Twenty One Pilots
October 15, 2015
Greek Theater- Los Angeles, CA
The Alternative hip-hop duo known as Twenty One Pilots were in Los Angeles for a sold out show as part of their Blurryface Tour, supporting their fourth studio album, Blurryface. Opening up the show were the brothers and sisters who made up Echosmith. They kicked off their 8 song set with Let’s Love and warmed the crowd up with Bright and their most popular hit Cool Kids. The crowd was pretty mellow during their set, but enjoyed the Indie-Pop that the siblings brought.
At 9:15 it was finally time for what everyone was waiting for, Twenty One Pilots. The stage dimmed and a microphone was hanging from the stage, swaying side to side. Anxious fans screamed in excitement as Josh Dun on drums started pounding away to Heavydirtysoul. Lead singer Tyler Joseph ran on stage and started rapping the lyrics.
Twenty One Pilots have been around for 6 years and have released four albums. They gained momentum and worldwide fame in 2013 with their hit song Holding On To You and have since garnered a very loyal fan-base and have been selling out shows worldwide. When a band blows up on the radio due to a single, often at their concerts, the fans only know that single. Twenty One Pilots fans were an exception to this, as everyone in the venue was singing every single song verbatim alongside Joseph. It was quite impressive and just goes to show how loyal the fans were.
With just two members in the band, Twenty One Pilots captivated the audience with their production, using screens behind them, showing images and smoke and fog shooting out from machines. During Lane Boy two people in hazmat suits were dancing on the screens and just as the song was about to reach the drop, fog shot up, covering the stage for a few moments and the projected people on the screens were gone, and were now dancing on stage.
Tyler Joseph showed his musicianship throughout the 18 song set. He alternated from singing to rapping to even screaming in the microphone, while either playing the bass guitar, piano or ukulele. The band is truly unique in the way they combine all these different genres and ideas and make it work so cohesively. He also was constantly having the crowd cheer for Josh Dun on the drums, who hit the drums so ferociously that the passion was just surging from his body. “I know we are supposed to act like this is normal and that we do this often, but we don’t. This show is sold out tonight. YOU guys made that happen.” Joseph said as he looked into the sea of people.
Joseph would continue to interact with the crowd and make them part of the show, asking everyone to crouch down and then jump up during Lane Boy; having the crowd hold him up during the very fitting, Holding Onto You; and even managing to have a shocking percentage of the crowd agree to hold people up on their shoulders during Run and Go. During Ride, Josh Dun did ride the crowd in a way, as his drum set was placed on top of the crowd while he finished up the song.
As the set was nearing an end, the band went into their hit Car Radio and as the song was ending, Joseph wanted to get a little more personal with the crowd. He jumped off stage and ran to the very end of the venue and stood atop of the tower that was just behind the very last seats of the venue. Fans rushed toward him, hoping to touch him as he danced and screamed the lyrics.
The song ended and fans instantly began chanting for “One more song!” It wasn’t long before the guys were back on stage, performing a slower song, Goner. White doves projected on the screen on the stage as cell phones and lighters went into the air. Their set ended with Trees where they went on the platforms in the venue to dance along with the fans, a perfect ending to an incredible night.
It’s truly amazing how two guys can perform like they have a whole band with them. They combine hip-hop, indie, alternative, rock and dance/electronic into their sound and somehow manage to make it sound amazing. They really do have something for everyone and on top of their charming personalities, they are extremely talented musicians who deserve the recognition that they are receiving.
Review by: Nicole Lemberg
Twenty One Pilots
Echosmith
