“They must have run out of yellow duct tape everywhere!” remarked a security guard inside of the Oracle Arena as he looked upon the thousands of fans dressed in army green attire covered in yellow duct tape. From a 7-year old boy in yellow duct tape and a yellow bandanna to the elderly couple with Tyler and Josh’s faces on their shirts, it was evident that the reach of Twenty One Pilots had gone far beyond the teenage “emo” kids with which they were formerly associated.
After a yearlong hiatus, the alternative band Twenty One Pilots (TOP) released their album, “Trench,” and announced their second world tour, “The Bandito Tour,” named after the eleventh song on the new album. On Nov. 11, the two members, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun made their Bay Area stop at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
The boys kept the concert classic and true to their style. With a majority of the songs from “Trench” and “Blurryface,” a few from “Vessel,” one from “Self-Titled,” their single “Heathens” and two covers. TOP introduced their new songs with unique visuals while also keeping old songs with improved visuals.
Overall, the visuals of the show were extraordinary and significantly more intricate than those from “The Emotional Roadshow,” their previous tour. The concert began with a car with real fire behind it on the stage to reflect the images from the “Jumpsuit” music video. The colored lighting and rhythms synced perfectly with the songs; for example, “Heathens” was played to a series of purple and green lights as the song is from the “Suicide Squad” movie album, while most of the new songs from “Trench” were played to neon yellow lighting.
Perhaps the most beautiful moments of the concert were not on the main stage, but the opposite stage when a semi-transparent rectangular prismatic screen was brought down over the boys and the lights and smoke created illusions of neon rain and birds. Enlarged images of Tyler and Josh were not displayed on the screens of the main stage, but were projected in angelic white, purple and yellow lights on the rectangular screen.
The boys are known for appearing all over the venues of their tour, and this concert was no exception. During “Fairly Local,” a decoy Tyler fell through the floor of the main stage and appeared on the upper floor of the arena moments later.
A new addition to the stage was the catwalk that went over the ground floor. Tyler went across twice while Josh only walked across it once. However, in that one time, Josh opened his shirt and revealed “Golden State” written across his torso. TOP also kept the part of the concert where Tyler is held up by the crowd as he sings “Holding on to You,” a fan-favorite in performance.
The two brought on their opening acts, Max Frost and Awolnation, to sing covers of “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” preceded by stories of Tyler and Josh’s childhoods. It happened to be Aaron Bruno, the lead singer of Awolnation’s birthday, and the crowd automatically began to sing “Happy Birthday” to him promptly after Tyler made a joke about Josh not knowing how to play the song on the drums yet,
Tyler was the sole speaker during the concert as usual. He seemed more energetic and happy at this show with more witty remarks compared to the 2017 show in San Jose.
The only disappointment of the concert was that they did not play all of the songs from “Trench.” In fact, five songs were eluded to the audience’s dismay. The mix of old and new songs made a much better concert, but many, including myself, were expecting the whole album as this is the tour for the album.
TOP ended the concert as they always do: on platforms held up by the crowd, banging on a large drum at the end of “Trees,” a shower of confetti—neon yellow confetti for this year, and the classic closing remark of “We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you. See you next time, peace.”
Twenty One Pilots are incredible performers, putting more than blood, sweat and tears into each concert. Their lyrics have changed and saved lives, so it only makes sense their concerts do the same.
