Being an alternative teen post 2010 must be a pretty difficult feat. The holy trinity - My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco - are lost to the mainstream or obsolete, studded belts are as few and far between as honest politicians and MySpace is a distant memory gate-kept rather aggressively by those above 30. In steps Twenty One Pilots: this generation’s answer to the leaders of the misfits and the misunderstood.
Their ever-growing fan base, dubbed affectionately as the Skeleton Clique, could perhaps be described best as the world’s most wholesome and inclusive cult; obsessive but respectful, solitary but mutually supportive. Lyrics such as, “I used to say I wanna die before I’m old, but now because of you I might think twice” demonstrate the intrinsic relationship between Tyler Joseph, Josh Dun and their hundreds of thousands of followers.
Three nights of sold-out shows at Wembley Arena isn’t something to be scoffed at - the Columbus duo are bringing their alt-pop-rock-bit of everything spectacle to a grand total of 37,500 people over the trio of shows.
Opening the first night in an explosion of confetti, balaclavas and Cadillacs ablaze - at a considerate 8PM, may we add - their stage show is nothing short of an awe-inspiring assault on the senses. The gritty bassline of latest album single ‘Jumpsuit’ rips through the arena, creating a palpable air of anticipation before descending into a chaotic circus of gymnastics, phenomenal musicianship and extravagant lightshows.
One second Tyler is on an elevated platform front and centre stage, three seconds later he’s falling backwards into a dark pit and appears among the crowd half way back the seated section. Wild. Whilst he’s ushered by an obviously overstretched security back into the inner workings of the venue, a short video of the iconic red beanie distracts the crowd until they both re-appear on the main stage complete with.. a Hawaiian shirt and a ukulele?
The cameras take a lot of time out to appreciate the crowd, showing the array of signs reading everything from the usual ‘I love you Tyler’ to the slightly more touching ‘I flew 1680KM to say thank you’.
It’s all a strange, ethereal blur as Tyler performs the whole of ‘We Don’t Believe What’s On TV’ with his shirt over his head like a child in a cheapskate Halloween ghost costume, before a bridge descends from the ceiling and leads him to a smaller stage near the back the standing section. Surrounded by CO2 cannons, he slowly makes his way across the bridge, stopping to strike various poses and dangle his feet like bait above the frenzied crowd.
“We like to dedicate this part of the show to our dads. Not for an emotional reason, but because we ask the people in the seated sections to sit down for this one. They love that. Also, this is the part of the set where 50% of the band is in the right place and 50% is behind - but Joshua said because I’m the lead singer I can use the cool bridge thing and he’ll walk here like a normal person," quips Tyler before Josh walks through the crowd to the back of the arena to join him and they dive headfirst into ‘Neon Gravestones’, the tour’s eponymous ‘Bandito’ and ‘Pet Cheetah’.
Josh, who doesn’t actually say a single word throughout the duration of the two-hour performance, saunters back across the bridge to his original starting place, stopping to pop his shirt halfway, inducing a deafening scream from the crowds below.
Whilst the duo tear through ‘Holding on to You’, sing-along inducing ‘Ride’ and ‘My Blood’, security pass a drum kit out across the crowd for Josh to play perched atop the punters, showing that literally nothing is impossible when you’re Twenty One Pilots. Jesus walked on water? Josh Dun played drums balanced on a crowd of 12,500 people at Wembley. What next?
The show comes to an emotional climax for ‘Car Radio’, with every voice in the venue screaming “I liked it better when my car had sound” in an inadvertent mass bonding exercise.
Encoring with Trench’s ‘Chlorine’, ‘Leave The City’ and finishing as always on a track personal to Tyler, ’Trees’, the band leave the crowd hanging on their every last word, begging for more. The multiple costume changes, more illusions and trickery than you could count on two hands and spectacular lighting show could be interpreted as distracting gimmicks, were it not for their true musicianship and genuine talent. Tyler’s voice exceeds expectations the whole show through, and Josh’s seemingly inhuman ability to smash drums for 120 minutes straight allays any doubt that these guys have tricked their way to the top. A truly phenomenal act deserving of such a committed, devoted fanbase. Viva Twenty One Pilots.
