Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda caught up with The Rock Drive’s Jay and Dunc yesterday following the massive announcement that they’ll be returning to NZ in March 2026. 

During their yarn, Shinoda spoke about the exciting “second win” that is propelling the band, a cheeky Metallica prank, and what NZ fans can expect at the 2026 show.

While their current focus is on the present and future success of the reinvented Linkin Park, the band’s decorated career so far couldn’t be ignored, including an unforgettable anecdote - them being the first band to prank Metallica. 

While touring the Summer Sanitarium festival with Metallica, Shinoda said the band got the green light from security and snuck on stage during Metallica's set. 

“It was during like Master of Puppets or something. We went up and… took a skateboard and a picnic blanket and some food and had a picnic up on their stage while they were playing this, you know, ripping heavy metal,” is how Shinoda remembered it. 

So good. 

Now, attention is entirely on the massive “second wind” that's currently rocking the world. 

Shinoda spoke about the new chapter featuring new powerhouse vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, detailing how “nice” it feels to experience the resurgence with a lot of knowledge already honed on “what we like” and “what would excite fans”. 

There’s this nice mixture of excitement over something that is familiar, but very new.

Speaking about Armstrong, Shinoda praised her talent, noting her “creative energy” has unlocked “a really fun new palette of colour for us to work with both in the studio and on stage.” 

“She’s such a pro, she’s great at what she does.” 

The new era has proven its success, with ‘From Zero’ debuting at #1 in 10 countries when it first came out, including our little old New Zealand. 

For the New Zealand fans heading to Spark Arena, Shinoda promised a phenomenal show that honors both old and new, and confirmed the band is playing better than ever. 

Crucially, they know what the fans want: “Probably about a third of the set... is new stuff and two-thirds of the set is older stuff. We don't stray away from playing the hits.” 

Shinoda is actually just bloody stoked because fans actually complained when new songs were taken out of the set: “It’s a unique position to be in, and it’s not lost on us.” 

Shinoda wrapped up by sharing his excitement to be back in NZ: “It's been a minute. It's been a long time since we've come back, and we're thrilled to be able to see everybody over there next year.”

How bloody good.