Linkin Park returned to Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for night two of their From Zero World Tour, delivering a show that blended nostalgia, humour and sheer intensity across a sprawling multi-act set.
The show opened with the atmospheric Inception Intro A, layered with vocals from “Castle of Glass”, before the band launched straight into “Somewhere I Belong”. A short scratched intro led the crowd into “Lying From You”, which has been appearing as a rotating track on the tour but made a second consecutive appearance in Sydney.
Early in the set the band also played “Over Each Other”, marking its first appearance in Act One on the tour.
The opening run continued with “New Divide”, introduced with the familiar Moscow intro, before the band shifted into the thunderous “The Emptiness Machine”.
Before the song, Mike Shinoda paused to take in the crowd.
“You guys doing good? Thank you for being here for night two. And also thank you guys for the new record From Zero, especially when this song came out.”
The crowd responded with one of the loudest cheers of the night.
The second act began with another cinematic transition, once again featuring vocals from “Castle of Glass”, before the band launched into a shortened version of “The Catalyst”.
The energy quickly ramped up. During the intro to “Burn It Down”, Shinoda shouted to the crowd, “Alright you guys, it’s dancing time!”
By the time the band reached “Up From The Bottom”, the arena was already fully engaged. Shinoda complimented the crowd’s vocals, telling them, “Sydney you guys have some beautiful voices,” prompting Emily Armstrong to laugh and respond, “You guys are fucking loud, it’s awesome.”
Shinoda then introduced a brief Fort Minor throwback with a shortened performance of “Where’d You Go”. He asked the crowd how many had seen Linkin Park before and how many were first-timers, before adding that the show seemed to have “mostly newcomers”.
“Do we have any Fort Minor fans? This one’s for you.”
The emotional run continued with “Waiting for the End”, featuring an extended synth intro, followed by “From the Inside”, which has now appeared three shows in a row on the tour.
The intensity rose again with “Two Faced”. Before the track, Shinoda jokingly warned the crowd about the mosh pit.
“Be careful not to fuck up any women in the pit on this one, gentlemen.”
One of the most memorable sections of the night came shortly afterwards.
During Shinoda’s solo medley, which blended “When They Come For Me” and “Remember the Name”, he referenced a tweet from a fan who had joked that he always rapped the same verse during this part of the show. Shinoda responded by dramatically switching things up, weaving together verses and choruses from several tracks including “Step Up”, “It’s Goin’ Down”, “Lift Off”, “Until It Breaks” and “When They Come For Me”.
After the medley finished, the band paused to celebrate Joe Hahn’s birthday.
Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” began playing over Wudo. . Hahn lip synced along while the rest of the band stood on stage playfully lip syncing the song and performing exaggerated dramatic gestures, sending the arena into laughter. The moment escalated when Hahn tossed his birthday cake into the very eager crowd before the band launched back into the music with a ferocious performance of “One Step Closer”.
“Lost” began stripped back before building into the full band arrangement, followed by the long-awaited return of “Leave Out All the Rest”, which had not appeared in the set since São Paulo in 2024.
“What I’ve Done” continued the nostalgic tone before the band debuted an extended synth intro for “Overflow”, with Shinoda briefly playing the melody from “Pushing Me Away”.
Before “Numb”, Shinoda revived the tour’s “Control Colin” game. Emily selected a fan from the crowd who chose option two, which triggered a surprising disco-style version of the song.
In a rare move, Shinoda introduced it by saying simply, “This song is called Numb.”
The track transformed into a full disco jam, complete with extended grooves and playful vocals. The jam eventually transitioned into a crowd-wide singalong of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. As the arena sang, Armstrong smiled and shouted, “I love you!”
For the encore, an Australian flag was placed on Shinoda’s keyboard, marking the first time a fan flag has appeared on stage during the From Zero tour.
Armstrong reappeared wearing oversized novelty glasses and spraying silly string during the intro to “Papercut”, adding another playful moment to the night.
“Heavy Is the Crown”, which had been absent from recent shows due to Armstrong’s illness earlier in the tour, returned to the setlist. During the second half of the song Armstrong climbed onto the crowd, standing above the audience as they held her up.
Before the final song, Shinoda addressed the arena.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been fucking amazing tonight. We can’t wait to come back.”
He then led the audience in an “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy” chant before launching into “Bleed It Out”.
The closing track featured an extended bridge where Shinoda rapped the first verse of “A Place for My Head”. The band stretched the song into a massive finale before finally leaving the stage.
By the end of the night, the arena had witnessed a show that was chaotic, emotional and celebratory all at once.
For Sydney, it was not just a concert.
It was a reminder of why Linkin Park remain one of the most powerful live bands of their generation.
Photography: Josh Ma
