scans of a number of items from the band's 2025 and 2026 tour, including wristbands, tickets, setlists, exclusive pop-up store content, and more. If you have anything to contribute, check out our thread on the matter and submit your pictures directly to us - if they meet the mark we will get them uploaded to the show pages and credit you (and also blur your information out where applicable)! Last year we launched an LPLive Newsletter for those looking for more of a TL;DR version of what's going on with the tour than my pre-show posts - we'll be sending it out every couple of weeks so as to not flood your inbox, and will be bringing you an overview of both tour and general news updates, so be sure to sign up if you haven't already!

 

We'll have you covered on everything the band does at this show and everything they whip out for the rest of the year, so be sure to sign up on the forums and follow us on social media (Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook)!

[bloodbath]

Am I the only one who wasn't a fan of the 2014 show? For the the HT performance sounded too forced. 

[Rasputin 93]

indeed, it felt quite empty. I only love it from a statistical point of view.

[bloodbath]

They would never tell you but I'm sure that they would have rather prefer to play their regular show. We're talking about the band who decided to play their risky ATS set back in 2011!!