Twenty One Pilots are currently on the North American leg of their Emotional Roadshow World Tour in continued support of their most recent full length release, Blurryface, which was released last May, and I was lucky enough to catch their Los Angeles (7/23) and San Diego (7/24) shows when the tour rolled through Southern California.
Opening the sold out show at The Forum was Chef’Special, an indie-pop band from the Netherlands. Their music was fun and easy to dance to, and they definitely gained at least one new fan in the 25 minutes that they were on stage.
Chef’Special was followed by Mutemath. They had a slightly longer set and their performance was just as exciting to watch. I’ve been a fan for a few years, and it was exciting to finally see them live and see the way they incorporate lights into their live show.
Twenty One Pilots took the stage after what felt like a lifetime. Frontman Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun took their places on stage as the curtain dropped and they opened their set with “Heavydirtysoul.” One of the highlights of the show for me was during “Hometown” when Tyler disappeared from the stage mid-song and appeared among the crowd on the second floor balcony seconds later. The crowd went wild when they played their latest single, “Heathens,” as well as their cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
The duo moved over to a second stage located in the middle of the crowd, where they played “Ode to Sleep” and a medley of songs from Regional at Best and their self-titled album, including “The Pantaloon,” “Forest,” “Addict With a Pen,” and “Kitchen Sink.” Once they were back on the main stage they brought out the two opening bands to lend a hand during a set of covers that did not disappoint. Highlight #2 of the night, at least for me, was when Tyler crowd surfed in a giant hamster ball during “Guns for Hands.”
The arena was lit up with the lights from thousands of cellphones while the band played “Goner,” the emotional final song off of Blurryface. The band stuck with tradition by closing out the show with “Trees,” complete with confetti canons and a drum battle between Tyler and Josh.
The Emotional Roadshow World Tour finishes up in Spring of 2017, so there’s still plenty of time to experience the show for yourself. I’m always in awe of the fact that a two piece band is able to put on such an amazing live show and there are no words to adequately describe how much I recommend seeing this band live.
