Linkin Park 2026 Abu Dhabi concert review: One step closer to the childhood dream

The countdown is over. 5…4..3…2..1…

 And they begin, with Somewhere I belong, a song so deeply entrenched in angst, pain and rage that even the 13-year-old person in you still flinches. Linkin Park took off at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, for the first time with the new vocalist, Emily Armstrong.  

Chester Bennington remained present, and yet he wasn’t. You could tell who were the millennials in the crowd: They searched for him in In The End, Crawling, Numb, Faint, and One Step Closer---the ones who had Hybrid Theory and Meteora as the soundtrack to their childhood.

Armstrong wasn’t trying to fill the emptiness that he had left behind. She held her own, and allowed the audience to warm up to her gradually. The respect showed. She quietly honoured the songs that we had grown up with,  and then would pull the rug under your feet with the vocals for Heavy is The Crown, and Emptiness Machine. Her final lines, This is what you ask for, the chorus for Heavy is The Crown, reverberated across the stadium.

In many moments, the ever-reliable Mike Shinoda, alongside Armstrong, stepped back and let the crowd sing along to favourites like Crawling. Everyone knew the lyrics — from the rap to the raging chorus. Emotion filled the stadium, and by the end of the show, people were dancing and hooting madly. The chaos in the mosh pit grew loud enough for Shinoda to notice and call out, “Okay, you guys are having a party down there.”

He even walked into the crowd, greeting fans and handing a lucky one a gift. The concert didn’t overstay its welcome in all the fire and energy: The band sped through a setlist of over 24 songs, and with each track, the applause and cheers grew louder, especially with the Joe Hahn solo.

A running joke in the crowd was that the band knew exactly who they were playing to — millennials on a work night, most of us needing to be up the next morning. The show wrapped up neatly by 11 pm.

Which then begs the question: did the childhood dream finally get fulfilled?

It was enjoyable, fun with several hair-raising moments. But, yet, the realisation sinks in: Even if you watch them live, the childhood dream won’t ever completely come true. After all, it was a childhood of growing up with Chester, and unraveling the reasons behind the pain in his songs for years to come. It’s the realisation that some sing songs brilliantly.

But some attach their soul to a song.