Twenty One Pilots - Bandito Tour

Grace and I went to the Wells Fargo Center last night to see Twenty One Pilots (TOP to save me typing), her favorite band, and her first concert. We went with our good friend neighbors from across the street, their daughter, and another neighborhood girl. They are in college now, but share the love of TOP with Grace. We drove down together, did the apparently mandatory yellow duct tape thing, and got there plenty early. We had the ritual pre-concert slice of pizza, and were impatient for things to start.

Grace (middle) and older neighborhood friends

The show started at 7. Or more accurately, the first of two opening acts started at 7. Opening acts were Max Frost (meh) and Awolnation (which started meh and grew on me). Each played 25-30 minutes, with a half hour-ish in between, and then another half hour to ready the stage for TOP.

Awolnation

The crowd was very young, being mostly high school, college aged and young adults, with a healthy scattering of parents such as yours truly escorting the younger ones. When the band (of two people) took the stage there was Beatle-esque squealing and screaming and some crying. Not at all like the subdued old-guy classic rock geezer band shows I usually attend these days. Very different. And refreshing. Grace did her share of squealing, and screaming, and a bit of crying. Fun. Lots of energy. Opening song was Jumpsuit.

Opening number with burning car

The show was a lot different than what I am used to, much of which is a reflection of the nature of the band. Twenty One Pilots these days is a drummer (Josh Dunn) and a guy who writes the songs and does everything else (Tyler Joseph). Obviously, a live show with two people requires lots of recorded tracks, which my generation would have largely regarded as cheating/sacrilege, but... it was done very well.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the show was amazing. Great music, fantastic lights, props and stage show. Good banter between songs. A tremendously fanatic and dedicated fan base. And a lot of very creative things. At one point, a figure on stage believed to be Tyler Joseph (but who hadn't sung or played anything in a little while) did a back-flop into a hole in the stage. Seconds later he appeared on a small platform in our section, about 6 rows and 20 feet behind us. So the figure on stage was obviously a faked stand in. People went nuts (Grace included). He was so close... :-)

Tyler Joseph appears 6 rows behind us

Without going into any great detail, I liked the music more than I expected to. Grace's favorite song is The Judge (our show's version here).

Lights and Screens

Clever staging also made for a great viewing experience. At one point, a big long rack of lights lowered from the ceiling, and proved to be a bridge from the main stage to the "B" stage on its upper surface.

Lights lowered to make a bridge to the "B" stage

Tyler used the bridge to get to the "B" stage right in front of us, and Josh worked his way through the crowd to join him. They did a nice quiet set from the "B" stage.

"B" stage right in front of section 102

Tyler was very good at the in between song banter with the audience, and there were a number of cute running themes throughout the concert. One of them was the challenge to be the best audience on the tour, and to remember that it was't simply being the loudest single crowd moment, but that "it's an average". The teasing about "remember, it's an average" ran through the show and was amusing (you can hear him say it during "Trees" below at about the 1:24 mark...).

They played a solid two hours, and really were terrific. A highlight was their final number "Trees".

More lights and screens

It was a great night for Grace, and would have been worth it to me even if I hadn't liked the show at all. The fact that I liked it as much as I did was a nice bonus. The joy on her face was priceless.

I think she will remember this for a long time.