Linkin Park made history at the Download festival on Sunday night as Emily Armstrong became the first ever frontwoman to headline the event at Donington Park, per loudersound.com.
The performance marked the American rock band’s first appearance at the festival in 12 years, and their first UK festival booking since the death of former lead vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017.
The performance drew a multi-generational audience to the Apex stage, contrasting sharply with the smaller crowd recorded for Guns N’ Roses the previous evening. Armstrong’s introduction on stage was met with widespread applause from attendees, swiftly dispelling earlier online skepticism surrounding her appointment as the band’s new co-lead vocalist.
The band opened their historic set with their recent comeback single, “The Emptiness Machine,” followed by established catalogue tracks “Lying From You” and “Crawling”. While newer material such as “Up From The Bottom” received a more subdued reception, vintage tracks including “Somewhere I Belong” maintained high levels of audience engagement.
The middle segment of the concert featured a varied selection of material. The performance of “The Catalyst” was accompanied by a large confetti display, followed by “Burn It Down”. Co-founder Mike Shinoda also performed “Where’d You Go,” a track from his side project Fort Minor, before the band transitioned into the 2010 single “Waiting For The End”.
The energy of the set accelerated with “Two Faced”, a track from their album “From Zero,” during which Shinoda initiated a women-only mosh pit to mark Armstrong’s headline achievement. Following performances of “A Place For My Head” and “IGYEIH,” the band briefly paused their rendition of “One Step Closer” for several minutes to allow security and medical staff to assist a distressed fan in the crowd.
Following a brief second intermission, Armstrong and Shinoda returned to deliver a piano-led arrangement of the “Meteora” era track “Lost”. The band then concluded the festival with a consecutive run of their most prominent commercial hits, including “What I’ve Done,” “Numb,” “Heavy Is The Crown,” “Bleed It Out,” “Papercut,” “In The End,” and “Faint”.
The performance concludes a major transitional phase for Linkin Park, who went on an extended hiatus following Bennington’s death. The 2026 Download appearance solidifies the band’s restructuring and return to global touring, validating Armstrong’s role in fronting one of modern rock music’s most commercially successful acts.
•Featured image credit: © Katja Ogrin/Getty Image
