Linkin Park Just Announced Emily Armstrong As Their New Singer And Livestreamed Their First Show Back
Linkin Park has been teasing an announcement about the future of the band for weeks, and the fact that it was a reunion with a female vocalist in place of the late Chester Bennington was sorrrta the worst kept secret in rock n' roll, as I blogged about it all the way back in May....
....but it wasn't until this evening that it was announced Emily Armstrong from the band Dead Sara would be the one trying to fill those very large shoes Chester left behind. The band went live across social media and put on a 14-song set with Armstrong (and a new drummer/guitar player as well) that marked their first performance since 2017, and my verdict? I'm in.
Nobody could ever truly replace Chester's iconic, one-of-a-kind voice; and Linkin Park obviously sounds much different with Emily Armstrong singing in his place, but that's probably what they were going for to a degree when they decided to recruit a female lead! I doubt they wanted someone who could be so easily compared to Chester, or someone who would be accused of doing a Chester impression.
Armstrong brings her own flavor to the job, but her screams/vocal fry moments are totally reminiscent of Bennington at times and make it easy to hear why they chose her. Listen to this moment at (2:11) of their new single, for example....
That's totally Chester inspired in a pretty cool way. It's going to take some getting used to for sure….but she kinda fuckin rocked tonight, and it looked like a hell of a show to be in the crowd for! Here's some clips….
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It'll be interesting to see how she maintains her voice while singing these songs on tour, because some of those screaming parts are gnarly and I feel like there's no easy way around em, but those are future problems. She kicked ass tonight.
Over everything else though, tonight's livestream helped remind me how many awesome hits Linkin Park has - and in my opinion, those songs deserve to continue being played live for thousands upon thousands of adoring fans, even if it's not the same as it once was.
There's probably a whole generation of fans who never got to see Linkin Park live, and they should be able to go to an arena and belt out their favorite songs too. Six tour dates have been announced so far, and hopefully more will follow….
Oh, and they've got a new album out on November 15th. New single from it isn't half bad.
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Again, without Chester, it's hard to nail down that distinct Linkin Park sound, but I'll reserve full judgement til I hear the full album.
That guy was just unreal.