It’s definitely been a good number of years before I’ve seen Ohio’s own Twenty One Pilots in concert, but last night’s show was a warm welcome back into their world.
Since I was first introduced to these guys almost a decade ago, they have blown up in popularity, which always has me a little leery to go see them in concert again. Sure, there were little kids and parents at this show, but I can’t deny how much the crowd was unified by the bands’ antics. It was kind of cool to see (if only just once or twice). This was an arena show, so naturally it was huge. And they played it huge, too, but without it becoming hokey, and that’s a huge win in my book! They only had one opener, Peter McPoland, who I only caught the tail end of, so I can’t comment on his performance, but that just means it was really a Twenty One Pilots concert. And they totally made the most of their time on stage.
The show started with a short film clip featuring some creepy, barren tundra, the guys in ski masks, and an ominous blue door floating overhead. That blue door made its way to reality and was the entrance for Tyler and Josh to the stage. Throughout the show, there was plenty of smoke, confetti, and flames to go around, but I credit the band fully for making everyone in that arena feel up close and personal to them. There was a B-stage, which was used more than once assisted by some sweet medleys, and then Tyler gave himself quite the workout running down either side of the length of the arena multiple times throughout the night! He climbed things (as expected), but also surfed the crowd on a mattress (a highlight).
Also, at 27 songs, it was quite the robust setlist! I was seeing online that only bits and pieces of some of those songs were being played, which is understandable unless they wanted to spend the whole night in Cleveland. So as I said before, there were some creatively composed medleys, along with a really neat “campfire” rendition of several songs featuring an accordion and a violin! “Nico and the Niners” was certainly a highlight from that section, where “Ode to Sleep” was my favorite from the stripped down B-stage section. Of course, the played hits like “Car Radio” and “Stressed Out,” but I was excited to hear “My Blood,” “The Outside,” and “Holding Onto You.”
Basically, if you’re a Twenty One Pilots fan, this is a show you must catch when it comes to your city.