Denver, CO-Twenty One Pilots are currently on a different kind of tour than people are used to. Their tour only consists of 8 cities total, but they are performing 26 times. The math doesn’t add up, does it? That’s because they are doing four shows per city in most cases apart from Columbus, Ohio which is only two dates. The tour kicked off with a fury here in Denver, Colorado with the first show at a small venue called the BlueBird Theater on October 12th that only seats 500 people, and ending their Denver shows at Ball Arena which holds up to 20,000 people. Tickets sold out for all four shows in record time.
Their third and fourth shows of the tour were at the epic Mission Ballroom and Ball Arena, respectively. Mission Ballroom is a state-of-the-art venue build solely for concerts, and the Ball Arena is home to the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. The lines for both shows were stretched as far as you could see. Once inside, everywhere you looked, there were Twenty One Pilots shirts. The fans were there in force.
A young and energetic Arrested Youth took the stage first. They came out with the energy of a band knowing they had some big shoes to fill. As the opening act, they needed to get the ball rolling and that’s just what they did. Ian Johnson left everything out on the stage. His stage presence is a force to be reckoned with.
Half Alive came out to a roaring crowd as they prepared to rock. Drummer Brett Kramer and Bassist J. Tyler Johnson got the crowd riled up with a frantic beat as lead signer Josh Taylor came out hitting notes like there was no tomorrow. There journey through the set included choreographed dancers and one hell of a light show. Watching their set, fans were hypnotized by the ebb and flow of the artists and dancers.
The crowd wasn’t subdued in the 30-minute break between sets while the stagehands set up for Twenty One Pilots. The intensity grew to a fever pitch as props were brought out on stage. As the lights dimmed, two spotlights came on. On either side of the crowd, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun made their way to the stage. They came on stage with ski masks and glasses that blew smoke from their eyes. They hit center stage and just looked upon the crowd for a minute. Drummer Josh Dun strolled over to his kit and started thrashing away in a style that only he can make look controlled. Vocalist Tyler Joseph grabbed a guitar and started singing “Good Day”. Before the end of the first song, Tyler leaps off the stage and reappears on top of the stage moments later. The crowd went nuts!
As they lead into “No Chances” and then “Stressed Out” Tyler again leaps off the stage like he is possessed. Only three songs in and the house is ready to erupt. Their light show was out of this world. Both Tyler and Josh didn’t miss a beat all night long. As they performed “Heathens”, every person in attendance were belting out the words. They did their ‘Campfire Acoustic’ set which consisted of “Formidable”, “I Can See Clearly Now”, and “House of Gold”. Later, they did “Ride” and “Car Radio” with the crowd again going ballistic.
They came out for an encore with two choice favorites “Shy Away” and “Trees”. Every person in the venue went home satisfied beyond belief. This was a great beginning to their tour. All three bands couldn’t have asked for a better attendance or showing for the show. It was a packed house every night.
