Introduction
The Hunting Party's European Tour in August and September 2016 was Linkin Park's third tour of Europe for the album, following tours in June and November 2014. The tour was just 10 shows long. A show in Serbia was rumored to close the tour.
Before the tour
A month before this tour, Linkin Park played five stadium shows in China for The Hunting Party, their first tour of China in the history of the band.
Summary
This tour was a standard trip to Europe for the band with a mix of festivals and headlining shows. However, Linkin Park usually visits Europe for festivals in June and July, so this was their first trip there in August since they played Reading and Leeds in 2003 all the way back during the Meteora touring cycle. Because of this, they were able to play a few different festivals for the first time.
Pukkelpop ran a contest for what band fans wanted to see headline and Linkin Park won by a landslide majority. They were subsequently announced as headliners, and the day tickets for Linkin Park's show date sold out instantly. It was fitting that this was the first show of the tour. A show at Austria's FM4 Frequency followed - both of these were new festivals for Linkin Park.
Headlining shows included a big return to Poland, this time in Rybnik, a first appearance in Minsk, Belarus, another huge show in Moscow, an outdoor show in Jämsä, Finland, and a soccer stadium show in Berlin.
Two festivals were in Germany and were titled Rock'n'Heim and Rock im Sektor, put together by long time Linkin Park promoter MLK. Finally, a massive show at Rock in Roma, Italy closed the tour....Italy's second show of The Hunting Party Tour.
Setlist-wise, things stayed the same for Linkin Park except for one small change. Rebellion and Points Of Authority were played in the same setlist for the first time in 2015. Rebellion was absent in North America in January, but came back in May and June. However, it rotated with Points Of Authority and neither were played together that year until this tour. Of course, Rebellion was dropped entirely from the setlist in China due to its lyrics.
Mike used this tour to perform two side shows for Fort Minor on off days (Copenhagen and London) and one as an opening act for Linkin Park at Düsseldorf's Rock im Sektor. This was the first time Fort Minor played on the same day as Linkin Park since Summer Sonic 2006 and the first time Fort Minor directly opened for Linkin Park on the same stage.
Memorable Moments
Joe missed the last three shows in Europe (Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Roma) because he had to fly back to the U.S. due to a family emergency. His tech, Warren, filled in for him. Due to his absence, the Joe Solo Medley was dropped from the setlist for those three shows.
Crew
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Jim Digby | Director of Touring |
| Ken "Pooch" Van Druten | FOH Engineer |
| Kevin "Tater" McCarthy | Monitor Engineer |
| Warren Johnson | DJ Technician |
| Mark Fiore | Videographer |