Twenty One Pilots Blurryface Tour At The CalCoast Credit Union Open Theater

Bria Higginbotham| Contributor | USDRadio |

October 16, 2015

The venue was plunged into darkness and the audience cheered in anticipation. Then all at once the stage was flooded with red and white lights and smoke. The beginning chords of the high-energy “HeavyDirtySoul,” played and the crowd went wild. The band also performed this song with A$AP Rocky on this year’s Video Music Awards.

The duo, made of only the lead singer, Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, began in 2011. The band has released three albums, Regional at Best, Vessel, and Blurryface. They gained immense popularity with Vessel and Blurryface, both landing high on several Billboard music charts, including Alternative Album at number 10 and 1, respectively. Blurryface, which gives the tour and album its name, is a character, by Joseph, that represents his, and everyone’s, insecurities. These Ohio natives have a transparency and passion that comes through in their music that makes them more relatable, which is one way they attract their spirited fans.

The band was preceded by opening acts Finish Ticket and Echosmith. Finish Ticket is an indie pop group from the Bay Area. Brendan Hoye, Michael Hoye, Alex DiDonato, Gabe Stein and Nick Stein formed the group in 2008. Last year the band also did a tour with The Mowgli’s and MisterWives. They got most of the crowd to their feet with their songs, and when they began playing, there was a mad dash for the front row. After their final song, they offered fans the chance to meet the band.

Echosmith is also an indie pop band, well-known for their song “Cool Kids,” their final song in the set. The band of siblings Sydney, Jamie, Noah and Graham Sierota connected well with the audience, taking time in the middle of “Cool Kids” to show their support and care for their fans. During their performance of “Bright,” the crowd lit up the theatre by waving the flashlights on their phones. They also offered a meet and greet after their set finished.

When Twenty One Pilots began their set, they played to a sea of red beanies. Many fans also wore red eye-shadow, Blurryface paint, skeleton suits, or ski masks. During “Goner,” several members of the audience held symbols for the Skeleton Clique, the name of the band’s fans.

The show had excellent lighting and video effects. One standout moment was during “Lane Boy,” when the two characters in the hazmat suit and gas mask, featured in the music video, showed up on screen and danced in the background before coming onstage.

Toward the end, the band played two of their most popular songs, “Tear In My Heart” and “Car Radio,” and the audience sang along to every word. Right before these songs, they brought a fan onstage to perform their not-so-secret handshake with Dun. The audience took her success as one for them all and cheered loudly. The audience also loved when Josh Dun did his signature backflip during “Holding On To You.”

The band gave two encore songs, “Goner” and “Trees”, after some very convincing chanting from the audience. The concert ended with Tyler Joseph announcing to the fans, “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.”