Linkin Park, a band that was already working its way back from one tragedy, faced down another devastating situation at its concert Wednesday night in Minneapolis just hours after the city was rocked by a [deadly school shooting](https://www.startribune.com/two-children-killed-17-wounded-in-a-shooting-at-minneapolis-church/601462376).
The hip-hop-infused California alt-metal band — a big act for millennials and Gen Zers, and still popular with angsty teens — is on its first major tour since its lead singer, Chester Bennington, died by suicide in 2017.
The group made a bold choice to return at all. Then it made an even more daring decision to replace Bennington with a female singer, Emily Armstrong, a move initially greeted with skepticism and backlash.
With all that for a backdrop, Linkin Park dramatically carried through with its scheduled performance Wednesday at Target Center. Its two-hour show offered about 10,000 fans the cathartic rock ‘n’ roll therapy that always permeated its music but came through especially loud and clear on this night.
Emily Armstrong, left, joined Linkin Park last year as the band carried on for the first time since singer Chester Bennington's death in 2017. (Jimmy Fontaine)
After heavily steamrolling the crowd nonstop for the first 45 minutes with incendiary early-2000s blazers such as “Crawling” and “Points of Authority,” the band’s six members suddenly cooled off after the 2010 single “Waiting for the End.” That’s when co-founding co-vocalist Mike Shinoda addressed the tragedy that happened earlier in the day, five miles from the arena at Annunciation Catholic School.
Shinoda started by mentioning how the group’s new album, “From Zero,” was “about picking up after a tragedy.”
“There was a tragedy in this city today,” the band’s resident rapper continued. “We want to dedicate our set tonight to the loving, strong, resilient city of Minneapolis. We hope a positive night of music can bring the city together during a dark time.”
There was enough darkness to fill a celestial black hole in the songs Linkin Park delivered in its two-hour comeback gig. The band’s new frontwoman brought a lot of brightness and energy to the group but did nothing to lighten the mood.