Twenty One Pilots Emerge from the Trenches, Igniting Sold Out Crowd on Bandito Tour in Philadelphia

Twenty One Pilots brought their sold out Bandito Tour into Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night (October 28th) for a sold out show full of energy, radio conquering hit songs, explosively impressive production and new songs from their latest record, Trench, that fans were eager to hear live. Fans at the show came dressed to impress the guys of Twenty One Pilots, dressed in their best Twenty One Pilots merch, or decked out in their own customized apparel finished with neon yellow duct tape. Fans created a sea of yellow throughout the arena; not only from the yellow duct tape but yellow lights on cell phones, yellow glow sticks, yellow bandanas, and later on in the evening being showered in yellow confetti. Some fans camped out for the show, almost a week prior to the show date in Philadelphia, camping out to obtain the best spot on the barricade since the floor was a general admission crowd, fans wanted to be as close as possible for the moments when Joshua Dun and Tyler Joseph make their way into the GA crowd for different segments of the shows production. Like when the crowd assists in holding up Dun’s drum kit whilst he performs, or the moments when Joseph jumps down into the crowd to stand atop the sea of excited fans.

The show launched with a very talented, Texas-born multi-instrumentalist, Max Frost opening up the show at 7pm sharp. Frost showcased his talents of not only being a great singer, but also being an amazing entertainer during a one-man performance in Philadelphia opening up the Bandito tour. Frost launching his set with his single “Withdrawal” from his 2015 album, Intoxication, powering through his entire 6-song set with songs that fans knew every word to and sang along to including “White Lies,” “Adderall,” “Sometimes,” “Money Problems” and ending his set with “Good Morning,” a single off his latest record, Gold Rush. Frost not only was the singer of the band, but he also was the drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, and he blended the instruments together perfectly on a loop pedal as he demanded the crowds attention with his mesmerizing show, keeping fans entertained and hyped up as they watched in amazement that Frost was doing all of his own instruments but also singing and running around the stage for a impeccable set. Frost’s catchy hooks, mixed perfectly with his important, meaningful lyrics that fans connected with and must’ve did their homework on Frost as the danced and sang along to his entire set.

Next, was alternative rock’s favorite, AWOLNATION, immediately bursting into their high-energy set with their song “Run.” Awolnation is known for their smash hit single “Sail” which ended their 8-song set, but their die hard fanbase weren’t there for just that but for their mind-blowing energetic performances and crowd interaction between frontman Aaron Bruno and the fans. The band had the sold out crowd off their feet singing along to songs like “Kill Your Heroes,” “Not Your Fault,” and “Miracle Man,” “Table for One” from their latest record, Here Come The Runts and of course ending their set with their hit from 2011, “Sail,” in which the crowd went wild ending the set with a massive sing-a-long.

Twenty One Pilots‘ up next as a yellow lit curtain dropped to the stage floor, drummer Josh Dun emerged on-stage walking with a fire-burning torch as the lone masked bandito. The band had the entire sold out crowd off their feet, some crying tears of excitement to finally be in this moment that they have waited for so long for as frontman Tyler Joseph emerged from the trenches on their infamous flame-engulfed car as ash-like confetti fluttered onto the crowd. Exploding into the debut track “Jumpsuit” from their latest record, their fifth studio album, Trench. With Joseph on bass guitar and vocals and Dun pounding away at his yellow custom-designed SJC Drumkit made specifically for the new Trench-era shows. Although, Twenty One Pilots new album Trench hasn’t been out for more than 3-weeks, fans knew every word to every song from the record that was included within their 22-song setlist. Their 22-song setlist contained all of the bands hit songs including “Stressed Out,” “Heathens,” “Lane Boy,” “Ride,” and “Car Radio.” The setlist did impress fans by including 10 out of the 14 songs off their latest record, Trench, which is the followup to their 2015 breakthrough album, Blurryface. Although, we did miss the band not playing “HeavyDirtySoul” and “Tear In My Heart.”

The talent behind the duo, Joshua Dun and Tyler Joseph is breathtaking, from their incredibly catchy songs, the make you dance instrumentals and their attention grasping live performance, it is without a doubt that these guys were born to be musical performers. Knowing how to bring their storyline driven album, Trench, to life during their larger than life performance. The production on this Bandito Tour is next level, and the bands biggest yet, including: pyro, co2, confetti, a b-stage, a sky-bridge hovering above the sold out crowd, strong visuals and breathtaking light shows. We have honestly got to say that their production quality on this tour is some of our favorite to come to the Wells Fargo Center yet this year. Although, Twenty One Pilots have the bigger stage they still give fans the same intimate feeling during their arena show, especially notable when the band joined the audience on their b-stage singing songs like fan-favorite song that is ‘very important to the band,’ “Taxi Cab,” as Joseph serenaded the crowd on piano. Continuing the intimate feeling having a conversation with the crowd before entering into the emotion-filled “Neon Gravestones,” as a beautiful light show was given above the band on the black transparent curtain surrounded the band on the b-stage. Then giving the crowd a beautifully flawless sing-a-long to the tours title track “Bandito.” The duo sounds better than they have ever sounded on this Bandito Tour, both musically and vocally.

“This show has absolutely been the best of the tour, I don’t care who you tell.”

Highlights of the bands set would include the emotion-filled crowd singing along to some of their favorite songs with the band live throughout the evening. The bands segment of the set where they covered some legendary songs with the tour opening acts, bringing Awolnation and Max Frost back to the stage to performance two cover songs including Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and The Beatles “Hey Jude.” Additional highlights include the bands huge sing-a-long to our and the fans favorite song off their new record “My Blood,” in which Tyler Joseph’s vocal ability can really be highlighted and stand out vibrantly. Dun’s drum island during “Morph” in which fans held him up during a quick drum solo.

Ending out their highly entertaining set with a dance party to “Car Radio,” before coming back for an encore performance we won’t soon forget which included the piano-driven Trench ballad “Leave The City” and the rave-like party during the last song of night, “Trees,” which the sold out crowd was left showered in yellow confetti, as Joseph and Dun joined the crowd to stand atop them to pound out a drum solo together, ending with a roaring applause. Leaving the crowd craving more but satisfied with the extraordinary show that was the Bandito Tour.

Twenty One Pilots kicked off the Bandito Tour with a sold out show in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, earlier this month which was the first date of their year long trek across the entire globe. The Bandito Tour is similar to where we left off with their Blurryface era, except this time all of the bands productions and choreographed moments throughout their set have grown and are bigger, more vibrant, and everything is yellow, rather then Blurryface red. We would highly recommend getting out to see the Trench-era show on the Bandito Tour as it is a mind-blowing experience, not just a concert but an experience with a Twenty One Pilots’ music soundtrack. Check out the full list of remaining tour dates below, which run until the end of June 2019.

“We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you.”