On November 11, I attended the Twenty One Pilots show at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA and it was an amazing concert full of mesmerizing lights, great music, and more.
The show began when Josh Dun took the stage with a flaming torch, before taking his seat behind the drums. A ski mask wearing Tyler Joseph then rose up with a burning car in the middle of the stage. From there, the duo blasted right into "Jumpsuit" off their latest album "Trench."
The two then transitioned into "Levitate" followed by "Fairly Local" and that's when things started getting interesting. During the third track, Joseph fell backwards onstage and disappeared only to reappear up in the seated section where he finished the song before removing his mask to show it was really him.
Upon returning to the stage, Joseph donned his trademarked red beanie for a performance of the "Blurryface" hit "Stressed Out." That track was followed by another hit, "Heathens," which they wrote for the film "Suicide Squad."
About midway through the set, the duo perfomed "Nico And The Niners" as a light bridge was lowered. Joseph used it to cross over to a secondary stage out in the crowd. Dun then got into the crowd and made his way over to meet his bandmate for three tracks, "Taxi Cab," "Neon Gravestones," and "Bandito." For these songs, they asked everyone who had a seat to sit down on behalf of their fathers, who asked them to save a spot in their lengthy show where they can rest their legs. However, everyone soon got back up for "Pet Cheetah" as Joseph and Dun returned to the main stage.
After "Pet Cheetah", they launched into "Holding On To You" before inviting the openers, Awolnation and Max Frost, out onstage for covers of Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" and The Beatles' "Hey Jude." This was a cool moment, because it was not only a change of pace, but a moment of musical unity between three separate acts.
Twenty One Pilots wrapped things up with songs like “Ride” and “My Blood” before returning for a two-song encore featuring “Leave The City” and “Trees.” "Trees" was a perfect finale and it gave everyone one last chance to sing and get lost in the music. It was completed by the duo pounding two big drums in the middle of the crowd as confetti flooded the venue. Once they returned to the stage, they bowed as "The Bandito Tour" logo was projected behind them.
The highlight of the concert was definitely the stage production and visuals, which changed for almost every song. This ranged from elaborate lights and lasers to projections that made it look like the two were being surrounded by smoke and vultures. The group even had apocalyptic figures in gas masks blasting fog at one point. Fans obviously came for the music, but they were left in awe by a full on sensory experience.