Featured Essay: Somewhere I Belong: Music is More Than Music

by Clare Godwin

Favourite albums and meaningful albums are funny things. How many favourite albums will we have in our lifetimes? And how many of those will have meanings that go beyond the music?

I’ve always been a music lover. First with cassettes and CDs as a child, then streaming as an adult. Always quietly tapping out the beat to songs, silently bobbing along to whatever I’m obsessed with at the time; reaching for my CD walkman, MP3 player or phone to switch something on. Music will always be an important part of my life.

But this side effect isn’t something I ever considered.

The world is in the middle of a loneliness epidemic, and it’s definitely affected me through all stages of life, too. Growing up, my favourite band was (and still is) Linkin Park, with the song Somewhere I Belong being one of my favourites. I was desperate to find somewhere I might fit in and be accepted. It’s been a long time since then, but that feeling and need to belong have always been there.

The return of Linkin Park was special, but I had no idea how special it would become at the time.

Because of the From Zero album, I’ve somehow ended up in a group of 20+ people who are genuinely some of the best people I’ve ever met.

It started with the first London show in 2024.

I was attending alone, and as someone with a lot of social anxiety, I was in desperate need of some people to go with. Especially since I was going with a standing ticket with very little concert experience and no standing experience. I joined the Linkin Park Discord to find a potential person and saw someone posting about a WhatsApp group for solo people, so I forced myself to message them. They added me to the group, and I posted a little hello in the chat while resisting the urge to panic-leave the channel. Everyone was very welcoming, slowly the anxiety reduced and more people were added.

The group organised according to who had what type of ticket, then booked a pre-show dinner at the London O2 arena (where the show would be) and set up a meet for after the show as well.

Even though we’d only started speaking a week or two before the show it felt kinda obvious that this group was something special. Quite a few people in the group didn’t even have tickets yet… so we worked together to track down legitimate tickets for them. The youngest person in our group was an 18-year-old, and it turned out he purchased his ticket from a potentially very dodgy ticket resale platform… so naturally, someone ended up buying him a new ticket instead. Without ever meeting him or knowing he would be paid back in full. Just because he wanted the younger guy to be able to say that this show was his first concert. It turned out the dodgy ticket he purchased did come through after all, so he resold it and paid the other guy in our group back.

Even the day before the show, a bunch of us ended up buying merch for others in the group because we lived locally and the merch stand was open. I ended up walking away with things for four other people which was a good call… those items sold out pretty fast that day on the concert day. I might have even gotten the last of the pins and magnets they had for sale that day.

The show day was pretty crazy. I made some queue friends while waiting for my early entry number. And finally, I got to meet my WhatsApp group before the show. Well, some of them. Quite a few people were skipping the meal and arriving late because they had seated tickets, while others had standing tickets without early entry, so they were already in the queue. After the show, we met at our pre-decided meeting point. Some people had to run for trains, but quite a few of us stayed. 

Everyone was lovely, and the group kept talking. Even the international people who had turned up for the show. I had assumed it might go silent, but nope, waking up to 100+ new messages was a common occurrence and still is today.

We talked about going to the next show together, too, and when the 2025 London show was announced, the group made new plans. After joking about the stress of the last ticket sale day, someone suggested we work together and well… someone made a spreadsheet.

It might seem a little extreme, but the spreadsheet was fantastic. Everyone was listed. We filled it in with our ticket needs, if we could buy the ticket(s) on the sale date and how many we needed. Turns out a lot of us were willing to buy extra tickets for the group… including brand new people who only joined a few weeks earlier after one of our members recruited other fans when he went to both LP Brazil shows.

It’s still hilarious to me that this group of basically strangers were just so willing to buy tickets for other strangers without being 100% certain they’d even be paid back. We often joke about how lucky we are that we haven’t ended up with a scammer in the group… and then still ignore basic internet safety and spend lots of money on random online people we barely know.

On the 2025 show ticket release day, at least 10 of us were sitting together in voice chat on WhatsApp while messages were flying in the group chat. There were a lot of “I FEEL SICK!” messages with everyone stressing out, frantically running for office bathrooms and taking early lunch breaks as the timer ticked down. The original plan was for all of us to get LPU pit standing tickets or front standing if that sold out. It quickly became “buy literally anything” while freaking out once the ticket queue opened.

Eventually, everyone in voice chat got the tickets. The original plan fell apart immediately since the LPU pit was gone instantly. So, plan B it was, we went for front standing instead.

The spreadsheet might sound a little crazy… but it worked. We all knew the plan and everyone got exactly what they wanted.

Somehow, we managed to organise so well that we collectively got over 20 front standing tickets. Even someone who wanted a seated ticket ended up buying some for the group, and she still got the exact seats she wanted, too. While the Linkin Park discord was full of people having a meltdown over trying to get a standing ticket, my group got everything we needed within the 20 minutes of sale.

It’s a hell of an achievement considering how fast the 2025 Wembley Stadium show sold out. Within the hour, all of the front standing was gone, and the rear standing quickly followed.

I knew the group was something special from the start… everyone was just so friendly and welcoming. Christmas 2025 and the Wembley show more than confirmed it for me.

Christmas 2025, we ended up doing a Secret Santa. Lots of us opted into it and, like the smart internet safe people we are… shared our home addresses with random people we only met once (and others who joined a few weeks earlier). Even someone who had only joined two days earlier was invited to join.

Yet somehow, it was totally fine! Everyone got their gift, and it was a lot of fun. My secret Santa went over the budget with 2 new Linkin Park CDs and a vegan baking book (which cost the full budget by itself). As someone who has often struggled to find friends or people who accept me, it was really emotional.

Linkin Park at Wembley Stadium 2025 was insane

The group planned an Airbnb for the internationals and those traveling across the UK for it. We ended up turning it into a full weekend of celebration. Friday night was clubbing. Saturday was pre-show lunch, the show and then karaoke. Sunday was a lunch and chill day. Then Monday was brunch and chill until everyone had to go home. I had thought the 2024 London show connection was purely from the show, but no, everyone was immediately comfortable together and made space for each other. There was no judgment here; everyone was safe together.

I knew the group was amazing and special, but the weekend solidified it. It was the first time we’d been able to spend extended time together in person, and it wasn’t awkward at all. Everything felt so natural. 

Finally, after 30 years of searching, I found somewhere I belong.

From Zero is more than just an album to me

It’s a symbol of how music is more than just music. It builds community and binds us together in ways we might never have expected.

We often overlook how much community can come from music. Not only from performing music, but being part of the crowd or fanbase. It feels like we’ve stopped taking chances to connect and have just embraced the idea that we’re better off alone. Standing quietly by ourselves, side by side, waiting for the concert to start.

I’ve certainly fallen victim to this over the years, across all my hobbies and interests.

From Zero has given me hard proof of what can happen when you’re willing to take a chance on people. 

Community is a special thing and something we’ve lost over the years. It might feel harder to connect with others these days, but it’s not impossible. There are incredible people out there. 

All we have to do is say “yes” a bit more.

Clare Godwin is a freelance writer fueled by rock, metal and caffeine, focused on creating long-form editorials, lifestyle storytelling and educational content to help others.