RogueSoul

The tour is on! After a successful first show in Nanjing, The Hunting Party Chinese Tour is ready to get rolling! Linkin Park is heading to their next show in Shenzhen, where they will perform at the Shenzhen Banging Sports Centre Stadium on July 19, 2015! That's this Sunday! Since I covered the brief history of Linkin Park's endeavors in China in the Nanjing pre-show post, I'll summarize it a little here. The band has played in the country three times: 2007, and twice in 2009 (as well as cancelled shows in 2008 due to Chester sustaining an injury). The show in 2007, the band's first show in China (and the first true rock show in China!) featured then-new tracks from Minutes To Midnight, like 'The Little Things Give You Away'. The band returned in 2009, for two shows: one in Shanghai, and one in Macao. Unlike Shanghai 2007, the band was forced to drop two songs, 'Given Up' and 'Hands Held High' by request of the government in Shanghai 2009. The next show in Macao did not have the same restrictions, and even a few surprises, such as verse 1 of 'Papercut' being rapped over the extended intro of 'Bleed It Out', as well as part of the chorus of 'Papercut' over the extended bridge. The first show of the tour in Shanghai went pretty smoothly, despite the SWAT team being at the show and making everyone sit down before the show began. Good job, China. The band performed the Full US Festival setlist (that was also performed in Mexico at the end of June), with a few changes. The most major change: the dropping of 'Crawling' from the encore, despite appearing as the opener of the encore on the printed setlist. The reason for this unknown; could it have been because the band was tired? They dropped 'Fallout' and 'The Catalyst' on the first show of the A Thousand Suns North American Tour in Sunrise, Florida due to the band being tired. Perhaps the same thing happened here - jetlag's a bitch. Or, maybe the band just didn't feel like playing it. This happened at the beginning of the Honda Civic Tour in 2012, on the Living Things tour. 'Crawling' appeared in early versions of all three variations of setlists, but wasn't even performed once! The band didn't feel like playing it, so the song was dropped at all the shows. I can't blame them - Chester's lately been having a hard time with the song, and it hasn't exactly sounded 100% at recent shows. Perhaps its time 'Crawling' saw a break once and for all? Whether or not 'Crawling' returns will remain a mystery until this show. Another fun moment from this show includes a rare band soundcheck, where the rehearsed 'Given Up' and a censored version of 'Remember The Name' ("these other fellas he runs with"). It's unlikely we will see a different setlist this tour, given the lack of rehearsal time (a whopping 0 minutes), but, who knows, maybe the band has a trick up their sleeves. According to this document, these are the 42 songs the band has been approved to play in China. 'A Place For My Head'? 'Lost In The Echo'? Yes, please. It seems like 'Keys To The Kingdom' will not be played this tour as Linkin Park didn't rehearse before the tour at Third Encore, like usual. Maybe we'll see it in Europe, but it's unlikely to appear in China at all. Something interesting to note about this tour is that is is the first tour in Linkin Park's headlining act history that has not featured meet and greets. Sure, certain shows over the years have lacked M&Gs, but never an entire tour. Well, perhaps that's a bit harsh. Technically, there are M&Gs. Are they planned right? Weeelllllll... Let's explain. The meet and greets are available to fans... who happen to own a Mercedes-Benz or are some type of Mercedes Benz VIP members - not open to the LPU. So, if you're in China and have a Mercedes? Eureka! The Nanjing M&G was essentially the Mercedes-Benz Summit: a soundcheck (private, but the promoters were able to watch it), an organized Q&A, and a M&G in front of a nice Mercedes Benz backdrop. Despite the Meet & Greet system being funky this tour, the LPU has tried to salvage it for the Chinese fans! If you live in two of the cities the tour is coming to...Shenzhen (this show!) or in Chongquing, LPU Meetups have been officially set up! Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the band members will attend these events as their attendance is not even mentioned on the LPU events page. But, if you're looking to chill with some fellow fans, it's just the place for you! Sorry, Shanghai and Beijing! While Shanghai has, in the end, gotten the short end of the stick (though you may be able to get into the after party with a DJ set by Joe and then meet him), Beijing still has some good news. Perhaps less so for actual attendees and more so for Linkin Park fans everywhere! That's because this show will be live streamed thanks to our new summit-providers, Mercedes-Benz! Mark your calendars for July 27, and keep track of the countdown to make sure you don't miss it! Heads up: it's not the best times for North and South America, but Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia (for once) have a convenient time to watch the livestream! Will anyone be at the show? Shoutout to our friends @LINKIN_SOUL (who have a great name, might I add), who have done an EXCELLENT job livetweeting the last show in China. Here's to hoping they can keep it up! Other country fansites, take notes! If you're growing impatient waiting for live updates, perhaps take a look at some of our new discussion topics, maybe you're intrigued: talk about Linkin Park's latest setlists and live performance, look at a history of LPU's 15 years, and discuss what you think about Linkin Park becoming a brand. All three topics have interesting ideas being thrown back and forth, you should chip in too! Be sure to follow us on social media for updates on the world of Linkin Park! We post some awesome pictures of the band on our Instagram, if that's your thing. Like our Facebook page, while your at it! We've even started using Weibo to connect with the Chinese fanbase a little more, so follow us there if you're on Weibo! And, of course, for updates on the show, check back here or follow us on Twitter. Check out the rest of Linkin Park's 2015 touring schedule here.

Do you see any of the specifics of the Mashup Intro/Joe's Solo in the main post? The detailed shit is on the show page. People looking for the setlist on the main page are likely not going to be searching for the extreme detail, they just want to see what was played and a few notes.

The fuck does that mean? It's the main post setlist, I don't want to overcomplicate it. It's meant to be simple.

Have you seen my music library? most definitely not a rock-oreinted guy (though I do quite enjoy it). Not much of a Korn fan anyway, but Path Of Totality I found quite bad. Soz Fair enough.

Path Of Totality was shit, though lol As much as I'd also like to see LP dabble in different things, I wouldn't want an entire ALBUM of them, ya know? An album with jazz influences, African influences, etc. would he great, but I don't want the next album to be the bluegrass "The Banjo Party". Jazzy, comples post/prog rock would be stellar. Also, they better not go anywhere fucking near country.

You get what I mean.

Better late than never, I guess! As it turns out, there WILL be a form of meet and greets taking place on The Hunting Party Chinese Tour! However, these are a bit different than normal. The M&Gs are only available to Mercedes-Benz owners and/or VIP members - not the LPU. These are taking the place of meet and greets on the Chinese Tour, and the attendance of the band members are not guaranteed, nor are they even mentioned. Okay then. However, LPU Meetups are taking place in select cities! LPU members in Shenzhen and Chongquing will be able to attend private fan gatherings in their cities. Again, the band members' attendance is neither mentioned nor guaranteed. It's better than nothing, I suppose...? Linkin Park's The Hunting Party Chinese Tour continues in Shenzhen and Shanghai next week. Catch up on the happenings at the first show in Nanjing here. For updates on Linkin Park's live shows and news, follow us on Twitter!

Still? I don't think he ever started

Update: Crawlingg was on the physical setlist, but dropped.

New BIO bridge? https://instagram.com/p/5PW61LA64M/

Not really a demo or anything in that... You can hear 3 seconds of a beat maybe. Mike records shit on the plane rides, that's what it is.

Here we go! Linkin Park is taking The Hunting Party Tour to China, for its only stops in Asia for the cycle. The Hunting Party Chinese Tour is the biggest rock tour that has ever come to China, and definitely one of the most lucrative for the band. The 5-show tour starts in Nanjing, at the Banging Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Friday, July 17, 2015. This will be the band's third venture to China, after visiting there on dates in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, Linkin Park became the first rock band to perform in China, when they performed in Shanghai. At this show on the Minutes To Midnight Asian Tour, the band performed some new tracks from the album like 'The Little Things Give You Away' and 'No More Sorrow'. A cool moment from this show happened during the extended intro of 'Points Of Authority', where Mike rapped the first verse of the Fort Minor song, 'Petrified' over it. For the only time ever, he continued with the chorus of the song as "Points Of Authority" kicked in, going back and forth with Chester before the first verse of the song started. After canceling a few appearances in China at the end of 2008 due to Chester sustaining an injury, the band returned in 2009 for two shows in China: Shanghai and Macao. In Shanghai, the band was forced to drop two songs from the setlist to comply with the government's requests (unlike their performance in 2007, which had no restrictions), those songs being 'Given Up' and 'Hands Held High'. This allowed for a rare opener for 'Session' and 'From The Inside' to occur, thanks to 'Given Up' being dropped.' The next show in Macao did not have any restrictions, and the setlist went as planned. A special moment from this show is Mike rapping the first verse of 'Papercut' (which wasn't being played on the 2009 tour) over the extended intro of 'Bleed It Out'! He even continued it with the chorus over the extended bridge. The band was rumored to return to stadiums in China in 2011 on the A Thousand Suns Asian Tour, but the band was banned from country due to association with the Dalai Lama. Looks like the ban is lifted, as Linkin Park is ready to rock the country! On the subject of Shanghai 2009's banning of songs, something similar happened this year. Like in 2009, the band had to send a document to China of songs the band considered playing for the government to approve, specifically for the band's performance in Beijing. The list essentially includes all of the songs (including snippets of songs like 'The Requiem' and 'The Catalyst) that were performed on The Hunting Party Tour, barring the rarer Hybrid Theory songs. Check out the whole document here! The list also includes some songs fans would enjoy seeing like 'A Place For My Head', 'A Line In The Sand', 'Guilty All The Same', and more. The list also has a peculiar surprise on it: 'Keys To The Kingdom'. It's likely the band has rehearsed the song and considered adding it to the set at some point, so they included it just in case they decide to play it on the tour. Will we see the live debut of 'Keys To The Kingdom' on this tour? Another interesting part of the document is the lack of 'Until It Breaks', the iconic verse which Mike raps over the Apaches Intro of 'Waiting For The End'. The document lists songs that are APPROVED for the band to play in China - was 'Until It Breaks' banned for some reason? Maybe the band just forgot to add it. Time will tell! Let's talk about the current news in the world of Linkin Park! Probably the biggest news of the year? The Fort Minor comeback! If you [somehow] missed it, Fort Minor has released a new song entitled 'Welcome'. Mike performed a one-man show, with a bunch of surprises! The live debuts of 'Devil's Drop' from the MALL Soundtrack, the full version of 'Until It Breaks', and Fort Minor tracks like 'Cigarettes' and 'Kenji'. Fort Minor has two more planned shows coming up, one in Copenhagen and one in Berlin. If you have the chance to catch the show, don't miss it! We'll update on those shows too, so stay tuned! More Fort Minor music may be on the horizon, too: Mike's currently working on getting Ryu's verse for 'Welcome' out there, and he has said he's keeping the door open! One last note: if you're looking to watch a Linkin Park show from the comfort of your home, you're in luck. The band's show in Beijing (the last show of the tour) will be broadcast live! Mark your calendars for July 26, that's when it's all going down! Follow this countdown just to be extra sure you don't miss it! It's extra early for U.S./Canada/Mexico/South American viewers, but a nice time for Europeans for once! Be sure to tune in! The site is holding a poll for fans to vote on which song they want the band to hear - from the (seemingly random) choices listed, 'Don't Stay' is leading the poll, ahead by almost 1,000 votes against 'Numb' and 'In The End'! Other "rarities" on the list include 'Robot Boy' and 'Runaway', both of which are doing relatively well! Maybe the band will pull through and perform 'Don't Stay' for the Chinese fans! Is anyone heading to the show? After Nanjing, the band moves on to Shenzen and then to Shanghai to continue with the tour. Not going to any of the shows? While you wait for the coverage, take part in some of our new discussion threads: discuss Linkin Park's setlists and live performance over the years, discuss what you expect for the fifteenth anniversary of the LPUnderground, or what YOU think about Linkin Park becoming a brand. A lot of interesting ideas and discussion taking place in these threads, don't miss out! Don't miss our epic exclusive obtained by our own LESTAT: a recording of Grey Daze's (Chester's old band) first ever public performance, featuring some never-before heard songs! Big thanks to him! Meet and greet details are still not announced for China, whether or not they are happening will soon be seen. Be sure to follow us on social media for all your Linkin Park needs - keep updated by liking our page on Facebook, follow us on Instagram for some awesome Linkin Park pictures, and, hey, if you're from China, be sure to check out our brand new Weibo page. For updates on the show, check back here or follow us on Twitter. SETLIST: xx. Given Up (Soundcheck) xx. Remember The Name (Censored; Soundcheck) ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. Papercut (2015 Intro) 02. Given Up (Ext. Outro) 03. Points Of Authority 04. One Step Closer (Ext. Outro) 05. A Line In The Sand (Keyboard Intro) 06. From The Inside 07. Runaway (Shortened; Transition Outro ->) 08. Wastelands 09. Castle Of Glass (Experience Version; w/ ATS Interludes) 10. LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent (Ballad Medley) 11. Robot Boy (Shortened Instrumental) 12. Joe Solo Medley 13. New Divide 14. Breaking The Habit 15. Darker Than Blood (Shortened) 16. Burn It Down 17. Final Masquerade 18. Remember The Name (Shortened) 19. Welcome (Ext. Outro Transition) 20. Numb (Numb/Encore Intro + Outro) 21. In The End 22. Faint (Ext. Outro) ----------------------------------------------------------- 23. Waiting For The End (Apaches Intro w/ UIB; Wall Of Noise Outro) 24. What I've Done (Ext. Guitar Solo Bridge) 25. Bleed It Out Check out the rest of Linkin Park's 2015 touring schedule here.

Hey guys, look! I found a troll! Do I get a cookie now? Non-troll: Something along the lines of the two solos, yet still developed for the entire band could be cool.

I doubt it, specifically because I don't think the band will even bother bringing back Don't Stay. In other news, I managed to help get Don't Stay ahead of ITE

Do you honestly think of Robot Boy won, they'd bother rehearsing the full version of it? lol This poll doesn't mean anything, realistically, but I'd still like to see Don't Stay win it, just for the principle of the matter. I think we can get it there, I've voted for it like 200 times in between the things I'm doing today.

I doubt even if Don't Stay won, nothing will come out of it. It might even backfire horribly China: "ehh, fan want don't stay you do." Brad: "See? They don't fucking want us in China. They told us "Don't Stay". Cancel the shows I have a pina colada to drink"

Got Don't Stay to 1,500. I think we can do this.

Something as progressive as the end of THP (MTG, ALITS) and atmospheric/progressive/daring as ATS (Primo, Catalyst, WTCFM) #FullPopIsComing though.

Congrats to Europe! Now it's YOUR job to record it this time

LOL 7:30 AM. That shit's gonna suck for me

This. No need for doubling up on FM.

I wish the band took more of an approach to live performance like Muse does. They have a general structure for their sets, but every show they can change the order around and keep it fresh every night, even adding a surprise here and there. They could have easily whipped out HT songs or NMS, ALTNC, BTH on the Carnivores Tour when they play the same things every night, for almost two months. I agree with Mark on a lot of things there. The band's just rehearsing, then running through the motions. A major problem with this set is that there is literally no room for change. It's all too tightly wound. They need to develop a setlist that they can maneuver and change on a consistent basis to keep each date special. It'll even give fans more of an incentive to go to more shows, to "chase" a song they want to see. The concept of this setlist and its "Acts" was cool to begin with, it even worked fine up until halfway through the Carnivores Tour, where everything was just the SAME night after night. I hope they learn from this cycle where they made their mistakes. It seems that we'll only see major setlist changes now every touring cycle, though it seems the band did make some moves towards that for the Summer tour, with Papercut opening and ALITS. But let's put it into a bit of perspective here: MTM Touring Cycle, 3 different closing songs, entire album performed at some point, several different opening songs. Jump ahead to the THP Cycle, 1 consistent closing song the entire cycle, half of the album rehearsed, 2 different opening songs. There's definitely been a shift in effort and/or motivation to changing sets. Thanks!

That's not just something you'll say without prior knowledge of, you know, actually practicing the song.

What are you talking about? Those are the correct numbers.

As The Hunting Party era is slowly coming to an end, it's time to start looking towards the band's future: and, since we're LPLive, we're talking setlists. Up until Living Things, Linkin Park had performed basically every song on their four prior studio albums (barring 'Robot Boy', which wasn't performed live until the Hunting Party Tour). Starting with Living Things, however, the band stopped putting in all of the effort to perform most of the new songs. From Living Things, an album that Mike even claimed was recorded with the idea of performing it live in mind (sound familiar, like The Hunting Party?), only seven and a half of its songs were performed live, not including songs that even sound like they would be great live: namely 'I'll Be Gone', 'Roads Untraveled', and 'Powerless'. So far, from The Hunting Party, only six and a half songs have been performed live - most of which did not survive the entire cycle, from an album also meant to be performed live! Let's start by talking about Living Things. With the tracks later on the album, it's somewhat understandable why they were not performed live, referring to 'Skin To Bone and 'Until It Breaks'. Talking about 'Skin To Bone', Mike said the following, "Some songs weren't made to be played live, we might play them somehow but we have other songs in mind, those songs are made of samples and keys, if the band was made of 6 Shinodas we could play them." Fair enough, maybe Fort Minor could tackle it now. He did with 'Until It Breaks'! But with songs like 'I'll Be Gone' and 'Roads Untraveled', it's harder to find an excuse. In an LPU Chat in December 2012, Chester even claimed the band would rehearse 'I'll Be Gone' soon. Nothing was ever said about 'Roads Untraveled', but 'Powerless' was even performed - albeit, mimicked - for a music video shoot in Berlin. Something interesting to note about this song is that Mike recorded all of the guitar parts in it - and for most of the album. In the music video, there are almost no shots of Brad. That's because he never seemed to learn the part. Anyway, 'Powerless' never received its live debut, although its intro 'Tinfoil' opened a significant amount of shows (and encores) on the touring cycle in 2012-2013. Does it have to do with Brad? He appears to be bored with some of the older songs in the set (some Hybrid Theory songs) but loves songs where he's off of the guitar like 'Lies Greed Misery' or even parts of 'Castle Of Glass' (Experience Version), 'The Catalyst', and 'Waiting For The End'. This all goes back to the A Thousand Suns era where he said he was getting bored of playing guitar and shifted to playing other instruments as well as taking on more of a "producer" role in the albums. While this may all be true, we cannot place ALL of the blame on Brad. When it comes to performing new songs live, there has to be a general consensus amongst the band to settle on what gets performed. Perhaps it's less Brad as an individual, but rather, the whole mentality going forward that he has. He might not be the only member of the band who thinks that way! Songs from Living Things performed live: Lost In The Echo - debuted 8/6/12 SiriusXM's Town Hall In My Remains - debuted 8/10/12 Private Production Rehearsal Burn It Down - debuted 5/16/12 Third Encore, North Hollywood, CA Lies Greed Misery - debuted 5/26/12 Rock in Rio I'll Be Gone - Never performed Castle Of Glass - debuted 12/7/12 VGA 10 Victimized - debuted 8/10/12 Private Production Rehearsal Roads Untraveled - Never performed Skin To Bone - Never performed Until It Breaks - performed by Fort Minor on 6/29/15 Exchange LA, Los Angeles, CA (Partially performed as an Ext. Intro for 'Waiting For The End' starting 5/18/12 LPU Show / MFR & PTW Benefit) Tinfoil - debuted 5/18/12 LPU Show / MFR & PTW Benefit Powerless - Never performed ("Performed" for a music video at 6/5/12 Telekom Street Gigs) Next, the current era, the tour in support of The Hunting Party, didn't see much change of pace either. The five singles from the album were performed ('Guilty All The Same', 'Wastelands', Until It's Gone', 'Rebellion', and 'Final Masquerade'), and one non-single has been performed after a full year of the tour ('A Line In The Sand'). A pretty solid selection of songs, all things considered... but only half of the album. We're missing some powerful tracks like 'Keys To The Kingdom', 'All For Nothing', 'War, and 'Mark The Graves'. Barring the two interludes (even then, 'The Summoning' appeared in Mashup Intro #2) , those are what we're missing. That's just about the same as what we're missing from Living Things. Apparently, the album was already run through by the band in full. In the pre-show interview at Rock am Ring 2014, Mike claimed that pretty much the entire album had been rehearsed and he was really looking forward to playing it live. Interestingly, in November 2014, Mike had claimed he was knew the fans wanted to hear both 'Keys To The Kingdom' and 'A Line In The Sand' live, the latter of which we know has already come. 'Keys To The Kingdom', on the other hand... there may be a glimmer of hope there. We'll get into that later. According to numerous LPTV's, it took quite some time to get 'A Line In The Sand' down. The band appears to have to take longer and longer to rehearse songs - it took a week or more for 'Castle Of Glass' to be rehearsed back in 2012. Is this another factor in why the band doesn't play more songs? On the subject of 'Keys To The Kingdom', there may still be hope for the song being performed live. On this document that shows songs the band sent to get approved for their upcoming China tour, you can see the song in the 25th position. This means the band has at least considered performing it. Maybe they seriously rehearsed it! The band submitted this document around January, all things considered (taking into account 'Darker Than Blood', 'A Place For My Head', and 'From The Inside' are there). We know the band at least TRIED to rehearse a new song for The Hunting Party North American Tour earlier in the year but opted for 'From The Inside' and 'A Place For My Head' instead. Maybe they attempted one of the two songs (the other being 'A Line In The Sand') at that point, and didn't feel comfortable enough to play them yet. 'A Line In The Sand' eventually came to the light...maybe 'Keys To The Kingdom' will too. Another issue that lies here is that a lot of the songs performed on the tour did not survive. 'Guilty All The Same' and 'Until It's Gone', the first two singles of the album, are now history. 'Until It's Gone' even received an amazing new intro with parts of 'No More Sorrow' and 'New Divide' in it, but it got dropped after the European Tour only to be SHORTENED on the Carnivores Tour! 'Rebellion' and 'Final Masquerade' are performed on and off depending on the setlist, leaving 'Wastelands' as the only consistent song. 'A Line In The Sand' has only been performed seven times thus far, so we'll leave that out for now. If the band does debut new songs, how long can we expect them to last? Will 'A Line In The Sand' even make it to 2016? And the songs that replaced them in the setlists are older songs, fan favorites. While not necessarily a bad thing, this brings us to the next (and final) point. Songs from The Hunting Party performed live: Keys To The Kingdom - Never performed All For Nothing - Never performed Guilty All The Same - debuted 5/24/14 KFMA Day 2014 The Summoning - Never performed (Appeared in Mashup Intro #2 starting 8/6/14 Private Production Rehearsal) War - Never performed Wastelands - debuted 5/24/14 KFMA Day 2014 Until It's Gone - debuted 5/24/14 KFMA Day 2014 Rebellion - debuted 8/6/14 Private Production Rehearsal Mark The Graves - Never performed Drawbar - Never performed Final Masquerade - debuted 8/6/14 Private Production Rehearsal A Line In The Sand - debuted 5/9/15 Rock in Rio USA 2015 And finally, a main complaint in recent setlists is that the main portion of the set is singles. Mike has said before that older, rarer songs would have to "beat out" the singles for a spot in the sets, and he also feels obligated to play the singles at the shows for the casual fans. It's reasonable to understand that the band wants to perform as many singles as they can to appeal the main demographic of the crowd (the casual fans), but is it effective? Since the Living Things era, a bunch of Hybrid Theory songs such as 'Points Of Authority', 'With You', and 'Runaway' have also been taking up setlist spots - is that necessary, too? Sure, many of us may love these songs, but let's balance the possibilities here: old songs the band has played countless times before, or new songs that if not played now, we'll never see in the future? Maybe new songs won't translate too well live, look back at what Mike said about 'Skin To Bone'. Lot's of people don't think 'Keys To The Kingdom' will be the best live, either. What should the band do? Let's look at what Linkin Park doing now. A LOT of Linkin Park's live show depends on many parts working together. In fact, all of Brad's guitar sounds and the backing tracks to the songs are triggered by running a single ProTools session. Heck, Mike and Joe are the only two people onstage during his solo medley! Maybe songs like 'Skin To Bone' aren't such a stretch live. Mike can perform 'Until It Breaks' and even a 'Castle To Glass' and 'Kenji' mashup entirely on his own, running a backing track from his computer. The songs from The Hunting Party can't necessarily be executed in the same fashion, but more electronic-and layer-based tracks can be solved this way. Is it worth the hassle, though? By eliminating the multitude of singles and heavy residence of Hybrid Theory songs, LP could at least make space for new songs, or at least older, lesser played tracks. The band really has seven singles they're almost obligated to play live (in their eyes, and this is just an observation), those being 'One Step Closer', 'In The End', 'Numb', 'What I've Done', 'Bleed It Out', 'New Divide', and 'Burn It Down'. Even then, it's a subjective idea. They seemed to take steps toward this in 2013: at their headline show in Melbourne, the band performed 'A Place For My Head' instead of 'In The End', after giving the crowd a choice between the two. 'In The End' clearly won, but the band went with 'A Place For My Head'. Maybe even THEY don't want to be playing some of these songs! Mike in 2014 said Linkin Park feels obligated in playing certain "radio" singles live that they necessarily don't want to always perform, which almost certainly was a reference to 'Burn It Down'. Realistically, the band isn't being held to anything - they can drop or add anything they want. But having songs like 'Breaking The Habit', 'Crawling', and 'Faint' for so long in the setlists MIGHT be taking its toll if fans want to see newer songs played. We already have seen 'Breaking The Habit', 'Crawling', and more take breaks from the shows. 'One Step Closer' even was dropped for two shows in a row in Europe in 2011. Linkin Park will drop SOME singles from the shows, but the seven listed above seem to be staples that they'll continually keep around for as long as possible. What are your thoughts? Why do you think the band doesn't perform new songs? Do you think the band should drop more singles for new songs? Perhaps you even think the opposite - why should the band drop songs people are there for, for songs that people won't know? You guys are in charge of the discussion! We aren't CRITICIZING what they're playing, we love 'Points Of Authority', 'Rebellion', and most of the songs in the shows, we just wanted to have a discussion about: (1.) "why newer songs aren't being debuted live as frequently as they used to be", and (2.) "will singles become the main staple of the setlist in the future?" Linkin Park's The Hunting Party Chinese Tour starts this Friday, July 17. For updates, be sure to check back on the forums and follow us on Twitter!