Mike Shinoda at the Gramercy Theatre

In Agoura Hills, California, Mike Shinoda's mother encouraged her six-year-old son to take classical piano lessons. By 13, he moved toward jazz, blues, and hip-hop, and during his middle school and high school years he added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire. Shinoda formed Xero with two of his high school friends in 1996; the band became Hybrid Theory and then Linkin Park in 1999 with the addition of Chester Bennington. Bennington became Linkin Park's primary singer, while Shinoda also sang and rapped on many tracks. Linkin Park has won two Grammy Awards and sold more than 70 million albums worldwide. In 2004, Shinoda conceived a short-lived hip-hop-driven side project, Fort Minor. More recently, he released under his own name the Post Traumatic EP on January 25, 2018; the EP featured three songs articulating his feelings regarding Bennington's 2017 suicide. Shinoda's debut solo album, also entitled Post Traumatic, was released on June 15, 2018.

At the Gramercy Theatre tonight, Mike Shinoda performed solo, singing, rapping, and playing various instruments accompanied by backing tracks. The repertoire consisted of songs from Linkin Park, Fort Minor and Shinoda's solo work, plus a few seemingly impromptu detours, yet as a whole the set took a decidedly more pop turn than Linkin Park's nu metal and alternative rock; Shinoda's baritone hip-hop style met pop hooks in places where Linkin Park probably never would have gone. Curiously, Shinoda's newer lyrics do not seem like fodder for hits; they seemed more like a cathartic journey through Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief. Nevertheless, the repetitious hook lines, melodies and arrangements were meant for chanting or dancing, not brooding or healing. It would seem that Shinoda has left metal music, at least for now, in favor of Top 40 dreams.

Visit Mike Shinoda at www.mikeshinoda.com.

Setlist:

1. Welcome (Fort Minor song, with extended intro)
2. Place to Start
3. Watching as I Fall
4. Castle of Glass (Linkin Park song, piano style)
5. When They Come for Me (Linkin Park song, shortened)
6. Hands Held High (Linkin Park song; verse 1 acapella, not on setlist)
7. Kenji (Fort Minor song)
8. Roads Untraveled (Linkin Park song, shortened)
9. Ghosts
10. Waiting for the End / Where'd You Go
11. Sorry for Now (Linkin Park song, with extended intro and bridge w/ demo verse)
12. Crossing a Line
13. In the End (Linkin Park song) (piano version)
14. About You (Vocoder intro; shortened)
15. Over Again / Papercut (shortened)
16. Make It Up as I Go
17. Good Goodbye / Bleed It Out (Linkin Park song)

Encore:

1. I.O.U. (Live debut; not on setlist and not rehearsed)
2. Remember the Name (Fort Minor song, shortened)
3. Running from My Shadow