Linkin Park Brings ‘A Thousand Suns’ Home for US Tour Dates

Linkin Park are finally bringing their 'A Thousand Suns' tour home, following jaunts through Europe and Australia. The US leg begins Jan. 20 in Sunrise, Fla. and takes in 24 dates before ending Feb. 28 in Phoenix, Ariz. During a press conference last week, co-vocalist Mike Shinoda surprisingly revealed that even at this stage, the band is not playing on auto pilot and each show will be fresh.

"Our art team developed technology that's specific to [these shows], and it had a lot to do with the fact that we don't play the exact same thing every night. We play different set lists. And then within those set lists we improvise, so we wanted a way for the look of the show to kind of ebb and flow with whatever we do with the music," Shinoda told a bevy of journalists. "So from night to night, the music will be different and the visuals will be different as well. No two shows will be the same."

Of course, the stage set's basic structure remains the same, and it's inspired by the apocalyptic theme of their fourth studio album. "The look of the show has a lot to do with the look of 'A Thousand Suns,'" Shinoda said. "A lot of the themes that are going on with the new record kind of take a central role in the visuals of the show."

As a bonus, every fan that buys a concert ticket for the tour gets a free souvenir download of the music from the show they attend. "In the past, we've charged for it, but on this run we are actually giving it away included in the ticket price. So when you get your ticket, you basically get your show to listen to for free."

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