Twenty One Pilots storm Chicago

Haylie Berkland
Contributing Writer

College students are always looking for fun, inexpensive things to do on the weekends. For many, going to concerts is the perfect solution

On Friday, Oct. 3, the popular pop/rap/rock band Twenty One Pilots took over the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago for a sold-out show that was one to remember.

Before Twenty One Pilots took the stage, two impressive opening bands kicked off the night. First up was the Milwaukee based Vinyl Theater. Consisting of guitar, bass, drums and synthesizer, Vinyl Theater had a pop-like, synth-heavy sound that was fun and got the crowd going right away. The man behind the synthesizer was especially entertaining, as he tried his best to dance and shake his hips all around while playing. Vinyl Theater definitely did their job in warming up the crowd for the main act.

Next up was the band Mister Wives. With a female singer who powered through her long and high notes, Mister Wives brought a lot of energy to the stage. One highlight of this band was their use of a trumpet and saxophone, which added a jazzy beat to their otherwise alternative and poppy sound, particularly when the two battled it out towards the end of their set.

Finally, with a dramatic voice-over introduction, the two-man band Twenty One Pilots took the stage and the crowd went absolutely wild. Opening with “Guns For Hands” off their third and latest album “Vessel,” singer and rapper Tyler Joseph immediately took to his piano and got things started. Right away the crowd began singing their hearts out to every lyric and note. The band played straight through two songs before a brief pause, in which Joseph came back out with a bang, running and soaring over his piano, wearing his famous skeleton suit for their song “Ode To Sleep,” the leading track of “Vessel.”

After this high energy start, the show took a slight detour into the bands more mellow material as Joseph broke out his ukulele for their hit “House of Gold.” They also did short ukulele covers of a few songs, including “All I Do Is Win” and Elvis Presley’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love,” both of which were big crowd pleasers. During this time, the audience was also reintroduced to Nigel, the voice-over with an English accent who introduced the band in the beginning. Joseph carried on a conversation with Nigel, discussing different types of music and the progression of the show, which prompted laughs from the audience.

About a third of the way through the show, as Joseph continued to run and jump around the stage and drummer Josh Dun continued his heavy beats, Twenty One Pilots dug into some of their older songs. The first of these was “Forest,” off of their second album “Regional At Best.” Other older songs from the band’s first self-titled album included “Addict With a Pen” and “Fall Away,” for which they employed the help of the trumpet player from Mister Wives. With the outside help, it gave a new and interesting vibe to the song that fans have come to know so well.

As the show continued, both Joseph and Dun became more intimate with the crowd. During the first part of their hit, “Holding Onto You,” Joseph made his way into the audience to crowd surf through the fans, who were all too ready with open arms. Then a small drum set was placed on a board and handed to the people in the first few rows to hold up so that Dun could play in the crowd for part of their song “Semi-Automatic.” Joseph and Dun easily kept the energy and excitement levels at a 10 all night.

As the show neared its end, Joseph exclaimed the bands love for Chicago, and explained that the Ohio natives played many shows there when he and Dun first started playing together. Joseph said that he saw many familiar faces in the crowd. A special moment came when he directly called out one of these familiar faces, saying “raise your hand; you know who you are.” He went on to explain that the man he called out has been to several of the band’s Chicago shows and thanked him for it, which made the crowd go wild.

Continuing on with the show, the band played a piano cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness.” As they got to the last few songs, Joseph made his way back out into the audience and onto a tower in the middle of the floor for the last part of their hit “Car Radio,” prompting an explosive reaction from the audience. Then, closing the show with “Trees,” the night ended with a grand finale. As the song came to an end, both Dun and Joseph handed drums to people in the front rows to hold up so the two of them could play the percussion-heavy end to the song in the crowd. This sparked much excitement from their fans. As they were drumming, there was an explosion of red confetti from the stage and jets of fog went off, all of which combined to make an intense and grand scene of finality.

Throughout the whole night, both the band and the audience maintained incredible energy and excitement levels, and it was clear that this is a well-loved band that puts on an incredible show for their loyal fans. As a band who tries to shed a positive light on some difficult issues, Twenty One Pilots definitely made this an uplifting night. If there is one comment that Joseph made that night that is to be remembered, it is “you’ve never been far from where you should be,” and indeed, there were about 4,500 people in that ballroom that night who knew that they were exactly where they should be.